The T-shirts nominated for the finals are stylishly displayed on the walls of the venue. Which has what it takes to win the Grand Prix? The award ceremony got underway with the introduction of the heavyweight panel of judges, all leaders in their field, including the president of the judges, Kashiwa Sato. The award ceremony began with the presentation of the Judges' Choice Awards.

Looking tense, I Chayon mounts the stage to receive the Katsuhiko Hibino Award to enthusiastic applause. On the platform, an obviously happy Lee Basford listens to judge Sarah explain the reason for her selection. A lively photo session with the award winners and judges. New talent leaving the nest!

The award winning work fleshed out the UNIQLO concept, "A T-shirt shows how you're feeling". The judges, all leaders in their field, selected an unconventional idea from a young designer that opens up new possibilities for T-shirts.

I had no idea that I would win first prize! The theme of this work is very personal. After I left university, I wanted to work for a design company, but at the moment I'm a public servant. The red balloon symbolizes my desire to change jobs, and the triangle where the hem is pulled up expresses the feeling that I have to think about my lifestyle too, and maybe being a public servant is better than going to a design company... This design embodies the feeling of "I want to work as a designer!", with the hope that one day I can give my life a makeover, get rid of my problems and make a fresh start. So anyway, if you happen to work at a design company, please take me on!

All the judges have come together for the big moment, and the president of the judges Kashiwa Sato is ready to announce the Grand Prix winner. Minoru Hagiwara talks about his joy on winning the Grand Prix. He charms the venue with his unique speech and lively personality. Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President and CEO of UNIQLO offers a few words. "T-shirts are a media that express people's feelings. The work that was chosen for the Grand Prix speaks directly to that concept, justifying all the planning for these awards. UNIQLO would like to continue our collaboration with people around the world in driving T-shirt culture ever upwards and onwards."

The deciding factor was the very close connection between the idea and its expression in Minoru Hagiwara's work. Where the balloon is pulling up the hem of the shirt, the wrinkles where the shirt is folded over, and the shadow of the balloon, are executed with great delicacy. Besides these points, this work fits well with the other theme of this award, "Opening up new possibilities for T-shirts". Therefore we decided to award the Grand Prix to this work.

Tatsuya Taniguchi "Fifteen" This T-shirt conjures up an image of youth. When I looked back thinking about my own youth, I reckoned that around the end of middle school was the best time. I painted a 15-year old girl, hoping that even an adult in their 30s could wear it and remember that time. Ryo Matsumoto "World" I've always been interested in illusions. I'd like lots of people from around the world to wear it, so I used a map of the world in my design and wanted it to give a positive message. By the way, the reason I used Antarctica on the back is because it doesn't belong to any country. Chiaki Kohara "Veil and Rouge" "No way!", I thought. I was really surprised. These girls are twin sisters, called Veil (front) and Rouge (back). I've been drawing these characters since way back, and I''m sort of like their guardian. The original is really big, painted in acrylic on canvas with film and with cardboard stuck on it. Masabumi Yokoi "Football T" When I saw the base color of this T-shirt, I thought this green would be good for soccer. The people aren't computer graphics: I drew each one carefully by hand and thought about their placement on a piece of paper the same size as the actual T-shirt. I'm glad I tried so hard. The dog on the back is also an important point.

With the excitement from the award ceremony still in the air, the winners of the Grand Prix and Judges' Choice Awards and those selected as finalists attended a reception, where they met face-to-face with the judges.

The chance to talk with leading, admired artists is like another prize for the award winners. CEO Yanai, award winners, and guests chatting. The cute finger sweets gave a smart boost to the UT brand. Kashiwa Sato looks at the award winners' portfolios. Many of the award winners walked around with their own portfolios.

With the third annual creative awards, UNIQLO opens a new page in T-shirt culture UNIQLO has worked to recruit a host of mainly young designers, including students, and this year there's a sense that the effort to discover new design talent has started to show results. At the end of April, the UT store and T-shirt-only online store are scheduled to open. Along with the works of the judges, the Grand Prix-winning T-shirt and the 27 others that made it to the finals will appear in these stores and in UNIQLO stores nationwide. With the new development that UT represents, UNIQLO will seek to open up new possibilities for T-shirts, sponsoring ideas that will make T-shirts even more fun for even more people the world over.

On April 28, in Harajuku where the boom for UNIQLO's fleece clothing got started, a new concept T-shirt shop will open, "UT STORE HARAJUKU". The online shop "UT Web" will open at the same time, with both outlets linked in a unique format. More than 500 designs are scheduled to be released each year. This is a new development in the large scale T-shirt business, and to mark the occasion, the debut of the UT brand was announced in a press release to coincide with the award ceremony.

A display at the entrance of the venue captures the image of the UT store. T-shirts will be sold in plastic bottles based on the motif of the reach-in coolers in convenience stores. UNIQLO's new business is grabbing attention. UT Creative Director Kashiwa Sato, Chairman, President and CEO of UNIQLO Yanai, and Operating Officer Katsube hold Japan's first bottled T-shirts.