Mercedes-Benz has been partnered with Festival d’Hyères, the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Fashion Accessories, since 2012. This is part of Mercedes-Benz’s long-standing effort to support emerging design talent.
Founded and directed by Jean-Pierre Blanc and chaired by Pascale Mussard, the festival has been promoting and supporting young international fashion talent since 1986. This year sees an exciting new addition to the festival with the inaugural Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize.
The Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize marks the first sustainability-focused award at the festival and continues Mercedes-Benz’s ambition to drive responsible luxury forward. Launched together with the brand’s partner Fashion Open Studio, the prize is specifically aimed at supporting the next generation of design talent.
Winning designer, Sofia Ilmonen, was elected by the Grand Fashion Jury comprised of Louise Trotter, Ruba Abu-Nimah, and Tom van der Borght for her incorporation of sustainable solutions into the showcased collection which, according to the designer, provides “an alternative to the conventional way in which clothes are designed and utilised.”
The Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize builds on the automotive brand’s mentorship of last year’s festival fashion finalists, which was designed to promote an eco-friendly and fair fashion industry. The second edition of the mentorship underlines Mercedes-Benz’s commitment to motivate and educate the next generation of fashion designers in the field of sustainability.
This year, the sustainability sessions with the mentees took place digitally in the run-up to the festival, led by Fashion Open Studio, the events and knowledge-sharing platform of Fashion Revolution.
The Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize is just one of numerous activities we are proud to have undergone with Fashion Open Studio. In 2021, Mercedes-Benz remained committed to applying further tangible steps towards a more responsible future in design through its ongoing collaboration with Fashion Open Studio on educational events within MBFW Berlin.
This partnership sits among numerous wider sustainability efforts within the fashion community, including a recent collaboration with Heron Preston who designed an upcycled, limited-edition capsule collection to celebrate forty years of the airbag.