On 24 April 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building killed 1,134 people and injured another 2,500, making it the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. The tragedy has been a catalyst for change in fashion industry.
REDRESS REVEALS NEW LINEUP OF EMERGING SUSTAINABLE DESIGNERS WITH THE TALENT TO TACKLE FASHION’S GROWING WASTE PROBLEM
The world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition, the Redress Design Award announces the 2019 cycle semi-finalists. The 30 outstanding designers represent the brightest talent in a growing swell of ambitious young designers working to tackle the environmental challenges of the fashion industry.
Boost your fashion skills
Next month, we will be announcing the 30 semi-finalists of the Redress Design Award 2019 - a brand new cohort of emerging design talents – so watch this space! Our prize partner of six years Bloomsbury Visual Arts will be supporting these young designers again by supplying sustainable fashion titles to build their knowledge and skills. Bloomsbury are also generously offering the Redress network a 30% discount on all fashion titles.
CREATING A CIRCULAR SYSTEM FOR UNWANTED CLOTHES
We are delighted to announce that our new partner Jeeves, Hong Kong is now accepting clothing donations at their Aberdeen and Central stores - enabling us to reach a wider audience with our mission to reduce fashion’s waste. Hong Kongers now have a choice of 19 locations across the city where they can easily donate unwanted clothes to Redress for sorting and re-distribution for reuse or recycling.
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.
Don’t let your clothes go to landfill!
With 17 permanent collection points across Hong Kong we’re expanding our year round take back programme to make clothes recycling as easy and accessible as possible! The new year is traditionally a time to clear out the clutter and get organised, so if your cupboard is bursting at the seams we’re here to help…. simply drop off your clothing at Zara and PizzaExpress (with soon to be added Jeeves locations) and with our teams of dedicated volunteers we’ll do the hard work.
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.
WORLD’S LARGEST SUSTAINABLE FASHION DESIGN COMPETITION LAUNCHES WITH NEW INDUSTRY PARTNERS TO SUPPORT GROWTH IN CHINA
Redress has opened the ninth cycle of The Redress Design Award, the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition. With a focus on emerging designers the search is now on to find the next big talent who has the ability to impress the judges and the commercial flair to inspire a new wave of conscious consumers. With a career-changing opportunity to collaborate with the JNBY Group (one of China’s leading fashion houses), the winning designer will create a sustainable collection for retail, whilst also supporting Redress’ mission to promote sustainable fashion and catalyse positive change in China’s powerful fashion industry.
Eastman announced as Gold Sponsor of the Redress Design Award 2019
Eastman will be the Gold Sponsor of the Redress Design Award 2019 which will open in January to emerging designers and students. Designers will be challenged to transform textile waste into stunning, scalable and commercially viable collections that will inspire and redress the world. The finalists will also incorporate fabrics made with Naia™ into their runway collections for the Grand Final fashion show at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in September 2019.
Four Fashion Apps Disrupting Fashion Consumption
The recent burst of coverage around fast fashion shows that shoppers are starting to turn away from unsustainable clothing, finally realising the threat it poses to the planet. But unsustainably made clothes are all around us — so how to begin navigating a more ethical route? Digital apps are disrupting the fashion system and enabling all sorts of new models of consumption.
Local charity Redress collects a record-breaking 9 tonnes of unwanted clothing for ‘Get Redressed Month’
Hong Kong – Across the city more than 80 companies, clubs and schools, joined Redress for their first #GetRedressed Month – kicking off the charity’s goal to turn October into the official month to take action against textile waste. Just over nine tonnes of unwanted clothing was collected through the drive, which also included a series of events and educational activities designed to drive awareness and shift behaviours among the general public.
Celebrating five years of partnership
12 years to limit climate change catastrophe
A landmark report from the United Nations’ IPCC (intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) warns the public of the immediate consequences says have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe. This ultimately requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale.
Join #GetRedressed Month this October
We’re dedicating the month of October to action against textile waste - and it’s not too late to take part. Redress aims to raise global awareness of the issues, and by working with the public, companies, clubs and schools throughout, aims to collect 7 tonnes of unwanted clothing in Hong Kong!
Redress is championing multiple ways to keep clothes in the fashion loop for longer. During #GetRedressed Month you can be part of a local circular economy, learn about the real waste behind the fashion industry and make a difference.
Get informed: Take part in our free public events including talks, workshops and much more! Visit the schedule here.
Get a conscious closet: Check out our mini-guide to get clued up on how you can shop smarter and make your clothes last longer.
Donate your unwanted clothes: All clothing donated will be carefully sorted and redistributed to local charities including those benefiting refugees, migrants, women at risk, the elderly, babies, children and families who are all from a variety of low income backgrounds. Any clothes received that cannot be reused will be recycled.* Check to see if your organisation is participating – 60 across Hong Kong are now signed up. Alternatively, you can find our public donation box locations here.
Shop for a cause: This October you can flex your purse power for good. We have teamed up with a range of businesses so that when you spend your dollars, Redress will benefit. Explore them here.
Strike a pose: Take a picture of your #GetRedressed outfits and share your stories with us on social media! Your #GetRedressed outfit could be secondhand, borrowed, rented, up-cycled, made from sustainable materials or simply a long-standing item in your wardrobe that you love and have worn over and over.
*Some items received that are not suitable for reuse or up-cycling and that are not of a recyclable material have no option but to go to landfill.
#GetRedressed Month
JOIN US THIS OCTOBER!
We over-produce, over-consume and throw our clothes away prematurely.
Every day Hongkongers throw 343 tonnes of textiles into landfill, most of which is recyclable. In fact, globally, only 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled back into new clothes at the end of its use .
It’s time for us to start taking ownership of our wardrobe habits and switch to more sustainable choices.
Redress Design Award 2018 Exhibition
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.
'In Between' - The Redress Design Award 2018 Finalists' Photoshoot
Environmental NGO Redress presents a preview of 11 collections to be shown at the Grand Final of the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition – the Redress Design Award – this 6 September. ‘In Between’ is a striking photoshoot featuring the work of exceptional emerging sustainable design talent, shortlisted from applications hailing from a record 55 countries earlier this year.
Acceptance of pre-loved clothing rises in Hong Kong!
This month hundreds of Hong Kongers visited our latest Pop-up shop eager to get their hands on quality secondhand clothes and accessories from the Redress closet. Our pop-up generated valuable funding for Redress and our work to cut waste out of fashion whilst promoting the local circular economy, as shoppers revealed in the treasures that we freed from hibernation in Hong Kong’s wardrobes and put back into use in one of our largest clothing drives to date!