Away Announces Annual Designer Collaboration Series

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the global lifestyle brand Away announced an annual designer collaboration series, a first-of-its-kind collaboration program for the brand. For the inaugural class, Away partnered with emerging fashion designers Sandy Liang, Tia Adeola, and Ji Won Choi, who have each been tasked with reimagining three of Away's core silhouettes for exclusive, limited edition capsule collections.

The collaboration with Liang, Adeola, and Choi, launching Thursday, October 14, marks the first cohort of Away's designer collaboration program, an initiative that will continue as a multi-year series. Each year's program will bring together compelling groups of artists with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and aesthetics to offer their unique takes on Away's best-selling travel products.

"Away's designer collaboration series is an exciting new chapter for our brand which I'm thrilled to introduce to our global community of travelers, as well as to the dedicated fans of Sandy, Tia, and Ji. It has been an honor to see how these three astonishingly talented designers infused their personal ethos of style into Away's streamlined design sensibility," said Away CEO and co-founder, Jen Rubio. "The resulting collections are distinct, vivid, and evocative takes on classic Away products. This is an exciting start to our annual collaboration program and eager to see how future iterations come together!"

For the inaugural collection, the three New York based designers were asked to outfit Away's Large Everywhere Bag, Front Pocket Backpack, and Travel Pouch Set with their own take on modern design. The resulting products reflect each designer's unique point of view; informed by the places, people, and experiences that have shaped their aesthetic identity.

New York City native, Sandy Liang says her collection, which features an energetic and wavy floral pattern, was inspired by "the playful wanderlust people are feeling towards travel right now. I was excited to take some of Away's products that lend themselves to more regional and domestic travel, and outfit them with a bold print that is colorful and loud, but on the Away products, looks more like a floral camo."

"I have been a longtime admirer of Away and love the fact that it is a female-founded company. It's important to me that I partner with like-minded companies, so teaming up with Away was a no-brainer," said Tia Adeola, Nigerian-born, and London-raised fashion designer. Adeola, whose collection features a custom-developed, multi-colored, tweed accented with a pink ruffle, says her work is largely focused on "restructuring the representation of female bodies in the 21st century, challenging constructs with statement pieces that are meant for the everyday, and rewriting history through fashion."

Born in Seoul and raised in Oklahoma, Ji Won Choi says her designs are "mainly inspired by travel --different cultures, places, and people-- so working with Away was really the perfect partnership for me. I wanted to create something uplifting, bright, and sporty--something that could be spotted from far away and was immediately recognizable and distinguishable." Choi brought these principles to life, reimagining Away's silhouettes in three brilliant shades of blue, color blocked in her signature white piping.

The Limited Edition products in Away's first designer collaboration series range from $55 to $295 and will be available exclusively on awaytravel.com, as well as in Away's 13 retail locations throughout the US, Canada, and UK beginning October 14, 2021.

About Away
Away is a global lifestyle brand with a mission to transform travel through products and content that inspire people to get away more. The company launched in 2016 with one perfectly designed carry-on and has since expanded to offer an array of luggage and travel essentials built for the modern traveler. Headquartered in New York City, with teams in London and Toronto, Away currently ships products to over 35 countries around the world. Away has been named one of Fast Company's "World's Most Innovative Companies" and has been recognized on TIME's list of "Best Inventions." To learn more, visit awaytravel.com.

About Tia Adeola
Originally from Nigeria, raised in London, and now based in New York, Teniola "Tia" Adeola is the founder and designer of her eponymous brand, Tia Adeola. Inspired by her background in Art History and deep interest in the Renaissance period, Tia created the first iteration of her brand, Slashed by Tia, in 2016 in her dorm room at The New School. Slashed by Tia quickly amassed a diverse and passionate fanbase that includes women like Gigi Hadid and SZA and press support from Surface, Wonderland, Glamour, Hypebae, and Paper Magazine. Ahead of her first official runway show at New York Fashion Week February 2020, Tia changed the name of her brand from Slashed by Tia to Tia Adeola, solidifying the brand's place in the luxury fashion space. The show became one of the breakout shows of the week with a packed venue and garnering press from Vogue, WWD, Teen Vogue, ELLE, Essence, i-D, Office Magazine, and many more. In the fall of 2020, Tia designed and produced her first fashion film, titled "Black is Beautiful," which was nominated in five categories  at the 2021 International Fashion Film Awards. Tia has recently been featured in profile stories in New York Magazine, CNN, and was named one of Bloomberg's "Ones to Watch" for this next upcoming season.

About Sandy Liang
Sandy Liang is a New York based-and-bred designer who draws energy and inspiration for her collections from the magnetism of childhood memory and unsung neighborhood spirit, from chefs in aprons smoking behind restaurant doors to grandmothers shuffling on Canal Street in wide-leg printed pants. Liang grew up in Bayside, Queens, and after briefly attending Rhode Island School of Design for architecture, transferred to Parsons to study fashion design. As a designer, her roots are firmly in outerwear, the structure, materiality and identity of which has informed her work since her first collection ten seasons ago. With elevated detailing and beautiful fabrics (leather, shearling, mink and more), Liang explores the memories of comfort from winter coats on the school playground, her first impressions of silhouette and color from 90s brands that she saw on the street in New York as a kid, and the wit of cartoon-y, playful influences. Each collection builds on the last, with thoughtfulness and consistency that is uncommon in a young brand. Liang innovates within the range of emotionality that inspires her and is very much a biographical designer. Her designed memories have their own luxury, longevity and wit, are enjoyable to observe, sumptuous to touch yet easy to appreciate.

About Ji Won Choi
Born in Seoul, raised in Oklahoma, educated in NYC and Paris, and worked in Milan, Ji Won Choi graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2017. She presented her thesis collection, EXCESSIVISM, at the Parsons Benefit in May 2017. The collection was met with critical acclaim and was the winner of Kering Empowering Imagination Award, Yooxygen Award by Yoox, Ones to Watch by Fashion Scout, before being presented at London Fashion Week. Her work is a celebration of craft and heritage with a passion for highlighting world cultures. Tradition and modernity merge into an innovative multicultural visual language, fueled by a contemporary edge, bold aesthetics, and an underlying commitment to sustainability.

Since the establishment of the brand in 2017, JI WON CHOI has shown at New York, Milan, and London Fashion Weeks and collaborated with international brands such as Adidas, Yoox, Amazon, and American Express. Awarded Fashion Design of the Year by London Design Museum for the most "innovative and providing significant contribution to the field of design in 2019," her work has been worn by cultural symbols such as Beyoncé and Kendall Jenner and has been featured in international publications such as US Vogue, Vogue Italia, Forbes, WWD, Elle, and Hypebae.

Media Contact
Away
Yasmin Shahida
Senior Manager, PR
[email protected] 

Downloadable Lookbook: https://away.widencollective.com/c/5xozansk 
Downloadable Campaign Imagery: https://away.widencollective.com/c/efkgr1lj
Downloadable PDP Imagery: https://away.widencollective.com/c/6avaog4j 

SOURCE Away

Related Links

http://www.awaytravel.com