Xueling Chen Wins the First Pull&Bear Fashion Photography Prize at Hyères

At the 41st edition of the Hyères Festival, a new accolade was introduced to spotlight emerging voices in fashion photography. The inaugural Pull&Bear Fashion Photography Prize was awarded to Xueling Chen, a visual artist whose work intricately weaves personal narrative with spatial exploration. This event, held recently at Villa Noailles, also saw recognition across other creative categories, but Chen’s win stands out as a significant milestone for both the artist and the sponsoring brand.

Born in 1995 in China, Xueling Chen’s creative journey bridges her roots and her current base between Europe and China. Her formative years in Shanghai equipped her with freelance fashion photography experience before she advanced to earn a master's degree in Fashion Image from Central Saint Martins. This academic background supports her distinctive approach, which blends intimate storytelling with broader urban and social themes.

Chen’s photographic oeuvre delves into concepts such as urban nomadism, female identity, and the emotional resonance embedded within environments. Her images often arise from self-reflection, capturing transient moments with a keen eye for texture and color. Notably, she favors CCD-sensor cameras, a conscious departure from conventional professional tools, resulting in visuals that balance digital clarity with analog warmth.

Since beginning her career in 2017, Chen has developed a visual language centered on dérive—the notion of wandering through urban spaces—and the emotional memories tied to those experiences. Her work extends beyond photography to include digital art, installation, and electronic music, underscoring her multidisciplinary engagement with contemporary culture.

The Pull&Bear Prize aims to foster a new generation of artists whose fashion-related imagery transcends the immediate festival context, offering pathways toward sustained professional growth. The winner is awarded €20,000 and gains the opportunity to create a photographic project for Pull&Bear. Furthermore, Chen will headline a solo exhibition at Villa Noailles during the festival’s next iteration and oversee the release of a fanzine and limited-edition merchandise tied to the "Pull&Bear × The Photographer Project" series. This initiative also includes a global campaign across the brand’s platforms, amplifying the winner’s visibility.

Pull&Bear’s engagement with the Hyères Festival aligns with the brand’s broader cultural strategy, which includes partnerships with the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN programme and collaborations with platforms like Offprint, backed by LUMA Arles. Through these efforts, Pull&Bear reinforces its commitment to bridging fashion, photography, publishing, and contemporary artistic discourse.

Chen’s recognition at Hyères situates her within a vibrant creative ecosystem that champions innovation and cultural dialogue. Her approach, which captures the interplay between individual experience and collective urban life, resonates strongly in today’s artistic landscape.

While details on Chen’s upcoming projects remain limited, her award signals a promising trajectory that will likely influence the evolving relationship between fashion imagery and visual arts. The prize not only supports her immediate artistic endeavors but also positions her work within an international conversation about identity, place, and the aesthetics of fashion photography.

As Hyères continues to be a crucible for emerging talent, the introduction of the Pull&Bear Fashion Photography Prize marks an important development in nurturing photographers who challenge and expand traditional visual codes. The festival’s ongoing role in spotlighting such talent ensures that the intersections of fashion and contemporary culture remain dynamic and forward-looking.