Avatar Awards 2025, a fashion contest for the VR world, begins accepting avatar submissions from September 2nd Dwango Co., Ltd. Public Relations Department Press Release: September 3, 2025 To Members of the Media Avatar Awards 2025, a fashion contest for the VR world, begins accepting avatar
submissions on September 2nd. The judges have been selected: “KEITA MARUYAMA” designer Keita Maruyama, fashion creative director Ayumi Gunji, and “Sword Art Online” editor Kazuma Miki! The VRM Consortium (Representative Director: Yohei Ishii, Location: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) is accepting submissions for the “Avatar Awards 2025,” which will judge and award avatars, virtual versions of ourselves, from Tuesday, September 2, 2025, to Monday, October 20, 2025. In addition, it has been announced that Keita Maruyama, designer of “KEITA MARUYAMA,” Ayumi Gunji, fashion creative director, and Kazuma Miki, editor, will be participating as judges. ■Prominent creators from the fashion and content industries will judge avatar works from a professional perspective
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/96446/775/96446-775-62c10abed0810b7a4a04e1c8bd52e52c-468×312.jpg Fashion designer. Born in Harajuku, Tokyo in 1965. Presented his collection in Paris in 1997. In 2020, he founded K.M Design Studio and became its representative director. In recent years, he has not only focused on his own brand, but has also been actively expanding his activities beyond fashion, from fast fashion to uniforms and brand production, to food and housing. He also constantly explores the possibilities of fashion from a multifaceted perspective, providing designs for 2.5-dimensional games and animations, as well as producing stage art and Bon Odori dances. To celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary in 2024, he held the “Maruyama 100 Views: Keita Maruyama Tour” simultaneously at Omotesando Hills and Laforet Harajuku. ・Military colored bow
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/96446/775/96446-775-bd8edd4ffa217f0eff07a9de5462b735-1200×800.jpg Editor/Fashion creative director. Worked as a freelance writer for Kodansha’s ViVi editorial department. Later, he contributed to the launch of GLAMOROUS. In 2008, he joined what is now Condé Nast Japan. As creative director, he was involved in the launch and management of VOGUE GIRL. Founded gumi-gumi Inc. in 2014. He is active in a wide range of fields, including as an editorial advisor for “Numero TOKYO,” fashion supervisor for the TV drama “First Class” (Fuji TV) and movies, fashion supervisor for the Netflix drama “Followers,” and corporate consulting. He is also the executive director of the Cabinet Office’s Cool Japan Public-Private Platform. ・Kazuma Miki Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/96446/775/96446-775-bfcb50cf3a47ca516823ef30247ae87f-632×735.jpg Light novel editor. Former editor-in-chief of Dengeki Bunko. Currently CEO of Straight Edge Co., Ltd. His major works include Sword Art Online, The Irregular at Magic High School, and A Certain Magical Index. His own book is “Anything Goes If It’s Interesting: A Total of 60 Million Copies Published – A Catalog of the Work of a Certain Editor.” ■A photo award collaboration has been announced with “FUJIYAMA,” a popular VRChat gathering place for Japanese speakers. The “Avatar Life Division,” which has seen an increase in participants every year, is collaborating with “FUJIYAMA,” a popular VRChat gathering place for Japanese speakers, to hold the “Fujiyama Photo Contest” again this year. ■Support the future of creators! Sponsored by Tokyo Design Technology Center College, Advanced Course In response to the success of this award, Tokyo Design Technology Center College, Advanced Course, has decided to sponsor the award. The Tokyo Design Technology Center College, Advanced Course, offers a “VTuber Major” to nurture the next generation of creators active in the metaverse and virtual industries. The school also offers practical learning through its virtual idol group, SO.ON project LaV (So-On Project Lovey). ・What is SO.ON project LaV (SO.ON Project Lovey)? This virtual idol group was born from the “SO.ON project,” an idol group made up of real high school girls from Jikei Gakuen COM Group’s high school courses and vocational schools across the country. Using the latest technology, they represent a new form of idol for a new era. LaV’s journey in search of her youth continues! Official website:
https://lav.so-on-project.jp/ ■Collaborator ・FUJIYAMA FUJIIYAMA is the largest VRChat world in the Japanese-speaking world, visited by approximately 20,000 people daily. Through world management and event planning, we act as a “bridge connecting people, organizations, and worlds.” By connecting diverse “sekai,” we aim to ultimately “form a metaverse where virtual activities come together” and provide a place for deeper interaction. Official X URL: https://x.com/JP_Fujiyama ・XR Kaigi 2025 XR Kaigi is one of Japan’s largest industry conferences, bringing together leaders in virtual fields such as XR and the Metaverse to connect and grow together. Hosted by the XR Kaigi Executive Committee, it has been held annually since 2019. ┃”Avatar Award 2025″ Event Overview [Organizer] VRM Consortium General Incorporated Association [Sponsor] Tokyo Design Technology Center College, Advanced Course [Cooperation] FUJIYAMA, Mogura Inc./XR Kaigi 2025 [Executive Committee Chairman] Hiroki Omae (Director, Public Relations Committee, VRM Consortium General Incorporated Association) [Executive Committee Member] Yoshitaka Soejima (Director, VRM Consortium General Incorporated Association) ◆Application period: September 2, 2025 (Tuesday) 12:00 to October 20, 2025 (Monday) 23:59 ◆How to apply: [Avatar Division] Follow the VRM Consortium Secretariat on X (formerly Twitter) (https://twitter.com/vrm_pr), then post the best shot of your avatar, a full-body image, with the hashtag “#AvatarAward2025.” [Avatar Life Division] X (formerly Twitter) is the VRM Consortium Secretariat (https://twitter.com/vrm_pr), and post an image of everyday life that shows avatars interacting with each other or engaging in activities unique to avatars on X using the hashtags “#AvatarAward2025” and “#AvatarLife2025.” If you have a title, please include it in your post. If you are also participating in the “Fujiyama Photo Contest,” please also post with “#FujiyamaPhotoCon.” ◆How to create an avatar:As long as it’s in FBX or VRM format, you’re free to create it however you like. You can also use a commercially available avatar creation app. ◆Notification of Passing the First Round of Selection:If you pass the first round of selection, you will be contacted by DM from the VRM Consortium Secretariat. For the Avatar Category, you will be asked to provide avatar data for runway photography (fbx, vrm format). For other details, please refer to the application guidelines on the official website. ◆Notification of Final Selection Nominees:The final nominees will be announced at the awards ceremony. Please await the announcement at the ceremony. ◆Award Ceremony Live Broadcast:Tuesday, December 2, 2025, time to be determined ◆Official Website
URL:http://vrm-consortium.org/avataraward/ [About VRM Consortium] This is a general incorporated association whose purpose is to develop and promote the VRM file format for 3D avatars. For more information, please visit the following website. Official website:
https://vrm-consortium.org/ Press release attachments