Biofabrique Vienna Challenges 2026

Wirtschaftsagentur Wien/Robert Puteanu

Together with the Vienna Business Agency, we called for projects in our Biofabrique Vienna Challenges as part of our Urban Food and Design format — and the design community responded.

The design competition focused on the "Wiener Farben" (Vienna colours) developed at Biofabrique Vienna: natural dyes derived from previously unused organic residual materials. The "Colours at Work" challenge asked what workwear for bioregionally practising designers could look like today — reimagining work clothing using the Wiener Farben. The "Applied Colours" challenge sought experimental applications beyond textiles, putting the colours to the test on new materials and making them visible through an installation.

The winners have now been selected: designer Anna Perugini and fashion student Stefan Decker won over the jury with their concepts.

The results will be presented at the 20th Vienna Design Week at Biofabrique Vienna on the Nordwestbahnhof site. The newly developed workwear will be worn and tested by the Vienna Design Week and Biofabrique Vienna teams throughout the festival — design in real-time beta testing.

The winners

Left: Anna Perugini, Right: Stefan Decker

Anna Perugini

Interdisziplinary designer

Anna Perugini (*1982) is an interdisciplinary designer working at the intersection of material research, bespoke production and industrial manufacturing. Her work emerges from specific contexts and engages with discarded or unconventional materials — through a situational approach that explores relationships between material, place, ecology and design. She studied industrial design in Italy, received an AHRC scholarship to study at Central Saint Martins in London, and completed a further master's in GEO-Design at the Design Academy Eindhoven.

Stefan Decker

Fashion student

Stefan Decker (*2002) grew up in Munich and moved to Austria after completing his school-leaving certificate with a focus on art. Since 2021 he has been studying Fashion & Technology at the University of Art and Design Linz. His work centres on reuse strategies for a more sustainable fashion system.