La Biosthétique Honors Fashion Graduates

La Biosthétique presented its fashion award to three fashion graduates from the School of Design. Following the fashion show at the graduation exhibition, the winners were announced: Doan Trang Emily Nguyen (Prix de Style), Constantin Rusp (Prix d’Innovation), and Lorenz Schulze Beerhorst (Prix de Concept Contemporain). Each prize is endowed with 3,000 euros. The goal of the award is to give dedicated young people visibility and support them as they launch their careers.

The School of Design and La Biosthétique had another reason to celebrate, as the fashion prize will mark its 15th anniversary in 2026. To mark the occasion, the jury consisted of six Pforzheim fashion alumni who are themselves La Biosthétique award winners:

• Miriam Calabrese – Men’s Outerwear Designer, H&M, Stockholm (La Biosthétique Prix du Jury 2011)
• Miriam van der Ham – Founder of mvdham (urban outdoor), Costume Designer (Film), Berlin (La Biosthétique Prix du Innovation 2011)
• Sabrina Hauber – Designer, HUGO Women’s Clothing + Leather, Hugo Boss, Metzingen (La Biosthétique Jury Prize 2019)
• Gina Reimold – Senior Designer and 3D Design Project Manager, Hugo Boss, Metzingen (La Biosthétique Prix de Style 2016)
• Timo Schuster – Designer, Woven, Marc Cain, Bodelshausen (La Biosthétique Fashion Degree Award 2015)
• Leander Wodan – Senior Designer, Menswear, Jil Sander, Milan (La Biosthétique Creative Research Fund 2015)

The Award Winners and Their Concepts

Prix de Style: Doan Trang Emily Nguyen

Doan Trang Emily Nguyen received the Prix de Style—which honors particularly striking design statements—for her collection *Con nhớ Heimat* (English: I miss/remember my homeland). In her work, Nguyen explores her personal experiences as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. She translates themes of diaspora and racist thought patterns into fashion, creating eight looks that debunk various stereotypes. In doing so, she references elements such as service industry uniforms, portrayals of women, and Vietnamese laundry bags.

“With humor, she succeeds in casting a self-deprecating and self-ironic gaze on the ‘other.’ With skillful style and a mix of patterns, Nguyen makes us smile at clichéd codes that simultaneously strike a chord because they catch us in the act of making our own cultural attributions,” reads the jury’s commendation. The jury also highlights the work’s high emotional intensity in terms of style, look, and accessorization.

Prix d’Innovation: Constantin Rusp

The jury awarded the Prix d’Innovation to Constantin Rusp and his collection POINT 0. The collection reduces six fashion icons—including the trench coat, blue jeans, and the tuxedo—to their absolute, archetypal core—the zero point, the “Point Zero”—and transforms them into entirely new forms of clothing. The result is a collection of timeless essentials that retain their iconic recognizability while bearing a distinct design signature. Crafted from leftover stock and monofibers, the collection is also designed with circularity in mind.

The jury praised the “high-level innovation in form, which captivates with a keen sense of innovative clothing and can be immediately translated into modern, wearable looks.” POINT 0 is described as a masterful process experiment that demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and aesthetic precision.

Prix de Concept Contemporain: Lorenz Schulze Beerhorst

For $W4G mit dir, du Land der Bayern, Lorenz Schulze Beerhorst receives the Prix de Concept Contemporain, which honors graduation projects that engage with contemporary discourses. The collection and accompanying installation offer a transdisciplinary perspective on our present through the lens of fashion, in which social, cultural, and political life have become pure (social media) performance. Beerhorst’s collection takes Bavaria and its Minister-President Markus Söder as a case study, creating looks that translate political staging into fashion—with humor, exaggeration, and a pop aesthetic.

The jury sees $W4G mit dir, du Land der Bayern as a visual argument: looks, installations, and integrated performance reflect the world of media imagery like an analog Instagram feed. It goes on to say: “Humor, irony, and above all, the Gen Z aesthetic are not an escape from seriousness—they are the method.”

Award Ceremony During the Fashion Show

The jury session and award ceremony took place as part of the School of Design’s exhibition: The jury selected the winners on Friday evening during an intensive session. The three prizes were awarded on Saturday evening, immediately following the students’ fashion show at the Alter Schlachthof.

Fashion professor Sibylle Klose, who presided over the awards ceremony, emphasized the work behind the designs: “What appears light and spontaneous is in fact well thought out, tested, and refined; it requires expertise, time-consuming processes, and a financial investment.” In doing so, she referred to the long-standing partnership with La Biostéthique, which encompasses far more than just the annual awards ceremony: “What connects us are creativity, a sense of style, and a passion for design and for cultural innovation,” said Klose. La Biostéthique also supports the annual activities of the Fashion program during Berlin Fashion Week, thereby demonstrating a comprehensive commitment to promoting up-and-coming creative talent.