APLF has announced MOYA London’s founder, Moyang Yang, is the global winner of its renowned DESIGN-A-BAG AWARD 2023. APLF is the world’s leading trade fair for leather goods supplies and has hosted the design award annually since 2007.
On March 14th, 2023, Yang headed via a sponsored trip to Dubai to participate in the final round of the competition along with two other finalists. Little did she know that she would be walking away as a champion.
Moyang’s winning design is a crochet tote named CARE Bag, which was inspired by the beauty and strength of women of colour. “People are the driving force of eco-fashion, and I want to make them the centre of my designs,” Yang explained to the judges during her presentation.
“The CARE Bag carries strong sustainability messages while telling beautiful stories of the women behind it,” commented Olivier Vedrine, lead judge at the competition and co-founder of Paris-based design agency [o,o].
Yang, who is self-taught, designed the handbag during maternity leave in 2021. “I was breastfeeding my baby with one hand while drawing bags with the other,” she recalls.
A year later, she quit her job at the fashion retail giant NET-A-PORTER to launch her own handbag brand, MOYA London, that focuses on sustainable accessories. The brand has since been featured in numerous world-renowned publications.
The launch event for the award-winning CARE Bag is scheduled to take place in April in London. If you are interested in attending the launch event, email info@moyalondon.com.
The DESIGN-A-BAG AWARD is a global online competition and the only bag design award of its kind. Each year, hundreds of applications are submitted from independent designers and students worldwide. Three finalists are selected and sponsored a trip to Dubai or Hong Kong for the final judging.
About the brand
Moya London is a luxury handbag brand offering contemporary, IT-Girl crochet designs. Drawing inspiration from art and culture with a sharp focus on sustainability, MOYA London has a mission to make ethical fashion cool and desirable.
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