The China-Italy Youth Future Fashion Design Competition has started accepting applications from designers and artists starting on Thursday, according to a press conference.

Applicants must be under 45 years old and hail from either of the two countries.

Sponsored by Tsinghua University, Politecnico di Milano and the government of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, the competition's theme is "Tech for Fashion," offering a look into how technology has changed the design sector.

With top winners receiving 120,000 yuan (about $18,530) each, applicants can apply until September 6. The final result will be announced at the World Textile Merchandising Conference to be held in Shaoxing in October.

At the press conference, four guests from Tsinghua University introduced the format of the China-Italy Youth Future Fashion Design Competition and shared their achievements in the cultural field and their experiences in China-Italy cultural exchanges in recent years.

"The competition was set up in three directions, including fashion design, fashion technology and fashion lifestyle," said Fu Zhiyong, associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University. Fu further explained the three directions: fashion design emphasizes the design of creative and innovative concepts; fashion technology emphasizes the combination of creativity and technology achievements and implementation; fashion life emphasizes building a better life.

Italian and Chinese cultures are quite different. The goal of the competition is to provide a platform for young designers to communicate and overcome the barriers of space, time and culture through cultural exchanges, added Su Dan, deputy director of the Tsinghua University Art Museum.

"Understanding and interaction between Italy and China is an important point. This kind of project is very helpful for the younger generation to use the design approach, to understand each other in the most fashionable way," said Chen Nan, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University and executive deputy director of the Research Center of Ancient Chinese Characters Art. 

Young designers from China and Italy may not know much about each other. However, the fusion of different cultures will create artistic sparks, hearkening back to the original intention of the exchange competition.

The competition is one of the most important events of the China-Italy Year of Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship, launched last year by Tsinghua and Politecnico di Milano on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy.