Celebrating Chinese Sustainable Fashion Designers: A Spotlight on Innovation From China’s Powerhouse Fashion Industry

From Shanghai Fashion Week to Shenzhen Fashion Week, environmental NGO Redress showcases sustainable design innovations that drive circularity in key global market

HONG KONG SAR / SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 November 2024 – Redress, the Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused environmental NGO on a mission to accelerate the transition to a circular fashion industry by educating and empowering designers and consumers to reduce clothing’s negative environmental impacts, is concluding their impactful consumer-focused series of sustainable fashion initiatives. From a runway at Shanghai Fashion Week, to a prominent exhibition at Bicester Village Shanghai, an artistic showcase during Shenzhen Fashion Week, a video series in collaboration with Vogue China and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), Redress empowers designers and consumers to influence the world’s fashion powerhouse, China.

Dr. Christina Dean, Founder, Redress, said, “We want to celebrate the innovation, dedication and positive influence that China has in influencing local and global sustainable fashion. We are seeing a new vanguard of Chinese designers explode into the industry, bringing with them the skills required to accelerate circular fashion. Redress is committed to promoting a circular fashion economy, a concept already familiar in China. With ambitious sustainability goals set for the coming years, the need for circularity has never been greater.”

Kicking off at the Shanghai Fashion Week runway, Redress showcased six exceptional Chinese sustainable fashion designers who embody China’s vanguard of sustainable fashion activists, who all rose to notoriety through previously participating in the Redress Design Award, the world’s leading sustainable fashion design competition. Redress’ runway show, to a star-studded and packed audience, marks a significant milestone in highlighting the next generation of Chinese designers who are poised to lead one of the world’s most powerful fashion industries toward a more sustainable future.

Fashion designer Ruyin Tian, Redress Alum who headlined Redress’ show at Shanghai Fashion Week, noted, “I think social and environmental responsibility is a must for global and Chinese designers. The Redress platform and the huge movement towards sustainable design is only getting bigger. We must, no matter the challenges, continue to inspire change and demonstrate how our unique influences can shape a better fashion industry.”

Redress’ Videos — harnessing Chinese fashion’s mass media to inspire further change

To reach China’s fast growing fashion consumer markets and avid fashion lovers, Redress partnered with Vogue China and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) on a two-episode video series as part of the Vogue China Fashion Fund 2024 Redress Mentorship Programme, in which Redress is empowering China’s leading fashion designers to accelerate circularity. The videos follow China’s top designers as they journey through a vast post-consumer clothing recycling facility. There, they select discarded clothing to redesign for a leading Chinese fashion influencer to wear, inspiring China’s consumers to keep their clothes in use for longer.

Bonnie Chen, Redress Ambassador, supermodel, and filmmaker who co-directed and hosted the video series, said, “Supporting sustainable designers who have a beautiful, soulful and creative design approach is so important, as this inspires mainstream fashion consumers to make more sustainable fashion choices.”

Redress’ Exhibitions — Engaging Mass Consumers

Redress collaborated on two exhibitions to reach a broader China audience.

Kicking off in Shanghai, Redress partnered with The Bicester Collection to exhibit 22 sustainable designers’ works at Bicester Village Shanghai, a prolific shopping destination. The collaboration also marks the inaugural China launch of their Creative Spot initiative, which champions emerging designers worldwide. The exhibition concludes on 30 November.

Stewart Chen, Fashion Director, The Bicester Collection China, said, “Our partnership with Redress highlights our dedication to nurturing emerging talent, particularly in sustainable fashion, which is crucial for the future of the fashion industry. Bringing the Creative Spot to China for the first time signifies a bold step forward in our commitment to innovation and sustainability.”

In Shenzhen, and launching with support from Shenzhen Fashion Week, Redress has joined forces with new movement Sustainable Renaissance, contributing select fashion pieces from Redress Alumni for an impactful exhibition at Futian Art Gallery. The showcase is targeted at the art scene in Shenzhen’s vibrant developing creative sector, furthering the dialogue on sustainability within the fashion and arts industries. The exhibition concludes 28 February 2025.

Redress — Significance of Asia and focus on China

Redress maintains an Asia-focused strategy, recognising the region’s significant influence on the global fashion industry. Asia is home to the majority of the world’s clothing consumption and production, and its rapidly growing emerging markets and production bases contribute to substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

As the largest exporter of textiles (worth US$148B, 43.6% in value) and apparel (US$182B, 31.7%) in the world^[1], China faces substantial challenges with textile waste. The country produces more than 26 million tons of discarded clothing each year, which equates to approximately 70,000 tons per day.^[2] Alarmingly, China’s annual disposal of garments is projected to rise to around 50 million tons by 2030.^[3]

Dr. Christina Dean, Founder, Redress, underscored the importance of the Chinese fashion market by stating, “Asia is where the majority of the world’s clothes are consumed and produced. The fast-growing emerging markets and production bases mean that Asia produces 50% of the annual global GHG emissions.^[4] The positive news is that we are seeing action. China has published a nationwide goal to foster a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system. Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for collaboration among designers, manufacturers, and consumers alike to accelerate circularity in Asia.”

Hashtag: #RedressDesignAward

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About the Redress Design Award 2024: www.redressdesignaward.com

About Redress’ education for designers

The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) (www.ccidahk.gov.hk) established in June 2024, formerly known as Create Hong Kong (CreateHK), is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to provide one-stop services and support to the cultural and creative industries with a mission to foster a conducive environment in Hong Kong to facilitate the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and cross-genre collaboration, promoting the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries under the industry-oriented principle, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia’s creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community to implement Hong Kong’s positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange under the National 14th Five-Year Plan.

Redress (www.redress.com.hk) is a Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused environmental NGO with a mission to accelerate the change to a circular fashion industry by educating and empowering designers and consumers so as to reduce clothing’s negative environmental impacts.

Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organisers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.