A KPU grad has won an award for her “resiliency pants” that help paraclimbers who have spinal cord injuries.
Hanae Yaskawa, a recent graduate of the Wilson School of Design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, won a Red Dot Design Award for her design concept of climbing pants that reduce abrasion and help in high-performance climbing.
“Surreal” was how Yaskawa described winning the award.
“I was touched that the judging panel recognize that there was a significant impact and purpose behind these pants,” she said in a KPU press release. “The fact that it is serving a community which is traditionally underserved, I’m hoping this helps open up people’s eyes in terms of the gap in the market where there are athletes who have a need for technical adaptive apparel. And this is only one of many.”
Yaskawa spoke to athletes at the Canadian Adaptive Climbing Society to understand different pain points in existing products and would refer back to them with new prototypes.
Arc’teryx – her industry partner for the project and now employer – provided access to its senior sample makers to help create the paraclimbing pants.
“Winning the Red Dot Award is global recognition of our students’ dedication to solving worthy problems for people who need design,” said Andhra Goundrey, dean of the Wilson School of Design, in a press release. “Hanae is such a deserving recipient of this accolade with her authentic commitment to using design for its full potential.”
The resilience paraclimbing pants cater to climbers with spinal cord injury by focusing on three functions: impact and abrasion protection, optimisation for both climbing and seated positions, and high performance.
