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.
Out-designing hundreds of other competitors from 46 countries, British designer Kate Morris was crowned winner of the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition in September 2017 at the live grand final fashion show in Hong Kong. She then returned to Hong Kong to develop her collection with fashion game-changers at The R Collective and in collaboration with 22 Factor, in an exemplary partnership uniting to solve unique yarn waste challenges. The resulting collection includes The R Collective’s inaugural menswear styles in a move that caters to a current market gap in sustainable fashion options for men.
Kate said, “This entire experience has proved to me that creativity and collaborative business models can create powerful, viable solutions for fashion’s waste. Previously, part of me wanted to run away screaming from the wasteful and polluting fashion world, but since participating in the Redress Design Award, I’m now even more determined to be part of solving the problems out there.”
Kate holds a Fine Arts Degree from The University of Brighton and a Fashion Knitwear MA from Nottingham Trent University, during which she focused on sustainable design research. Following her win at the Redress Design Award 2017, Kate was also awarded PETA’s 2017 ‘Best Wool-Free Brand’ for her own brand, CROP.
Founder of Redress, Christina Dean shared, “Partnering our competition winners with retail partners like The R Collective empowers Redress’ mission to cut waste out of fashion. Redress has created an invaluable platform to provide support to our expansive network of Redress Design Award alumni designers, who, like Kate, are putting sustainability at the forefront of their designs and catering to an expanding consumer market seeking out more environmentally conscious fashion options. These designers are part of a shift in the landscape of fashion and we are committed to enabling their success.”
Kate’s Pop Collection is now available to buy at www.thercollective.com and select pieces will be available exclusively at Lane Crawford, Asia’s leading iconic luxury department store, from late March 2018 coinciding Hong Kong with Art Basel.
Joanna Gunn, Chief Brand Officer of Lane Crawford commented, “As part of Lane Crawford’s commitment to supporting emerging talent, we are pleased to support the Redress Design Award and its mission to promote sustainability in fashion with the next generation of designers.”
The R Collective’s unique business model of creating up-cycled collections designed by star sustainable designers plays a vital role in highlighting emerging brands. The R Collective now boasts four of the Redress Design Award Alumni Network, including Swiss Kévin Germanier, Hong Kong Chinese Victor Chu, British Kate Morris and Israel’s Lia Kassif, second prize winner of the 2017 cycle, who is currently developing her debut up-cycled collection. Continuing on this highly successful partnership, Redress has again joined forces with The R Collective for the 2018 competition, which is global for the first time, with the 2018 winner receiving the chance to adapt their competition collection for retail.
The Redress Design Award 2018 is currently open to emerging designers and students with less than three years’ professional experience with a closing date of 13 March 2018. Find out more at www.redressdesignaward.com
