The 2026 winners celebrate innovation in Biocircularity, Bioplastics and technology.

Switzerland – The FIT Sport Design Awards, has revealed its 2026 winners, marking the fourth edition of the international competition dedicated to excellence in sports equipment and apparel design. This year’s entries arrived from designers, brands, and students across the globe, united by a shared conviction: that performance and responsibility are not in conflict — they are inseparable.

The Sport Gear Design of the Year goes to the World’s First Frisbee Made from Bacteria-Fermented Bioplastics, a groundbreaking collaboration between Decathlon Pulse Lab and material science company Balena. The disc is built from BioCir® X, a novel bioplastic derived through microbial fermentation of renewable feedstocks. It delivers the aerodynamic consistency, structural rigidity, and grip feel expected from performance sport equipment — while biodegrading fully in compost, soil, and marine environments at end of life. Crucially, BioCir® X runs on existing injection-moulding infrastructure, making it a commercially viable pathway for brands looking to move beyond fossil-based materials at scale.

The World’s First Frisbee made from Bacteria Fermented Bioplastics, Decathlon Pulse Lab and Balena

The Sport Apparel Design of the Year award goes to Fade 101 by Solk AG, designed by David Solk — and winner of the Global Footwear Awards’ Footwear Brand of the Year. Solk has done something the footwear industry has long talked about but rarely achieved: designed a sneaker entirely around what happens after it’s worn out. Chrome-free leather, TENCEL™ laces, biobased knit lining, compost-capable foam, and natural rubber come together in a construction deliberately free of adhesives — enabling the upper to be built without glue and the whole shoe to be returned, through Solk’s own take-back programme, to a controlled composting facility in Europe. Built to last. Made to Fade.

Biocircular Sneaker Brand – FADE 101, by David Solk

In the student categories, two designers stood out for work that goes well beyond the brief. Alon Shamir of Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art was awarded Emerging Sport Gear Designer of the Year for Lilt, a balance bike for children aged 2–5 that treats material selection as a structural argument. A solid oak frame carries the primary loads; precision HDPE components handle the parts where weight and repeatability matter most. Every connection uses standard fasteners — no adhesives, no composite layering — so the bike can be fully disassembled and its materials cleanly separated and recycled when the time comes.

Lilt Balance Bike @ David Noy

Mohammadmehdi Mortazavi of the University of Houston was named Emerging Sportswear Designer of the Year for SynTec, a wearable concussion assessment headset built for the sideline. With 67,000 high school football players affected by concussions annually — and roughly half going undetected — the gap between injury and diagnosis is a serious and ongoing problem in sport. SynTec addresses it with a dual-layer approach: five dry-contact EEG electrodes monitor frontal brain activity, while integrated AR-style displays and inward-facing cameras run vestibular-ocular testing — all within a 15-minute session, all without clinical infrastructure. Results are delivered in real time through a companion app, giving athletes, coaches, and parents the information they need to make informed decisions on the spot. A 2026 IDSA Merit Awards Southern District Finalist.

SynTec Concussion Diagnosis Headset by Mehdi Mortazavi

Astrid Hébert, Co-Founder and Director of the 3C Awards, said: “This fourth edition has made one thing clear: the future of sport design is responsible design. The winners this year aren’t just pushing the boundaries of performance — they’re rethinking what materials, systems, and end-of-life responsibility mean for our industry. That ambition, combined with the extraordinary student talent we’re seeing, is exactly what FIT Awards aim to celebrate.”

This year’s winners were evaluated by a panel of leading practitioners from across the sport and performance design world. The jury included Hussain Almossawi, Founder and Creative Director of Mossawi Studios; Joanna Czutkowna, CEO of 5THREAD (England); Jordan Peng, Creative Director and Design Consultant at Unknown Spaces (Spain); Susan Sokolowski, Professor and Founding Director of Sports Product Design at the University of Orego; Noreen Naroo Pucci, Chief Product Officer at Merrell. The full panel brings together voices from POC, Arc’teryx, Gymshark, On-Running, Scott Sports, Aether Apparel, and beyond — a breadth of expertise that reflects the scope and ambition of the programme itself.

The 2026 winners can be explored in full at  fitdesignawards.com. The FIT Sport Design Awards extends its congratulations to every designer and team who entered this year — and to the winners, whose work sets a new standard for what sport design can be.