Jiaen Cai is the winner of this year’s ITS Fashion@Work by illy Award

Trieste, 12 July 2019 – Jiaen Cai, a 26-year-old student form China, has won the ITS Fashion@Work by illy Award. This prize is sponsored by illycaffè as a partner of the 2019 edition of ITS - International Talent Support, the international competition which brings young talents in fashion design to Trieste.

The competition saw 10 finalists, carefully selected by illycaffè Artistic Director Carlo Bach, experi-menting in the field of professional fashion. They were given the creative challenge of bringing their own vision to reinterpret the classic illy barista apron. The collection of prototypes, presented for the first time at the fashion show during the ITS final, revealed a fantastic variety of aesthetics in the de-signs, which amazed everyone at the event, from fashion journalists to designers and trend experts. The creations by the young talents in the competition ranged from minimal to hyper-technological, to sportswear and industrial cross-over, to references to couture and fine art, transforming an everyday item into a unique design object.

"In a rich kaleidoscope of creative ideas, Jiaen Cai's project succeeded in bringing creativity and ele-gance to his original design for an apron which can be used in different ways and for different func-tions" said Carlo Bach, illycaffè Artistic Director.

The winner will receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros.

illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company founded in Trieste in 1933, which has always pursued the mission of offering the best coffee in the world. illycaffè produces a unique blend of 100% Arabica coffee, combining 9 of the best qualities in the world according to illy. Every day 7 million cups of illy coffee are enjoyed around the globe in over 140 countries, in the finest coffee shops, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, and of course at home. The company’s many innovations have contributed to important technological developments in the world of coffee. In 1991 the company founded the "Ernesto Illy Award for quality espresso coffee" in Brazil, promoting the sharing of expertise and recognising the efforts of coffee growers by offering a higher price for what illy believes to be the best quality coffee. This has grown into a partnership based on the principles of sustainable development. The company also founded the Università del Caffè, an educational institution which strives to promote coffee culture at all levels, offering complete and practical training for growers, baristas and coffee lovers, and seeking to deepen the knowledge about every aspect of the product. Everything that is 'made in illy' is also enriched with beauty and art. These are fundamental values ​​for the brand, from the logo designed by the artist James Rosenquist, to the cups of the illy Art Collection which have been decorated by over 100 international artists. In 2018 the company employed 1294 people and had a consolidated turnover of € 483 million. There are around 259 illy stores and single-brand stores around the world in 43 countries.