HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 20 August 2024 - Redress, the 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, is now calling for consumers worldwide to vote online here for their favourite Finalist of the Redress Design Award 2024, the world's leading sustainable fashion design competition. Voting for the People's Choice Award will be open until 3 September 2024, with the winner to be announced at the Grand Final Fashion Show in Hong Kong on 5 September.

The Redress Design Award, organised by Redress and with the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) as the Lead Sponsor, now turns to the public voice to champion sustainable fashion and empower the next generation of circular design talents. With 98% of consumers believing that brands have a responsibility to make positive change in the world^[1], Redress now offers a crucial opportunity for consumers to influence the industry.

Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned, while just 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing.^[2] To tackle fashion's massive waste issue, this year's 10 Redress Design Award Finalists, representing nine countries and regions around the globe, have created their sustainable fashion collections out of textile waste, from shredded military parachutes to car seat covers.

"Fashion 'consumers' and designers are incredibly connected, and their wishes and works are often inextricably linked. Designers respond to consumers' aesthetic and ethical expectations, and consumers are romanced and inspired by designers' creations," shared Dr. Christina Dean, Founder and Board Chair, Redress. "Our 10 competition Finalists are pushing boundaries in circular design, crucially to address one of the world's most polluting industries. We need consumers to be engaged. By voting for your favourite designer, you can have your say in the future of fashion."

From around the globe to Hong Kong

Next up, the Finalists' garments will be delivered to Hong Kong via the official logistics partner, DHL Express. The sustainable collections will be shipped from various global locations to Hong Kong using DHL's GoGreen Plus service, which helps to reduce carbon emissions of the international shipments using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Through GoGreen Plus, DHL Express implements decarbonisation levers in the DHL network and allocates these carbon emissions reductions to customer shipments, applying the book and claim approach. These carbon emission reductions and allocations are validated by a third-party auditor and Redress accounts for a 50% CO2e reduction compared to using conventional jet fuel.

"We are delighted to support sustainable fashion by leveraging our industry expertise. We actively contribute to a greener future by using our GoGreen Plus service to transport these exquisite collections from talented designers worldwide to Hong Kong. Achieving a 50% carbon reduction in the shipment journey, we take pride in setting the pace for low emission logistics. This goes beyond simply providing a service; it's our steadfast commitment to sustainability," said Andy Chiang, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau.

The Finalists' runway looks will be captured in an editorial photoshoot to be featured in Vogue Hong Kong as well as the Redress Design Award 2024 digital magazine. The circular aesthetics displayed in the photoshoot pay tribute to the role of circularity in driving fashion towards a more sustainable future.

Consumers hold the power in shaping the fashion industry

Beyond voting for the People's Choice Award, consumers can also directly influence the direction of the industry by supporting the work of Redress Alumni. This community of previous competition Semi-finalists are at the forefront of a new breed of fashion designers prioritising sustainability and circularity as much as desirability. With Redress' support, recent Alumni highlights include 11 Alumni showcasing designs made from upcycled sporting waste at the Paris 2024 Olympics and alum Lola Clavel creating bookmarks from Redress' clothing takeback waste in Hong Kong. Discover more Redress Alumni brands here.

Find out who wins at the Grand Final Show

The People's Choice Award winner will be announced at the Redress Design Award 2024 Grand Final Fashion Show, along with the coveted, career-changing First Prize with 2024 Exclusive Fashion Sponsor, Tommy Hilfiger: the opportunity to join the Tommy Hilfiger team and work on a sustainable design project for retail, creating impact for the industry.

The Redress Design Award 2024 Grand Final Fashion Show will be livestreamed globally on 5 September 2024 (Thursday), at 7pm HKT / 1pm CET via YouTube. Save the date here.

The Redress Design Award 2024 Photoshoot Credits

• Photography: Kim Lo
• Creative Direction: Matthieu Amelin
• Models: Chakchu Lee (Model One), KC, Rosemary (Synergy), Yanzhen (WE Management)
• Creative Stylist: Cheryl Yam
• Hair: Henry Tse and Joyce Lo for Davines
• Make-up: Cindy Lai, Daisy Ho, and Karen Yiu for MakeupBees
• Studio: KIMLO WORKSHOP
• Production: Kenji Cheung, Hillary Fong, Serene Cheung
• Studio Manager: Ric Chow
• Retoucher: Eric Lam
• Photographer Assistant: Kuco Chan
• Lighting: Keefe Wong

Hashtag: #RedressDesignAward

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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

• The applicants: The Redress Design Award 2024 was open to applications from emerging designers and students with less than four years' professional experience globally. Finalists here.
• The judges: The Redress Design Award 2024 judges represent the crème de la crème of global sustainable fashion industry expertise. Judges here.
• Prizes: In addition to the First Prize with Tommy Hilfiger, prizes for contestants include high-profile mentorships and high-performance sewing machines from JUKI. Prizes here.
• People's Choice voter prize: Voters for the People's Choice Award will be entered for a chance to win one of four limited edition checkers sets made from recycled post-consumer fabrics.
• Logistics: Learn more about DHL GoGreen Plus here.
• Redress Alumni: The Redress Design Award 2024 Finalists join the Redress Alumni Network, which offers ongoing support to over 300 designers as they develop their careers in sustainable fashion.

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.