Environmental NGO Redress partners VF for Redress Design Award

06 Mar '21

3 min read

Pic: Redress Design Award

Environmental NGO Redress has entered into a partnership with VF Corp and its Timberland brand, known worldwide for its sustainable design, for the Redress Design Award first prize. This is the third cycle of collaboration. The first prize winner of the Redress Design Award 2021 will join VF Corporation’s Timberland team to collaborate on a design project.

The award is organised by environmental NGO Redress with Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the lead sponsor.

The Timberland prize partnership forms part of a wider long-term strategic relationship between the Redress Design Award and VF. This is the third cycle of collaboration working to drive meaningful change among the future leaders of fashion through education, which forms the backbone of the programme, with over 50,000 individuals worldwide having benefitted from educational content and activities throughout the competition’s history.

The partnership will also include a design challenge for all ten finalists later this year plus collaboration on key content around circular design in action for the Redress Design Award 2021 open access LEARN platform.

Redress founder Christina Dean shares, “We are thrilled to welcome VF once again to the Redress Design Award as a key partner. Our shared vision with VF and Timberland - of ensuring that the fashion industry leaves a positive impact - is core to our partnership. The industry needs knowledgeable professionals entering the market and our work to educate the future generation of designers and business owners is vital. VF is one of a few organisations truly demonstrating a progressive approach to sustainability, and the opportunity for the competition winner to gain real-life industry experience through the prize with Timberland is a true career-changing opportunity.”

Redress recently released its ‘Education Impact Report’ reflecting on the critical work that the Redress Design Award has delivered across the last 10 cycles to equip the next generation of fashion professionals with the knowledge and tools to transform their industry. Designers in more than 55 countries and regions have benefitted from the Award’s educational offerings, from self-led learning via open-access resources, to tailored workshops, academies and immersive industry experiences.

The first prize winner of the Redress Design Award 2021 will join VF Corporation’s Timberland team to collaborate on a design project, and will have the opportunity to work closely with VF’s Sustainability and Responsibility team to gain insights from across the supply chain from sourcing to product development, while deepening their skills and understanding around sustainable production and marketing.

In addition to this career-boosting prize, the first prize winner will be awarded US$6,400 as development funding. The Runner-up and Hong Kong Best winners of this cycle will also each receive US$1,900 as development funding – a first in the Redress Design Award’s history – among other notable prizes.

The online application for the Redress Design Award 2021 is open until March 2021 for emerging designers around the world with less than four years’ professional experience. Thirty semi-finalists will be announced on April 22 and then the ten finalists on May 13. The finalists will show their collections in Hong Kong in early September 2021 at the livestreamed Grand Final Show, where winners will be announced.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)