HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 6 April 2023 - For the last 30 years, Casablanca has stood at the forefront of elegant European-style home design with its unique Italian aesthetic that adheres to the brand design concept of "Fashion, Creativity, and Functionality." Casa translates to "home" in Italian, and "Love Casa Dream Casa" signifies that every ideal dream home can be recreated in reality.

For the brand's 30th anniversary, Casablanca is joined by Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Fashion and Textiles and Cotton Incorporated to organise the first-ever Bedding Design Competition. Through this unique collaboration, the three main organisers hope to motivate the knowledge practice of local students and create participation opportunities in product design within a platform that demonstrates their strengths and skill sets. Helping to enrich personal experiences, this competition also promotes healthy competition and, at the same time, maintains the continuous evolution of the fashion, textiles, and design industry by working with a younger generation for a more sustainable industry in the future.
A long-time leading brand within the industry, Casablanca has always been committed to pursuing continuous technological improvement and product innovation. This competition allowed Casablanca to allocate resources to design students to support the growth and enthusiasm of talents within Hong Kong's home textiles industry. Held on 31 March, 2023, the competition showcased a selection of design works by participating students and named 6 students as competition winners in an official award ceremony. They include Sin Siu Shan awarded Gold, Wong Mei Wai awarded Silver, Chan Hong Ni awarded Bronze, along with 3 Honorable Mentions. Winners received cash prizes, with first place receiving HK$20,000 along with their design to be sold across all stores and online in October, second place with HK$10,000, third with HK$8,000, and HK$1,000 for all the honourable merit awardees.
Hosted under the theme of "Leading Sleep Technology, Transcending into a Sustainable New Generation", the competition coincides with Casablanca's 30th Anniversary. It keeps to the brand's overarching concept of green living and protects the environment through the design and innovation of sleep products informed by big data analysis. The use of new materials or technology founded through professional development in the industry fortifies Casablanca's position as a leading expert in sleep technology.
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About Casablanca

Established in 1993, Casablanca is a leading home textiles company engaged in the design, production, distribution, and retailing of bedding products founded as Casablanca Group Limited (incorporated in the Cayman Islands). Casablanca Group Limited has been listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited since 2012 (Stock Code: 2223). The Group is headquartered in Hong Kong and adheres to the design concept of "Fashion, Creativity, and Functionality", with a commitment to the research and promotion of healthy sleep. It operates mainly in three proprietary brands – Casablanca, Casa Calvin, and CASA-V – with a unique artistic Italian aesthetic to create stylish European-style homes.

About Cotton Incorporated

Cotton Incorporated is a non-profit organisation providing the resource and research needed to assist companies to develop and market superior, innovative, and profitable cotton products. The company's efforts are focused across all areas of the cotton life-cycle, from fibre through to the finished product.
Casablanca and Cotton LEADS ℠ are long-time collaborators and share a close-knit relationship.
As a leading brand within the industry, Casablanca is committed to pursuing continuous technological improvement and product innovation. Taking initiative as the lead to introduce future trends in fashion and home textiles, Casablanca proudly partnered with Cotton Incorporated and Cotton LEADS℠ to launch Asia's first laser-finished Cotton Iridescent Velvet Cushion in 2021, finished in a layered wavy pattern. Not only is the cotton-based material 100% skin-friendly and breathable, but the laser finishing technique also reduces environmental impact by lessening the use of water, energy, chemicals, and dyes compared to traditional sand-blasting, spraying, or sanding techniques that often contribute to health risks. It offers an alternative for your home that's both stylish and environmentally friendly.

About Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Fashion and Textiles

The textile and fashion industry has long been an important economic pillar of Hong Kong. The School of Fashion and Textiles (SFT) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), previously known as the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC), officially upgraded last year to become the third flagship and an independent school within PolyU to actively addresses industry needs by offering more training resources.
Integrating fashion and textile education with innovative technology research in academic programmes, the revamped School of Fashion and Textiles enhances the competitive advantage for SFT graduates and Hong Kong's fashion and textile industry, while simultaneously aligning it with the market development in the Greater Bay Area. With ambitions to lead the fashion industry and create societal impact, the School offers industry solutions through its outstanding research, innovation, and achievements.
With internationally recognised academic and research achievements, the School of Fashion and Textile enjoys a renowned world-class status with an international faculty specialised in various academic and research areas, including wearable and smart textiles, medical textiles and functional clothing, social fashion design, sustainable fashion, digital fashion marketing, and fashion supply chain management. According to a 2021 report by Stanford University, 13 ITC Scholars rank amongst the world's top 2% of scientists. Furthermore, according to the international economic monthly publication CEOWORLD Magazine, the School ranked third in Asia and among the Top 50 World's Best Fashion Schools in 2022. The School has consistently set and reached significant milestones in its pursuit of research excellence. SFT received high appraisal in the "2020 Research Assessment Exercise" by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee (UGC), particularly in areas of creative arts, performing arts, and design, leading as the best amongst the eight UGC-funded institutions.