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Fibres/​Yarns/​Fabrics

Winners selected for Outdoor Industry Award

A mammoth task faced the expert panel as the selection process began for the OutDoor Industry Awards a few days ago.

2nd July 2014

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Friedrichshafen

Clothing/​Footwear, Transport/​Aerospace, Protective, Sports/​Outdoor

The number of entries has increased this year by 45 products. This year the award also saw some changes – not least of which was a tightening of the standards set by the panel of judges, plus a reduction in the number of awards.

Quality over quantity

“After eight successful years of the OutDoor Industry Awards, we felt it was time to make a few adjustments,” explained Stefan Reisinger, Director of the OutDoor trade show at Messe Friedrichshafen.

“We’ve made the decision process more transparent and therefore more accountable and are demonstrating more quality over quantity when it comes to the award winners. I think the expert panel has implemented this very well.”

The selection process included animated discussions about current trends and particular products, as well as some disagreements, the organiser reports. Eventually, judges all agreed that the award winners represented the crème de la crème of this year’s new products in the outdoor sector.

Winners

The panel selected a total of 35 OutDoor Industry Awards, seven of which achieved the special Gold Award status. In comparison, last year 52 products were granted an award, eleven of which were Gold Awards.

The full results of the OutDoor Industry Awards, held this year for the first time in association with the German Designer Club (DDC), will be announced at the OutDoor trade show, which will be held from 10-13 July 2014.

Challenging and interesting

“The past two days have been very interesting. It was also a huge challenge to judge each product individually. There were a total of 361 submissions and each one was examined by the team of six judges. I think we are all very pleased with the results and the chosen products,” said panel member and outdoor photographer Lars Schneider.

His panel colleague, the Swedish outdoor journalist, Ingalill Forslund, added: “It was very challenging, because there was such a wide range of products. All in all, I think we did a good job. I am proud of this year’s awards.”

New trends

At the close of the judging session, panel member and General Secretary of the European Outdoor Group Mark Held hinted which new trends and technologies might prove most important: “The development of hybrid materials is very exciting, with some interesting new innovations emerging.”

“The trend towards ever-lighter backpacks continues to gather momentum. And there have been incredible developments when it comes to their carry systems. Additionally, there is also a move towards more sustainable, natural-based fibres, with some interesting technologies coming through.”

www.messe-friedrichshafen.de

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