VF Corporation and Timberland® Launch Next-Generation Designer Development Program in Collaboration with Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo

VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), together with its Tokyo-based global design hub, the Tokyo Design Collective (TDC), has launched a development program for next-generation designers in collaboration with Bunka Fashion College (BFC), a leading fashion institution with a 100-year history.

The program, held in Tokyo, is themed 'CRAFT MEETS INNOVATION: Form, Function, and Process.' Students will build design concepts through research, discussion, prototyping, and presentations.

From June to December 2026, nine third-year students from the Apparel Design Department will participate. Select works are scheduled to be showcased at the 'Timberland® 2028 Fall/Winter Creative Kick Off' at Timberland® headquarters in Stratham, New Hampshire.

Aki Tanabe, Director of TDC at VF Corporation, stated, 'Through TDC, we aim to foster open dialogue across disciplines and broaden opportunities for new perspectives and ideas to intersect.' Miriam Lambers, Creative Director at Timberland, added, 'The best innovations are not born in isolation. They emerge when different experiences, generations, and viewpoints intersect.'