User:John Cummings/Archive/Qwstion

QWSTION is a Swiss bag company that was founded in 2008 by Sebastian Kruit, industrial designers Christian Kaegi and Fabrice Aeberhard, graphic designer Matthias Graf and Johannes Schoenegger. Qwstion creates bags and other products made from natural materials and have developed Bananatex, a technical textile made from the fibres of the Abacá banana plant.

History
The name Qwstion is a portmanteau of the phrase "questioning the norm". The company was created to design bags that are ‘sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and functional’ – attributes that, according to the founders, were not offered by existing products. The first collections introduced in 2008 were made from linen/cotton canvas. In 2014, the company introduced their first in-house material development: a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic cotton canvas. In October 2018 Qwstion launched Bananatex, a technical textile they had developed made from the fibres of the Abacá banana plant. The plant is grown in the Philippines using sustainable forestry practises and is so robust that it doesn’t require any pesticides, fertilisers or artificial irrigation. The raw fibres are processed into a functional fabric, coated with natural wax for water-repellency.

Design
Qwstion designs its bags to be worn for multiple purposes including business and leisure as well as allowing easier repairability.

Collaborations
QWSTION has collaborated with several other companies on products:


 * DNS: co developed with QWSTION a waterproof jacket made from very densely woven organic cotton fabric which is similar in design to fabric used by army parachutes used in World War 2. This collaboration was awarded the 2016 Bundespreis of Eco-Design Germany.
 * Lehni: co-developed an outdoor chair using the Bananatex fabric.
 * Rafael Kouto: the Swiss fashion designer worked with QWSTION to upcycle bags which had been returned.

Products
QWSTION produces bags in both Bananatex and organic cotton.

Production
Qwstion sources and develops almost all materials itself in collaboration with suppliers. It focuses on sustainability, using natural materials instead of plastics and other processes which pollute the environment. Qwstion works with three manufacturing partners in Switzerland, China and the Czech Republic. T&S, Qwstion’s partner in Huizhou, China, is Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) certified. Nähwerk, a Charity initiative in Zürich, Switzerland, produces the smaller or limited quantity products e.g QWSTION + Kunsthaus Zurich Shoppers and Etuis.

Distribution
The Qwstion online shop  sells to over 100 countries, in addition QWSTION has over 50 retail partners in 15 countries.

Stores
QWSTION has four physical stores in Zurich, Lausanne, Basel and Vienna. The Basel store is shared with Swiss care products brand Soeder.

Legal
Qwstion AG is a registered public limited company in Zurich, Switzerland. It acts as a holding for Qwstion International GmbH in Austria, Qwstion Schweiz GmbH and Bananatex AG. The holding operates logistics, warehouse management, and the store in Vienna. Qwstion Schweiz GmbH runs the design studio and the stores in Basel and Zurich. Bananatex AG deals with sales, business development, distribution of Bananatex.

Awards and certificates
QWSTION has been awarded several prizes, most of them for sustainability and  the development of Bananatex®.


 * 2021: Cradle-to-cradle certification® Gold
 * 2021: German Sustainability Award 2021 Winner, Category: Pioneers
 * 2019: German Federal Ecodesign Award 2019 Winner (Bundespreis Ecodesign 2019), Category: Bananatex® by QWSTION
 * 2019: Design Preis Schweiz Winner, Category: Textile Design
 * 2019: Green Product Award 2019 Winner, Category: Material for Bananatex® by QWSTION
 * 2019: Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards 2019 – Gold in category: Marketing Communication B2C for Bananatex
 * 2019: Holzbaupreis Tirol 2019 Winner (Wood Building Prize 2019), Category: Commercial Building for QWSTION International GmbH, Seefeld, Austria
 * 2018: Goldener Hase Winner, Category: Design for Bananatex® by QWSTION
 * 2016: German Federal Ecodesign Award 2016 Winner (Bundespreis Ecodesign 2016), Category: Product for All-Weather-Coat by QWSTION and DNS