Friday February 10, 2023
US-Somali model Halima Aden was a judge for this year’s competition. (AFP)
DUBAI: Feb 10 The Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier challenge announced on Thursday the winners for this year’s competition, Koalaa and Moner Bondhu.
Koalaa is a UK initiative, engineering upper-limb prosthetics made like clothes.
Moner Bondhu is a startup founded in Bangladesh that provides mental health and well-being services with a focus on garment factory workers, women and youth.
US-Somali model Halima Aden was a judge for this year’s competition alongside Hilfiger; Katrin Ley, managing director of Fashion for Good; and Adrian Johnson, professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD business school.
The annual program, in its fourth outing, aims to discover and accelerate the work of innovative and impactful fashion startups. Through mentoring and financial support, the company seeks to help the best ideas break through.
According to the brand’s website, the program offers opportunities to individuals from “historically underrepresented communities, including black, indigenous, people of color, people with disabilities and women.”
The two winners will receive a $100,000 cash grant each, a year-long mentorship with Hilfiger and INSEAD experts and an INSEAD program.
Koalaa took an additional €15,000 ($16,000) as “Audience Favorite,” chosen by Tommy Hilfiger associates.
“I am here in Amsterdam, supporting the one and only Tommy Hilfiger with the Fashion Frontier Challenge,” Aden said in a short video shared on the brand’s Instagram Stories section. “I am so proud of our five finalists. They are making the fashion industry a more inclusive, sustainable environment and I am just so happy to be here in Amsterdam supporting their work.”
The final event took place at the Tommy Hilfiger global headquarters in Amsterdam.