The biannual China Fashion Week has raised its curtain at Beijing's 751 D Park. The coveted Hempel Award winners were announced, recognizing outstanding young talent in fashion design. And Chinese menswear brand K-Boxing wowed audiences at the opening show. 

Thirty young designers from China and abroad, including Norway and Australia, competed for the award during the China International Young Fashion Designers Contest. 

Themed "Hard Candy," the runway show saw contestants take on different mediums, including leather, knitwear and 3D-printing.

Designer Leng Jing from Beijing took home the top prize. 

Her collection is inspired by the wrappings on a present and echoes the theme of sustainable fashion amid the lingering pandemic.

"I want to give that element of surprise like opening a present," Leng told CGTN after the awards ceremony. "Last year's self-quarantine time really gave me time to rethink about my designs. I've made all my designs more sustainable. You can re-tailor them for different body shapes."

Chinese veteran menswear brand K-Boxing presented the opening show Wednesday evening. 

From formal to casual, high-end to ready-to-wear, designer Hong Boming wowed the audience with three distinctive but co-related collections. 

"Menswear is all about the material you use and the cuts you make, that's where the feel of quality comes from," Hong told CGTN. "Throughout the three collections, the color palette is quite diverse. In addition to normal dark colors for businessmen, we also have lighter shades like salmon pink. Because in our retail store, we're seeing a rise in sales of light color suits. It's good news for us designers as it gives us more freedom in our creations."

China Fashion Week, which debuted in 1997, has been a significant fashion showcase, trade, and exchange platform. It went fully digital after the COVID-19 epidemic a year ago and was rebooted offline in October last year. And this edition is a mix of both physical and virtual showcases, including the DHUB trade show, a link for design and business, the 10+3 SHOWROOM, a young designer incubation plan and online fashion forums with industry professionals from overseas.

China Fashion Week AW 2021 runs until March 31.