German carmaker Audi showcases both fashion and sustainability at the Design Shanghai 2021 fair

German car manufacturer Audi partnered with renowned fashion designer Stella McCartney to showcase its pure electric etron GT quattro sedan. The Design Shanghai 2021 fair, held from June 3-6, highlighted the luxury car brand's focus on forward-looking and sustainable solutions.

It's the second collaboration between Audi and Design Shanghai.

"The theme of this year's design fair－Regenerative design comes to China and the world－is an excellent fit for Audi," said Audi Brand Vice-President Henrik Wenders.

"Audi is known for its outstanding design and is passionately committed to sustainability. With the Audi e-tron GT quattro, we are presenting this combination at its very best. We are delighted to be at Design Shanghai this year in cooperation with Stella McCartney, providing an insight in a walk-in installation of how both the fashion and the automotive business think and live in a sustainable way," he added.

Fashion label Stella McCartney has been committed to using innovative materials with a low environmental impact for years. Products shown at the fair include a Falabella Go bag made from Econyl, which consists of recycled nylon fibers. The fibers come from production waste, remains of fabrics, carpets or old fishing nets.

The material is also used in the carpet and floor mats of the Audi.

In the walk-through installation at the entrance of the fair, visitors can see the parallels between Stella McCartney and Audi in their use of the material, which is a building block on the road to carbon neutrality.

In addition, the Audi e-tron GT quattro uses recycled materials throughout its cabin. In the optional leather-free design package, the seat covers are made from a combination of artificial leather with either a textile called Kaskade, or a microfiber material called Dinamica. Both of them are made from recycled materials, such as PET bottles, textiles and scraps of fibers.

The Audi e-tron GT is the first model for which production was planned entirely without physical prototypes. Multiple technical innovations were used, including three-dimensional building scans, machine learning processes and virtual reality, according to the carmaker.

All assembly processes, such as procedures and employee actions, were tested and optimized in virtual spaces. This allows a smaller use of resources to achieve more efficient and sustainable production.

According to the carmaker, the production of the Audi e-tron GT quattro produces zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Wu Yunzhou, coordinator for interior design at Audi said: "Audi takes environment protection concepts into every research and development session, no matter how expensive it will be."

Audi will continue resource regeneration and sustainable practices when releasing new models, innovative mobility offerings and other attractive services, in order to become a provider of sustainable premium mobility, the company said.

The event with Design Shanghai is an important step for FAW-VW Audi to promote brand renewal in China this year.

Last year, the carmaker launched a series of communication campaign and innovative marketing events to refresh its visual systems, user image, experience platform and digital interactive experience sectors.

This year, FAW-VW Audi launched an official livestream platform Audi Channel and e-tron fan community, Audi TRON, to strengthen connections with the young generation.

According to the carmaker, it will continue the brand transformation with an upgraded product lineup and more marketing events.

FAW-VW Audi said it will launch 10 electric models, including four produced in China by 2022.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn