The Redress Design Award 2024 celebrated the opening of the 2024 competition cycle with our new strategic partners and Exclusive Fashion Sponsor, Tommy Hilfiger, at a launch event on 23 January at Soho House, Hong Kong.
Pavneet Kaur wins the People’s Choice Award 2023 with turban-inspired collection
To encourage consumer participation in driving sustainability in fashion, we invited the public to have their say on which of the 30 Redress Design Award Semi-finalists could best influence the future of the industry. Among them, a fan favourite has emerged: Indian designer Pavneet Kaur is the Redress Design Award 2023 People’s Choice winner who is now fast-tracked to the Grand Final!
Designing for zero-waste
How challenging is it to bring a zero-waste collection from concept to retail? With Redress Design Award 2018 Winner Tess Whitfort’s passion for zero-waste evident in her competition collection we weren’t surprised to see that her commercial collection with The R Collective went beyond rescuing textile waste through upcycling, but also used innovative zero-waste design techniques to showcase a truly a circular fashion system.
Redress alumni, Janko Lam designs up-cycled fabric red packets for Nan Fung Place
To celebrate Chinese New Year in a new and environmentally conscious way, Nan Fung Place have collaborated with Redress this year, in their search to find the perfect sustainable designer to up-cycle unused clothing into Lai See packets - bringing new life to unused textiles. First cycle winner of the Redress Design Award, Janko Lam was selected for the project, and matched with several boxes of unused red dresses that had been waiting for just the right project! In her signature style, Janko transformed the dresses into beautifully crafted Lai See packets, which feature a mandarin collar based on the traditional qípáo dress. Inspired by the passion for cultural heritage and oriental aesthetics, Janko’s creations are not only eye-catching, as her functional design ensures that customers can re-use the Lai See packets post the new year in a variety of ways, including to store mobile devices, name cards, cosmetics or stationery.
The limited-edition Nan Fung Place Mandarin Collar Red Packets are available while stock lasts for redemption between 16th Jan and 4th Feb 2019. More details on how to redeem yours here.
Frontline fashion 3 goes digital!
With much-loved celebrity personality Cara G McIlroy as host, award-winning Frontline Fashion is back for its third series, this time available for all to view on YouTube!
The move from TV Broadcast to online is a strategic step to reach larger audiences with critical content around the impacts of fashion and the opportunities for positive change.
The R Collective x Lia Kassif now in Lane Crawford
Captivated by alumni designer Lia Kassif’s Redress Design Award 2017 collection (which combined military uniforms with bridalwear industry waste), up-cycled luxury brand, The R Collective jumped at the chance to work with Lia to develop their own capsule collection.
Award-winning designer Kate Morris’ up-cycled Pop collection turns waste into want
First prizewinner of the Redress Design Award 2017 (formerly the EcoChic Design Award), Kate Morris’ sustainable knitwear Pop Collection launches with The R Collective, the pioneering up-cycled fashion brand and social impact business. Born from NGO Redress, The R Collective is determined to change wasteful practices in the fashion industry. Kate’s playful, pop-art inspired limited collection consists of 8 knitwear styles, including reversible coatigans, sweaters and turtle necks, all of which were created by up-cycling luxury yarn waste in a design collaboration with knitwear brand, 22 Factor.
STEERING DESIGN
REDESIGNING BUSINESS
Getting a hand on sustainable fashion design is one thing. But grasping sustainable business philosophies, which salute the triple bottom line of people, planet and profits, is another. EcoChic Design Award 2014/15 Special Prize winner, Laurensia Salim, had the chance to stretch her business horizons as she claimed her winning educational prize of visiting John Hardy’s design and production facilities in Bali in June 2015.
EAST MEETS...WASTE AND IT NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD
[Throwback] It’d been a busy year for Kévin Germanier, our The EcoChic Design Award 2014/15 winner. The media furore that followed him from Hong Kong’s runway back to his London home stayed with Kévin until his return to Hong Kong in September 2015 for his winning prize; to spend three intense months creating his up-cycled collection with Shanghai Tang. He hit the floor running, with his trademark charm and smiles in tow, to work shoulder to shoulder with China’s leading luxury brand’s team on each step of the process, from design, production, sourcing, marketing and merchandising, as he prepared his collection, and visions, for sale.
SERVING UP WASTE-REDUCING UNIFORMS
Up-cycled luxury
Following her First Prize win for the EcoChic Design Award 2015/16, Polish rising star Patrycja Guzik returned to Hong Kong to embed herself in the Shanghai Tang design team to learn how sustainable fashion can be implemented on a commercial scale. Currently on showcase at the brand’s Duddell Street flagship store in Hong Kong, the resulting up-cycled capsule collection was created from surplus luxury fabrics from the brand’s previous collections. Pat took inspiration from Redress’ hometown, incorporating the rich purples and blues of our megalopolis’ night skyline, and playful ruffle details to emulate Victoria Harbour’s lapping waters into her designs. Click here to learn more about this creative collaboration for change.
Feeding a thirst for sustainable fashion
Since the first EcoChic Design Award in 2011, we have witnessed the launch of the careers of an array of talented sustainable designers who are as passionate as us about changing the fashion industry for the better. We now celebrate a community of 107 alumni - semi-finalists and finalists of the competition. Research indicates that 65% of emerging millennial consumers want sustainable clothes, and our alumni are demonstrating that they want to design them, with more than 20% of our alumni developing their own fashion brands!
ALUMNI FEATURE AT BRIGHTON FASHION WEEK 2015
Angus Tsui, The EcoChic Design Award 2012 Peoples Award Winner, and Tiffany Fung, The EcoChic Design Award 2012 China finalist, with her brand Tiffany Pattinson, were invited to showcase their sustainable collections at Brighton Fashion Week.
MINIMAL WASTE UNIFORMS FOR T'ANG COURT RESTAURANT
Victor Chu, our Second Prize Winner of The EcoChic Design Award 2014/15, has applied the techniques and theory leant from his competition experience to bring sustainable fashion to life at The Langham, Hong Kong. His minimal waste uniform designs, a fusion of sustainability and elegance, are debuting at the hotel’s two Michelin-star restaurant, T’ang Court. Complementing this, a new locally sourced vegetarian menu has been introduced to the restaurant.
THE ECOCHIC DESIGN AWARD ALUMNI NETWORKING EVENT 2016
The EcoChic Design Award Alumni Network launched with a networking event in Hong Kong, where the alumni mingled with industry professionals and media representatives. At the event, we showcased ten alumni sustainable brands and held a panel discussion on the topic ‘Is the future of fashion ready for positive change?’. The panel was moderated by Tania Reinert-Shchelkanovtseva, Co-founder of A Boy Named Sue, and speakers were Arnault Castel, Founder of kapok, Anderson Lee, Chairman of Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium and Cherry Wong, Project Manager of The Office of Hon Felix Chung Kwok-pan, Member of Legislative Council.
ANGUS TSUI SELECTED AS 'BLACK SHEEP'
Angus Tsui, The EcoChic Design Award 2012 Hong Kong People´s Award Winner, was recently handpicked by Not Just A Label’s scouting team to become one of their ‘Black Sheep’, rewarding his outstanding quality of work. He joins The EcoChic Design Award 2012 Hong Kong Most Promising Student Award winner, Kelvin Wan’s brand Wan & Wong Fashion who were also selected earlier this year.
DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE BRANDS
The Ethical Fashion Forum is sponsoring one The EcoChic Design Award alumni with a SOURCE full access membership which supports fashion professionals to build successful, sustainable businesses by providing members with business intelligence, training, and networking opportunities. The organisation has selected Sophia Heussner and her brand ï Miss Sophïe as the winner of this prize for her strong commitment and well-rounded approach to building a sustainable brand. Find out more about Sophia´s brand here.
CONNECTING CREATIVITY TO CHANGE THE PATTERN OF FASHION
We are pleased to announce the launch of The EcoChic Design Award Alumni Network, a community bringing opportunities to sustainable fashion designers that are shaping the future of the fashion world. The Alumni Network has over 100 designers from across Asia and Europe ready to be matched with industry professionals who are increasingly interested in collaborating with inspiring sustainable designers in a number of ways that will cultivate bigger change. Read more here, and start posting opportunities here.
FIVE YEAR MILESTONE FOR THE ECOCHIC DESIGN AWARD!
On 13 May 2015 Redress held a media launch event for the EcoChic Design Award 2015/16 competition cycle alongside their Fifth Year Anniversary Exhibition at Hysan Place in Hong Kong. Read the press release and access more resources in the media kit here.