EcoChic Design Awards prepares for 2017 cycle

London - The EcoChic Design Award, the world's biggest sustainable design competition open to emerging designers, has issued its last call for applications for its 2017 cycle. Founded in 2011 by Hong Kong based NGO Redress, the EcoChic Design Award challenges upcoming designers and students to create a collection with minimal textile waste, ranging from zero-waste design techniques, to up-cycling and garment reconstruction.

The annual competition, which aims to create a platform for the next generation of designers to cut waste out of fashion, is now open to designers with less than three year's industry experience in Asia, Europe and for the first time, the United States. Application for the EcoChic Design Award 2017 cycle closes on April 3, after which the two regional judging panels will select the top 12 applicants from the three regions.

The resulting 24 semi-finalists will then be whittled down to 10 finalists by an international judging panel includes the likes of Orsola de Castro, co-founder of Estethica and Fashion Revolution, Johanna HO, Fashion Designer and Anderson Lee, Chairman of the Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium on May 25.

The 10 finalists will then be invited to present their collections in September, in Hong Kong during a final runway show during HKTDC's fashion week CENTRESTAGE. After the show the winners will be announced. First place winner is set to create an up-cycled capsule collection for BYT, which will retail online and at Lane Crawford, Asia's luxury department store. The second place winner will receive a tailored mentorship with Orsola de Castro, and the runner up will Emerging designers.

“Now is the time for radical disruption to the fashion industry, from education, design, sourcing to business," said Christina Dean, Founder and Board Chair of Redress and BYT. "Without this, the fashion and textile industry, which is currently the world’s second biggest polluter, and the environment will spiral even more out of control, with dire consequences. Instead, through the EcoChic Design Award and BYT we are galvanizing the industry to the look at the current problems we face as opportunities."

"Those who don't find new ways of operating will not make it through the seismic changes happening in fashion today.” One of Redress missions is to reduce textile waste throughout various programmes in order to protect the environment, while offering upcoming designers and brands unique business opportunities.

Photos: Courtesy of Redress and EcoChic Design Award