Women eco game changers

EcoChic Design Award 2017 ambassador Kate Tsui represented Redress at the GGEF Women Eco Game Changer Awards Night 2017 on 18th October - a meaningful event which acknowledged and gave recognition to women leading and inspiring change, making an impact in the community and environment through innovation in Asia.

In dialogue with Dr. Frederik Balfour, Editor-at-Large at Bloomberg, Kate spoke about her personal journey towards sustainability through her role as ambassador for the EcoChic Design Award, and the positive role women can play in pushing sustainability forward in the fashion industry. She also inspired the room of guests with her stylish up-cycled outfit reworked by our EcoChic Design Award finalists from items found in Hong Kong clothing bins during the recent Redress x Miele Consumer Care challenge! Kate styled the versatile outfit with a reconstructed skirt she had up-cycled from a black evening gown that had been in her wardrobe for a few years.

Congratulations to the winners of the awards - Sandra Marichal, Elaine Ng, Juliana Lam & He Yisha. It was especially wonderful to see those pushing for positive change in the fashion industry recognised! 

Tackling Real-Life Waste

In the lead up to the Grand Final show, our EcoChic Design Award finalists were united in Hong Kong to explore the multiple possibilities for tackling real-life textile waste scenarios. Competing in challenges focused on circular economy models, our designers crafted prototypes for new lifestyle products from Cathay Pacific’s retired uniforms at the Langham, Hong Kong; rescued discarded clothes from Hong Kong’s clothing bins through simple care techniques with Miele; and got a taste of the production line and the critical role that designers play even at the manufacturing stage with TAL Group. These challenges showed these young designers first-hand how improved interactions between designers, manufacturers and consumers can significantly alter the overall environmental impact of every single piece of clothing. Congratulations to all our winners!

Click here to revisit our favourite moments from the week.

Kate Morris wins the EcoChic Design Award 2017

Fierce aesthetic and innovative techniques applied to a range of unusual and sometimes surprising materials combined to impress the distinguished judges, and dazzle 600 of the region’s most influential industry players and VIP onlookers last night at the EcoChic Design Award Grand final. British designer Kate Morris won first prize demonstrating the power of the circular economy, where nothing goes to waste. 

Kate will now join a team of fashion game-changers to create a collection for BYT, a new Hong Kong affordable luxury brand born from Redress. BYT’s inaugural up-cycled collection, which was designed by previous EcoChic Design Award competition winners, will retail in Lane Crawford and Barneys in New York, demonstrating Asia as a leading fashion powerhouse, and the changing ethical tastes of luxury consumers worldwide.

“I believe the fashion industry has reached a critical point and I want to part of the change – designing sustainable items of beauty for the masses is my dream and I am excited about winning this competition as it will me enable to contribute to a better future” said Kate. 

Kate will also see her winning collection, a bright and playful knitwear collection which mixed handcraft with technology, and focused on the three design techniques of the collection – zero-waste, up-cycling and reconstruction – in an installation at Lane Crawford, Asia’s leading iconic luxury department store.

Competition judge, Joanna Gunn, Chief Brand Officer, Lane Crawford, said “As part of Lane Crawford’s commitment to supporting young emerging talent, we are pleased to support the EcoChic Design Award and its cause of promoting sustainability in fashion with the next generation of designers.”

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. 

Meet a new generation of designers ready to disrupt fashion

In our biggest search for talent to date, with strong support from over 80 fashion institution partners around the world, we’re absolutely thrilled to announce the EcoChic Design Award 2017 finalists! Representing Asia, Europe and USA, these 10 designers are now ready to bring to life their "design from waste" concepts that wowed our judges. Transforming a variety of waste materials that include industry samples and cut and sew waste, along with secondhand garments including kimonos and wedding dresses, the finalists will demonstrate the potential of tapping into the lucrative market of latent textile waste - in China alone the market value of recycling secondhand clothing has the potential for revenue as high as RMB60 billion. Find out about each of the designers here.  

The People's Choice

Israeli designer Lia Kassif wowed the public to clinch the title of EcoChic Design Award 2017 People’s Choice! Her waste-reducing designs, combining military uniforms and wedding gown waste received the majority of votes cast for our 24 semi-finalists’ applications, who collectively received over 4,000 online votes during May. Along with the accolade, Lia will receive a copy of Bloomsbury’s "The Handbook of Design for Sustainability" by Stuart Walker to help further guide her on a path to sustainable fashion design, and she joins the 120+ strong group of EcoChic Design Award alumni working to change the face of fashion. We love Lia’s passion and are looking forward to seeing more from her in the near future!

The EcoChic Design Award 2017 semi-finalists

This year Redress set out on a pursuit for emerging sustainable design talents that spanned Asia, Europe and the USA. During this three-month search, we were overawed by the diverse range of fashion design students and fashion designers who were determined to prove that they have what it takes to cut waste out of fashion. We received a record-breaking number of applications from an impressive 46 countries. 

Click here to meet the 24 semi-finalists!

Search for design talent

The EcoChic Design Award 2017 is now open to emerging fashion designers with less than three years experience living in any country in Asia, Europe and – for the first time ever – the USA. Applications are open until 3 April 2017, with career-changing prizes up for grabs. Watch the teaser video here and details of how to apply here.