EcoChic Design Award 2017 announces 10 finalists

As the grand finale date inches closer, the EcoChic Design Award has whittled down the competitors of its 2017 cycle from 24 semi-finalists to the 10 finalists who will go compete in Hong Kong.

The 10 finalists for the sustainable design competition count five candidates from Asia and five from Europe and the United States: Ayako Yoshida, Candle Ray Torreverde, Hung Wei Yu, Sarah Devina Susanto, Sung Yi Hsuan, Amanda Borgfors Meszaros, Claire Dartigues, Joelle van de Pavert, Kate Morris and Lina Mayorga.

EcoChic Design Awards announces the 10 finalists for its 2017 cycle

Two finalists stem from the prestigious Parsons School of Design, namely Claire Dartigues and Lina Mayorga and one from Nottingham Trent University, Kate Morris. As the only candidate from the UK still competing, Morris used zero-waste, up cycling and reconstruction design techniques to create her knitwear, using technology together with handcrafting.

“My journey into fashion has been led by the desire to create functional items of beauty that can contribute to changing behaviour and attitudes towards fast fashion,” said Morris on her designs. “For me sustainable fashion is about each part of the supply chain working together, starting with the designer, to make informed decisions that will have minimum impact on the planet and its people.”

The 10 finalists now have three months to create their six-piece sustainable fashion collection before presenting it at HKTDC’s Centrestage in Hong Kong this September. Their collections will be judged by a panel of judges, which include Orsola de Castro, co-founder of Estethica and Fashion Revolution and Johanna Ho, fashion designer, before the final winners are crowned.

The first prize sees the winner join the newly created up-cycle fashion brand BYT to create a collection which will go on sale on BYT future e-commerce platform and at Lane Crawford, Asia’s leading luxury department store. The second prize winner will receive a mentorship with Orsola de Castro, Fashion Designer, Co-founder of Estethica and Co-founder of Fashion Revolution, to oversee the growth of their career in sustainable fashion design.

In addition to the first and second prize, the EcoChic Design Award also includes a Hong Kong Best Prize, which sees the winner creating an outfit for a rising indie musician from Hong Kong together with Ear Up Music. The EcoChic Design Award also announced its People’s Choice Award Winner, which went to designer Lia Kassif, from Israel. She was named the winner by the public over a four-week voting period.

As the world’s largest sustainable design competition, the EcoChic Design Awards challenges emerging designers to create a full collection using minimal textile waste design techniques. These range from zero-waste design, to up-cycling and garment reconstruction. Currently, in its seventh year, the EcoChic Design Award, founded by Hong Kong-based NGO Redress, opened its application base to include the United States this year and received a record number of applicants from 46 countries

Read more on the EcoChic Design Award 2017 here

Photos: Courtesy of EcoChic Design Award