Manila-based designer CJ Martin is one of the 11 finalists for the Redress Design Awards 2018, the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition.
Leveraging strong support from over 100 tertiary fashion education partners, the 2018 cycle of the competition was Redress’ first truly global search for talent. During the two-month open application phase, their unique online “Learn” platform saw over 5,500 visitors exploring content on the numerous environmental issues in the fashion industry and the innovative design techniques that can be used to tackle waste, which resulted in a record number of applications from 56 regions around the world.
“For this Redress Design Award cycle, we scoured the world looking for the best-emerging designers to tackle fashion’s underbelly—waste. With an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste generated annually—a truly staggering figure that is projected to increase to 148 million tons annually by 2030—there is not a moment to lose as we passionately cultivate more fashion changemakers,” said Redress founder and board chair Dr. Christina Dean.
She added, “Our search was rewarded; the designers are demonstrating the creative and commercial potential of the wide breadth of untapped textile waste streams from the fashion industry and beyond.”
The finalists sourced inspiration from a range of complex and topical issues such as climate change, war, gender identity, over-consumption, and how the internet has altered our relationships with one another.
Martin’s entry is inspired by time-lapse images of receding and calving glaciers captured in the environmental documentary Chasing Ice. In a bid to shine a light on the detrimental effects of climate change, he applied the design techniques of up-cycling and reconstruction to the contrasting natural and man-made fibers of secondhand denim jeans and polyester curtains and he used a color palette that mirrors the tundra surrounding the glaciers.
“To me, sustainable fashion is about creating a positive balance in the design process by innovating with the excess we already have, while protecting depleted resources,” said Martin.
Martin will compete against other finalists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark, India, and Australia. They will each create five-piece collections from their homes and will be showcased at the Grand Final fashion show at HKTDC’s CENTRESTAGE Fashion Week on Sept. 6.
The grand prize winner will get an all-expense paid educational trip to Hong Kong and will join the new up-cycle fashion brand, The R Collective, to design a collection for retail using textile waste.
