YKK and Variloom’s award-winning puller points to a shift in component manufacturing: bio-based materials, digital production and open-ended customization without the constraints of injection molding or high minimum order quantities.
YKK Corporation has won the Red Dot Design Award in the Product Design category for the 3D Composite Puller, a zipper hardware component developed in collaboration with Variloom, a specialist in on-demand 3D printing and molding systems. The award, announced by Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG, is among the most recognized design honors in the industry, evaluated annually by an international jury of around 40 experts across three disciplines: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept.
A component that rethinks how hardware gets made
The 3D Composite Puller combines YKK’s zipper manufacturing with Variloom’s bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and a digital fabrication process. The approach avoids conventional injection molding, removing the need for costly tooling and large production runs tied to high minimum order quantities.
YKK said the setup allows brands to specify elements such as shape, texture, attachment style, color and logo without the typical compromises of molded hardware. It also opens the door to very small runs, including one-off units, which could appeal to limited editions and prototyping as well as projects focused on material choices.
What the Red Dot recognition signals for ingredient brands
The Red Dot Award gives YKK and Variloom another high-profile design endorsement for a component-level innovation, this time for a manufacturing and supply chain proposition built around customization, digital production and bio-based materials.
Ingredient brands – suppliers whose materials and technologies sit inside finished goods – typically compete on performance, reliability and cost; major design awards are less common at this tier. In a statement, Yasuhiro Sato, Vice President, Product Strategy Division, Global Sales Headquarters at YKK Corporation, said the win recognized “YKK’s ongoing efforts to create new value” and that those efforts had been “highly evaluated from a design perspective.”
YKK also highlighted the puller’s use of recyclable, bio-based TPU, positioning the component within a broader push toward circularity as regulators and brands increase scrutiny of material inputs across the supply chain.
Previous YKK Red Dot recognitions
- 2012: EXCELLA Curve received a Red Dot Design Award honorable mention for its curved zipper construction.
- 2015: EXCELLA Blade won a Red Dot Design Award for its minimalist blade-shaped fastening element.
- 2025: YKK Türkiye’s Recycled Mono-material Detachable Button & Rivet won a Red Dot Design Award in the Sustainable Design category.
About Variloom
Variloom develops on-demand 3D print-to-shape systems for apparel accessories. In its YKK collaboration, the company says its patent-pending recyclable material and on-demand printing capabilities allow brands to create customized pullers while reducing the tooling requirements and minimum order constraints associated with conventional molding.
