Eight emerging fashion designers from Asia and Europe to showcase minimal waste designs at Hong Kong Fashion Week in bid to win the chance to create sustainable collection for global retail
Today eight emerging fashion designers from Europe and Asia were announced as finalists of The EcoChic Design Award 2013, the first international sustainable fashion design competition uniting European and Asian emerging fashion designers with a shared vision of a lower-impact fashion industry and catalyzing sustainable fashion amongst sustainable stakeholders.
The EcoChic Design Award 2013, with major sponsorship from the HKSAR government, agency Create Hong Kong, educates and enables emerging designers to create mainstream clothing with minimal textile waste. With 30% of the fashion market’s growth thought to come from China in the next five years[1], the competition’s grand final taking place at HKTDC Hong Kong Fashion Week is a significant mark to raise awareness around sustainability in this booming market.
This year’s high caliber of judges, representing design, manufacturing, retail and media industries, demonstrates the competition influence, with judges being Orsola de Castro, Co-founder of From Somewhere and Co-founder and Curator of Estethica, Johanna Ho, Fashion Designer, Margaret Kutt, Project Manager Sustainability of Esprit, Gloria Lam, Editor-in-Chief of ELLE Hong Kong and Anderson Lee, Vice Chairman of the Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium.
Judge, Anderson Lee said, ‘I am honoured to engage in the innovative and eye-opening process of the future generations’ sustainable fashion designs. Together, both judges and competitors are immersed in a learning and competitive environment, whilst traveling on the same journey to drive systematic change towards sustainability in the fashion industry.’
Over the next two and a half months, all finalists are required to put their sustainable design concepts into reality with each making a six-piece sustainable collection to present at HKTDC Hong Kong Fashion Week in January 2014, where the winners will be announced. All finalists will come to Hong Kong to show their collections on the runway, battling it out for career changing prizes and participating in sustainable fashion workshops at The Redress Forum.
The EcoChic Design Award 2013 Finalists:
Alex Law (Hong Kong)
Xinyin Dai (Mainland China)
Tsung-Chin Chiang (Taiwan)
Phee Ng, Swee Yee (Singapore)
Catherine Hudson (UK)
Louise de Testa (France)
Karen Jesse (Germany)
Clémentine Sandner (UK) *wildcard finalist
These eight finalists, who are all designers or students with less than three years’ industry experience, impressed the judges with their creative use of the sustainable design techniques zero-waste, up-cycling and reconstruction. They were amongst 20 semi-finalists who were shortlisted by seven separate local judging panels across the competition’s newly expanded regions in Asia and Europe.
‘The EcoChic Design Award is now in its fourth cycle and, as a judge for every cycle, I am delighted to witness first-hand the increase in knowledge of sustainable design and the high level of originality and skills from all the semi-finalists this year. Their innovation is quite an inspiration for the development of sustainable fashion in the global mainstream fashion market,’ said Margaret Kutt, Project Manager Sustainability of Esprit and judge.
Another judge, who has also been with the competition from the onset, is Orsola de Castro, Co-founder of From Somewhere and Co-founder and Curator of Estethica.
‘Watching The EcoChic Design Award grow to become an international platform has been amazing. The award have really helped a new generation of designers to see sustainability in a different light,’ she said.
Prizes foster future careers in sustainable fashion design
The first prize winner will design a recycled textile collection for Esprit for their global retail, further demonstrating the competition’s substantial influence on the fashion industry and retail sector.
The second prize winner will go on an educational trip to globally-leading sustainable jewelry brand John Hardy’s design and production facilities in Bali, to experience first hand their design, production and business philosophies.
The special prize winner will create a show-stopping sustainable outfit for artist Sandy Lam, which will be featured in ELLE Hong Kong’s 2014 green edition to ‘redress’ consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable fashion.
Statements from The EcoChic Design Award 2013 Finalists, along with design sketches can be found at www.ecochicdesignaward.com/finalists/
For images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xxj14tqjvttj4gi/WqVtVeuQ7o
Additional information on prizes and sponsors can be found at www.ecochicdesignaward.com
The EcoChic Design Award is supported by Create Hong Kong, Esprit, John Hardy, Miele, Vincent and Lily Woo Trust and Sandy Lam.
[1] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324874204578438343105661244.html
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