Lane Crawford’s Creative Call Out looking for “homegrown talent”

Luxury department store Lane Crawford has launched the ninth edition of its global Creative Call Out competition, which aims to seek out and support emerging talent in the fields of fashion, lifestyle and beauty, as well as content and experiential creators.

For 2020, Lane Crawford is calling on “homegrown talent and creativity to shape our future” as the contest puts a focus on creatives located in the Greater China region with the luxury department store targeting Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hong Kong.

This year there will be no physical event, instead, Lane Crawford has launched a designated digital platform www.globalcreativecallout.com where entrants can submit a 3-minute video in the first round to pitch to the Lane Crawford internal judging panel comprising of buyers and marketeers from the department store.

The judges will select 12 brands and creatives as finalists, who will be given the opportunity to pitch to be an ongoing brand partner of Lane Crawford at standard commercial terms. In addition, there are two cash prizes, to assist the winners on their business development 100,000 Hong Kong dollars for the Hong Kong SAR and International winner and 100,000 renminbi for the Mainland China winner.

Both winners will also receive tailored mentorship based on individual brand or designer's needs with industry experts and internal teams.

Lane Crawford opens applications for 2020 global emerging talent contest - Creative Call Out

Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford said in a statement: "The Makers Movement is an exciting opportunity for creatives within Greater China, and globally, to showcase their talents to our teams, our guest judges and our customers. Providing this platform, along with practical mentorship and commercial opportunities perfectly aligns with the Lane Crawford ambition to lead the new world of luxury."

Registration ends on August 12, with winners to be announced at the end of September, decided by a judging panel featuring international guest judges including fashion designer Alexander Wang, alongside Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford, Tasha Liu from Labelhood fashion incubation community, Ella Wong from Creative Artists Agency, and Qu Fang from Red social shopping platform.

In addition, for the first time, Lane Crawford is inviting the public to vote for the winner alongside the judges, as these 12 finalists will be showcased at an exhibition, in-store and online. Voting will take place throughout August 2020.

Lane Crawford added: “This customer interaction will help identify the winners, and giving valuable consumer feedback to the participating finalists during the online polling stage.”

Since 2015, the Creative Call Out series has launched more than 80 brands and 50 creative projects. It has received more than 1,300 submissions and has taken place in Los Angeles and Sydney, as well as Hong Kong and China. Past winners have included fashion designers Angel Chen and Feng Chen Wang, as well as product designer Tom Fereday.

Image: courtesy of Lane Crawford; Main image - Angel Chen