A more sustainable fashion system; is digital disruption fuelling positive change?

The digital space is disrupting the way the fashion supply chain – which contributes to the second biggest polluting industry in the world – communicates. Some players are now using digital technology to their advantage as they build more sustainable businesses whilst reducing waste, as they seek to cut out traditional road blocks that lead to clunky and often complex supply chains, and waste in the production process.

Can circular business models be a solution for the fashion industry’s textile waste?

The fashion and textile industry is the second most polluting industry in the world behind oil. As the depletion of natural resources prevails and the cost of virgin materials continues to show volatility, the current linear model of ‘take, make, waste’ is no longer a sustainable business option for the fashion industry to remain competitive.

Redress and the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) co-organised a two-hour roundtable discussion entitled ‘The Future of Sustainable Fashion Education’ which took place at HKDI.  The roundtable objectives were to review the current practices of sustainable fashion education, to explore the problems experienced in integrating sustainability education into the higher education fashion curriculum and to offer recommendations to educators. This report outlines the main findings from the roundtable discussion. Click here to download the report.

E-commerce is a booming market and customers around the world are increasingly walking away from shops and consuming from the comfort of their homes with the convenience of their phones. 

This free-to-attend one-day educational event provided industry professionals and fashion students with the inspiration, information and tools to implement sustainable practices into their design and business activities. The forum’s Master classes and Keynotes gave participants the opportunity to learn from the world’s thought-leaders and experts in the fields of sustainability in fashion design, sourcing, marketing and business. 

We presented a collaborative exhibition at Hong Kong’s Interstoff Asia Essential on multi-stakeholders’ approaches to cutting waste out of fashion. Our exhibition shared expertise from NGOs China Water Risk, Greenpeace and carbon management company, RESET Carbon on how textile, water, chemical and energy wastage can be reduced along the fashion supply chain. We showcased waste reducing garments, designed by Esprit, Levis, M&S, Patagonia, Timberland and Reclaim to Wear, to bring this topic to life.

We held a workshop for select Levi Strauss & Co’s Hong Kong staff to brainstorm sustainable fashion design. In this interactive workshop, we provided a lively overview of sustainable fashion design and introduced an unusual challenge, where Levi Strauss & Co’s staff picked their way through bags discarded used clothes to challenge their staff on ‘Why do people throw away so many clothes?

We organised and moderated this interactive panel discussion at HKTDC Fashion Week. The panel explored the fashion designer’s influential role in minimising a garment’s environmental impact through textile waste reduction. It highlighted the techniques, trends and business opportunities in reducing textile waste through sustainable fashion design.

We collaborated with Esprit, our The EcoChic Design Award 2011 retail partner, on the ‘Recycled Collection by Esprit’. This was designed by Janko Lam and was retailed in Hong Kong.

We organised the ‘Get Redressed’ RBS workshop to provide lively educational content for RBS’ ‘Focused Women HK’ in order to engage women with the broader environmental issues contained in their wardrobes. The workshop introduced the fashion industry’s negative environmental impacts and provided a base to explore practical and creative solutions to dressing more sustainably.

‘Behind the Seams’ of British sustainable fashion explored the UK’s groundbreaking sustainable fashion scene at an evening seminar and cocktail reception organized in partnership with the British Council on 16 November 2011.

We facilitated in the re-distribution of 200 pre-worn uniform overcoats from Cathay Pacific, following their uniform change, to rural communities in Pakistan. Our humanitarian relief partner, Compassion Revival expertly managed the re-distribution of the coats from Hong Kong to Karachi and then by donkey to reach those in need.

We gave our ‘Refashioning the Industry’ lecture at the Hong Kong Design Institute. Our lecture focused on three inspiring case studies, representing successful sustainable business, esign and marketing strategies, to inspire a range of students about their respective sustainability roles and potentials within the fashion supply chain.

We dialogued with the ‘Ladies of Luxury’ to address sustainability in the luxury sector, hosted by the KEE Club. The ‘Ladies of Luxury’ is a voluntary and collaborative network formed of senior representatives from a wide range of luxury brands, including Hermès, Gucci, Chanel, Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton that aims to support various community engagement activities.

We organized Redress on the Runway to high acclaim at the glamorous W Hong Kong, turning heads and attitudes towards sustainable fashion at this packed fashion show gala. Twenty one designers from 13 countries participated in a unanimously stylish and sustainable show that demonstrate innovative sustainable fashion design techniques.

We organised The Redress Forum, a highly-successful one-day fashion industry seminar at The Jockey Club Environmental Building, Hong Kong. The seminar targeted multi-stakeholders from the fashion industry.

We conducted research, with support from the Ethical Fashion Forum and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, into designers’ and buyers’ perceptions about sourcing sustainable textiles from China. Download a copy of the research here.

Our EcoChic Asia was a successful sustainable fashion show containing 29 Asian fashion and accessory designers from 14 Asian countries that celebrated Asia’s developing sustainable fashion scene to an influential industry audience at Interstoff Asia Essential.

Our exhibition on China’s rise in sustainable fashion took place at the Ethical Fashion Show at Cité de la Mode et du Design in Paris. The exhibition presented the major drivers for sustainable fashion in China and revealed the Chinese sustainable fashion designers who are making ripples in the world’s largest garment manufacturing nation.

We presented an exhibit, entitled The Selection by C.L.A.S.S Exhibition,containing seven sustainable ready-to-wear and couture garments to demonstrate a range of sustainable fashion concepts at WHITE, Milan’s influential women’s fashion and beauty trade event.