PACT Underwear Takes Home Two IDEA Awards

BERKELEY, Calif., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- PACT, an organic underwear company tied to powerful social and environmental causes, has been honored with two 2010 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Announced today, and featured in the July/August issue of Fast Company magazine, PACT took top honors in the Ecodesign category winning Gold and captured Silver in the Personal Accessories category.

"We're honored to be recognized by the design community," said PACT CEO/Co-Founder Jason Kibbey. "Design is the gateway to impact. The success of the PACT brand depends on the integration of style, sustainability and social consciousness in a way that is both functional and beautiful."

From industrial designer Yves Behar to architect David Adjaye, PACT underwear is the canvas to some of the world's foremost designers. Each print collection is designed specifically for the cause it promotes and partner nonprofits receive 10% of the proceeds from the sale of each pair.  Using premium organic cotton, PACT underwear is manufactured according to the highest environmental and social standards using a supply chain where all processes exist within a 100-mile radius.

"Design thinking has been used to build every component of the PACT brand from scratch, creating a business model and product that is disruptive in its category," said Yves Behar, Founder of fuseproject. "Sustainability requirements in the supply chain drove design decisions in the product at retail – it's a holistic approach to a 21st century business and we're honored to be recognized for our work."

Yves Behar, who acts as PACT's Design Director, and his studio fuseproject – the studio behind not only PACT, but also the Jawbone headset, the OLPC XO Laptop and the new Puma clever little shoe box– received 14 awards this year, the most of any design firm at this year's competition.

There were more entries than ever before at this year's IDEA awards, which were judged by 18 world-renowned designers. The awards – which are organized by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) – have been honoring international design excellence in products, eco-design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts since 1980. Entries are invited from designers, students and companies worldwide. Out of 405 finalists in 2010, 37 were honored with the Gold award, while 64 received the Silver award and 87 won the Bronze award.

Each of the 2010 IDEA award winners will be recognized in a ceremony on August 7 in Portland, OR. Details on all the winners can be found on fastcompany.com now, and will be featured in the July/August issue of Fast Company magazine, on newsstands June 29.

About PACT:

PACT is an apparel company launched in 2009 by Jason Kibbey and Jeff Denby offering design-driven, sustainably manufactured, premium organic underwear connected to powerful social and environmental causes. For more information, please visit http://www.wearpact.com. 

SOURCE PACT