Two emerging Australian designers have secured a spot in the semi-finals in the world's largest sustinable fashion design competition, the Redress Design Award.
Nessie Croft and Julia English are among 30 semi-finalists who are working to find solutions the environmental issues posed by the fashion industry such as carbon emissions, water pollution, chemical use, over-consumption and waste.
The Redress competition focuses on the need to eliminate textile waste and challenges the emerging designers to explore the circular economy through design techniques such as zero-waste pattern cutting, upcycling and reconstruction.
L to R: Designs by Nessie Croft and Julia English
For the first time in the competition's nine-year history, menswear designers were included alongside the unisex and womenswear designers, expanding the scope of the competition.
Redress founder and board chair, Dr Christina Dean, said that the fashion industry can't afford to continue on as usual.
"If the fashion industry carries on with a business-as-usual linear model, carbon emissions from textile production alone are set to rise by more than 60% by 2030, but these emerging designers give us hope for a future where textile waste is valued, and where responsible design, production and consumption with circularity in mind are the norm."
The semi-finalists now face the next round of competition which will be judged by the International Judging Panel of industry experts, who will whittle down the 30 semi-finalists to 10 finalists.
Redress Design Award Judge, Rith Farrell, said that so far, the competition has been exhilarating to watch.
"It has been very exciting to see talented young designers in the competition living and breathing sustainability, their designs show creative flair and innovative thinking built on a strong foundation of sustainability."
Applications for the Redress Design Award were recieved from six continents, with strong interest from China making up 25% of the applications. Meanwhile designers from Bangladesh, Bulgaria and Hungary have made their debut into the competition.
The finalists will be announced on May 15.