Prize for sustainable textiles: Viennese fashion students awarded the “Vivienne” youth prize for the “Hope” collection

2023-09-20 04:31:34

Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler and the COMÚN Foundation award a class at the Herbststrasse Fashion School for their focus on climate protection

Vienna (OTS) – The “Vivienne”, the Austrian prize for ecological textiles, was launched at the beginning of 2023 by the Climate Ministry and the COMÚN Foundation. Dozens of companies and fashion designers responded to the first call. The award took place as part of the “Austrian consumer dialogues: textiles“. A separate youth award was also created for schools in order to make young people’s perspectives on the topic visible.

An independent jury has now unanimously chosen a winning project from dozens of submissions from schools all over Austria, which was awarded the “Vivienne” youth prize. Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler and COMÚN chairwoman Veronika Bohrn Mena personally presented the “Vivienne” to the students, and there is also prize money of 1,000 euros for the class fund.

Valuable contribution to raising awareness

“Fast fashion has unfortunately become the norm in recent decades. Overconsumption and overproduction of clothing – i.e. clothing that is never worn or destroyed straight away – causes enormous waste of resources and energy and puts a lot of strain on our environment. The committed students prove that there is another way. They show how sustainable fashion can be realized in the spirit of climate protection. I congratulate the winners of this year’s Vivienne Youth Prize!”says Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler.

„I am amazed at how well the students combine the desire for more climate protection and their creative designs as aspiring fashion designers in their collection. KMD Herbststrasse is therefore right to receive this year’s Vivienne Prize. We hope that many more schools will follow this shining example“ said COMÚN chairwoman Veronika Bohrn Mena at the award ceremony.

Students wanted to draw attention to the urgency of climate protection

The students of the 1st group of the 1HMA at the Herbststrasse art and fashion school in Vienna impressed with their rock concept “Hope”: “We developed poetic designs and messages, using creative metaphors to illustrate the impact of climate change and fast fashion on our planet. The philosophy behind our collection emphasizes that it is time to protect our planet and fight climate change by focusing on sustainable fashion and recycling. Our goal is to make people aware of the urgency of the issue and thus make a valuable contribution to raising awareness.“