Innovation has a name - Oerlikon Corporate

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich

Oerlikon, one of the world’s leading innovative industrial groups specializing in machine and plant engineering, as well as being the largest global manufacturer of textile machines sponsors the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich 2012 and is thereby supporting Swiss fashion designers and the new generation of designers in Shanghai.

The global Swiss Group is the presenting sponsor of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich 2012 in Zurich and will be presenting the Swiss Designers Show entitled “An Homage to Diversity” on November 9. As well as promoting the Swiss fashion design scene, the event will also showcase the Fibers and Yarns Award’s 2012 winning collection from the Fashion Institute of Donghua University in Shanghai exclusively for the first time in Europe. The award was initiated by Oerlikon.

The long-established Swiss company tasked the Shanghai students with designing clothes made from avant-garde materials that were produced on Oerlikon machines. The challenge was to use everyday textiles such as tarpaulins, car tires and carpets, and to take inspiration from Oerlikon’s “«e-save”» sustainability program when deciding on the style and colors of the clothes. The designers were provided with more than a metric ton of materials such as fibers, yarns, filaments, tire cord and fleece. In just three months, the concept and designs had been drawn up and the fittings completed together with a small team of young designers. The final result is a futuristic, glamorous collection, which sponsor Oerlikon will now be presenting at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich with the new label Wensibo.