[Hong Kong, 13 January 2025] – The Redress Design Award, the world’s leading sustainable fashion design competition, announces the opening of its 2025 competition. Environmental fashion NGO Redress, together with Lead Sponsor the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, invites sustainably-minded designers with less than four years of professional experience to enter the prestigious competition from now until 14 March 2025.
2025 marks a major milestone for the Redress Design Award, celebrating the 15th edition of the global competition (previously the Ecochic Design Award). This exciting anniversary also, however, underscores a stark reality — that fashion production continues to increase in scale, depleting planetary resources and creating unsustainable amounts of waste.
The Redress Design Award educates and empowers emerging designers to adopt circular design strategies, empowering them to take a role in reducing fashion’s environmental impact. With an estimated 80% of a product’s environmental impact determined at the design stage, the role of designers is critical to driving circularity in the fashion sector, and particularly in apparel production markets across Asia.
With the global fashion industry valued at €1.7 trillion in 2023 and expected to grow by 7.4% annually through 2030, its harmful impact will continue to increase unless circular strategies are adopted.
Through its robust education platform, alumni network, competition prizes, and global exposure opportunities, the Redress Design Award equips designers with vital knowledge and support systems to help drive the future of the fashion industry.
A Critical Need for Change
Dr. Christina Dean, Founder and Board Chair of Redress, emphasises, “The fashion industry is a leading contributor to global pollution and waste. If we fail to act decisively, the repercussions will be catastrophic. To counter this, we must champion circular fashion as a transformative solution that allows the industry to flourish sustainably. Based in Hong Kong, we are dedicated to redefining fashion in Asia and across the globe by collaborating with innovative brands and exceptional designers, paving the way for a more responsible and regenerative future.”
In 2021, the fashion industry was responsible for an estimated 1.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with projections indicating a 42% increase by 2030 under current practices. There is a real and urgent need for a transformative shift towards a circular economy within this industry.
Asia Focus for Global Impact
To mark the 15th edition of the competition, in February 2025 Redress will hold parallel events in Shanghai, one of the world’s foremost fashion hubs, and Hong Kong, the birthplace of the Redress Design Award. Each event will host a curated selection of fashion industry leaders and related professionals to explore and discuss the intersections between culture, fashion, circularity, and sustainability within China.
This initiative aims to foster a dialogue on sustainability within the region’s dynamic fashion community and amplify the programme’s influence across Asia, which accounts for some 60% of global exports of garments and textiles.
Victor Tsang, Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries, remarked, “The Redress Design Award is a significant event for the fashion industry, showcasing the immense talent emerging from around the world and gathering them in Hong Kong for cultural and business exchanges. Collaboration is essential to inspire a new era of sustainable practices that resonate globally. The CCIDA is pleased to support the award to reinforce Hong Kong as a dynamic hub for fashion and innovation.”
Urgent Call for Global Talent
With global textile waste projected to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030, the urgency for innovative solutions has never been more apparent.
The Redress Design Award encourages emerging fashion designers globally to apply for the 2025 competition until the closing date of 14 March 2025 and join the creative movement for fashion’s transformation.
Prizes include an expenses-paid trip to Hong Kong for all ten Finalists, including masterclasses, educational experiences, and participation in the highly-anticipated Redress Design Award Grand Final Fashion Show held at Hong Kong CENTRESTAGE in September 2025, as well as an editorial feature in Vogue Hong Kong; and, for the winning designers, career-changing brand collaborations, expert mentorships, cash prizes, and more.
Alumni Making Global Strides
The Redress Design Award has a proven track record of nurturing sustainable design talent. Alumni of the programme have achieved remarkable success, exemplifying the potential of sustainable fashion on a global scale.
This year, Redress continues to support its community of over 330 alumni, who prioritise sustainability and circularity alongside desirability, through collaboration opportunities, prizes, and education.
Angus Tsui, a distinguished alum, was awarded the DHL GoGreen Plus Alumni Prize in partnership with DHL Express Hong Kong. He commented, “Winning this award has been a transformative experience. My upcycled collection, inspired by DHL’s logistics journey, breathes new life into retired courier uniforms, showcasing how sustainability can be both stylish and functional.”
Additionally, alum Micaela Clubourg has received valuable support for her brand Studio Cumbre from sustainable packaging experts Delta Global. She remarked, “Working with Founder, Robert Lockyer, and his experienced team has been invaluable to my brand’s development. Visiting the UK team empowered me to see how sustainable packaging solutions can reshape the fashion industry.”
For more information and to apply, please visit RedressDesignAward.com.
Sources:
- EU Science Hub (2018), Sustainable Product Policy
- McKinsey & Company & The Business of Fashion (BoF), The State of Fashion 2024
- Apparel Impact Institute (2023), Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zero
- World Trade Organisation, World Trade Statistical Review 2023
- Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (2017), Pulse of the Fashion Industry