VF Corp and Redress announce winner of 2021 Redress Design Award

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 14, 2021

As part of its ongoing three-year partnership with environmental non-profit Redress, Denver-based apparel group VF Corporation has named Taiwan's Jessica Chang as the winner of the 2021 Redress Design Award.

 
The world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition, the Redress Design Award challenges entrants to create environmentally conscious collections.
 
As the winner of the award, Chang will receive mentorship from VF’s Timberland brand and will also collaborate with the outdoor label to design a sustainable apparel collection due to launch in Spring 2023.

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During this year’s competition, ten finalists from the U.S., the UK, Germany, India and Greater China took part in a series of virtual events held September 1-11. Over the course of these days, the finalists participated in educational challenges and master classes addressing subjects of sustainability and circular design in the fashion industry.
 
At the end of the ten-day period, each finalist showcased a full collection designed in line with the values of the competition.
 
Chang’s unisex collection, entitled "The Wall," impressed the competition’s jury with its creative use of waste materials, as well as for its “strong marketability and commerciality.”
 
The designer will start working with Timberland immediately and will also consult with VF’s sustainability and responsibility team so as to ensure that the materials and design strategies she intends to use meet the company’s sustainability objectives.
 
“The Redress Design Awards showcase what is possible when emerging designs are given an opportunity to innovate around sustainability. We believe cultivating creative, up-and-coming talent is both good for business and a necessity for the future of our planet,” commented VF VP for global sustainability and responsibility Sean Cady.
 
“Sustainable fashion and circular design align with our purpose of bettering both people and the planet. Watching our global teams embrace this sustainability competition and mentor the next generation of designers is incredibly rewarding,” he added.
 
The announcement that Chang has won the 2021 Redress Design Award comes as the capsule collection made by the competition’s 2020 winner, Le Nogc Ha Thu, receives the finishing touches before going on sale in Spring.
 
The Redress Design Award is part of wider sustainability efforts being implemented by VF. Earlier this year, for example, the company, which, alongside Timberland, also owns the Vans and The North Face brands, announced that it had allocated some $596 million generated by its inaugural green bond to 13 sustainability projects.