On November 10^th, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), at London College of Fashion, announced the winners of this year’s Fashioning the Future Awards — themed UNIQUE.

Congratulations to Ashley Brock (United States), Sara Emilie Terp Hansen (Denmark), Evelyn Lebis (Sweden), Christian Frank Muller (Germany) Alice Payne (Australia), and Lara Torres (Portugal).

Here is a taste of just two of the award winning entries (now added to the ‘Projects for Change’ collection on the left):

“Man sinking to the floor” from “An impossible wardrobe for the invisible,” by Lara Torres, is “a video installation showcasing water soluble clothing in order to comment upon the transient and disposable nature of fashion.” (CSF) Click here to view the entire series of performances.

“Lara Torres present’s the recordings/documentation of seven performances in a video screening. These videos are based in the creation of temporary clothes that are produced with the aim of being destroyed. They refer to the los[s] of the object and the documentation of this loss. The action of effacing the clothes leaves a trace (the seams) translating a strong relation with memory and forgetfulness.” (Lara Torres, An impossible wardrobe for the invisible: vimeo)

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ThinkLifecycle, by Alice Payne, is “a widely applicable content management system joining new and existing industry practices in order for companies to evolve towards a sustainable fashion industry.” (CSF)

“The ThinkLifecycle CMS grew from the need for sustainability to be a central concern within the mass market design process, rather than a tacked-on extra. Mass market fashion is affordable, accessible and democratic. However, it is based on a linear model of production where resources are extracted en masse, manufactured into garments and then sold to consumers, who rapidly dispose of them to purchase new product.” (ThinkLifecycle)

 

Congratulations to all the winners, finalists, organizers and participants!

Source: the CSF

Photo Credit: Alex Maguire, via the CSF

The 2011 Ethical Fashion Forum INNOVATION Award winners (UK) and shortlisted candidates (USA) have been announced!

With an expert judging panel, the INNOVATION award inspires and rewards, with winners showcased through widespread press coverage, an opportunity to show at Pure London (August) or Nolcha Fashion Week (September) and a professional photoshoot.

Head on over to EFF site to check out all the details:

EKO – Winner of Pure Award

Chichia for Made by Africa – Winner of Pure Award

Caipora – Winner of Accessories Award

A.L.A.S – Winner of PURE Spirit Award

Genuine Article – Winner of One to Watch Award

ULTRA – Winner of Innovation in Design and Sourcing Award

Shortlisted candidates for the Innovation USA Award have also been announced:

ADO Clothing

AFIA

The Andean Collection

Auralis Inc

AVNI

Carrie Parry

ETHOS

MADIT TUISK

MODAHNIK

SOHAM DAVE

Congratulations to EFF, INNOVATION Award winners and all shortlisted entries!

Young designers, recent graduates, and design students! Redress Hong Kong has released a design brief for the first EcoChic Design Award held in Hong Kong S.A.R. To participate, you must be a Hong Kong resident, between 18-30 years old, in your final year of school or recently graduated with less than 5 years work experience.  Register online at www.ecochicdesignaward.com

The deadline for the first round is February 28th on which you must submit 4 marketable outfits designed with an 18-25 year old Hong Kong chic in mind. There are 3 rounds. Finalists will compete for:

• An internship with Orsola de Castro designer of From Somewhere based in London
• Design a recycled textile capsule collection for Esprit
• Featured in EcoChic fashion shows and exhibitions in 2011

Good luck!

If you’re interested in the events that go along with this competition like the EcoChic Design Academy and Reform: The Exhibition, be sure to check out the calendar page.

***The responsible fashion scene in Asia isn’t ‘huge’. Thank you Redress Hong Kong for building up awareness, and opportunities for those passionate about sustainable fashion. Special thanks to Christina Dean from Redress Hong Kong for letting us know about this amazing opportunity!!!

Attention tutors, students, and recent graduates! The Centre for Sustainable Fashion has launched the 2011 Fashioning the Future Award brief.

• What kind of world are you designing for?
• What is your motivation as a designer?
• What is your unique contribution to our collective futures?

To participate, you must register your interest online: www.sustainable-fashion.com from1 October 2010 where you will have access to resources and ideas to stimulate your work.

Here are the submission dates and deadlines:

Round 1 of submission: you will be required to submit your work online by 15 June 2011.

Candidates who are shortlisted from Round 1 will be invited to Round 2!

Round 2 submission deadline: July 2011.

Good luck!

Source: Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion

“The IIT Institute of Design’s 9th Annual Design Research Conference (DRC) will be held at the Spertus Institute in downtown Chicago on May 10-12th 2010. It will feature exceptional international speakers and opportunities to spend time with our brilliant community of designers, planners, researchers, educators, students, managers and executives concerned with understanding people.” (drc)

This year’s conference includes a design research competition. The deadline to apply is April 2^nd, but hey…you still have 3 days! The winners will get to speak at the conference, and will be included in the program.

Click here to apply! Good Luck!

Check out this year’s speakers:

Tim Brown | IDEO

Martha Cotton | gravitytank

Erica Eden | Smart Design, Femme Den

Kim Erwin | IIT Institute of Design

Diane Fraley | D.S. Fraley Associates

Heather Fraser | Rotman Designworks

Usman Haque | Pachube

Cathy Huang | China Bridge International

Stokes Jones | Lodestar

Anjali Kelkar | Studio for Design Research

Diane Lee | Smart Design

Yvonne Lin | Smart Design, Femme Den

Gerald Lombardi | Hall & Partners

Doug Look | Autodesk

Bill Lucas | LUMA Institute, MAYA Design

Don Norman | Nielsen Norman Group

Sona Patadia | PDT

Ron Pierce | Stuart Karten Design

Heather Reavey | Continuum

Rick E. Robinson | Sideriver Ventures

Rob Tannen | Bresslergroup

Paula Wellings | Adaptive Path

Eric Wilmot | Wolff Olins

Lisa Yanz | PDT

Title: drc: Design Research Conference 2010// IIT Institute of Design
Location: Chicago
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-10
End Date: 2010-05-12

Dilys Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, has been included in the Selection Committee, and will be judging the Fashion category, along with other designers, architects, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, humanitarians, environmentalists and spiritual leaders.

Here is the mission of the awards:

Human imagination and ingenuity are the impetus of every good design. All across the world, people from every walk of life are generating good design ideas that offer groundbreaking solutions to the ecological and social challenges of the 21st century. The Earth Awards provides a platform for these visionary ideas, presenting a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations worldwide to expose their design innovations to a global audience. The Earth Awards is committed to the idea of popularizing the most viable of these innovations, and transforming them into market-ready solutions.

The submission period closes May 10^th. Good Luck!

Check out this video of last year’s finalists!

Source: CSF

Who’s your favourite responsible Canadian designer?

Fashion Takes Action (FTA) has officially launched Canada’s 1^st annual eco design award, Design Forward.

I had the pleasure of working on this project, and I am so excited that Social Alterations could support this important initiative in Canada,  and I will explain the extent of our participation in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Here are the nominees:

• Thieves
• Elladora  
• Elroy
• Paper People Clothing
• Laura Chenoweth
• Revolve Clothing Co.
• Nicole Bridger
• Salts Organic
• Preloved
• Lav & Kush
• deux fm
• Nixxi
• flora&fauna
• We3 (twigg&hottie)

All the information you need has been made available to you, the public, and you are invited to vote online for the designer you believe best represents ‘eco design’ in Canada. Once you have cast your vote, the decision will be left in the hands of the jury, who will select their winning choice from the top three finalists.

The criterion for voting is based on production, material, design, and special features. Take your time getting to know each designer: you only get one vote, so make it count!

Check out the prize, valued at approximately $50,000!

• A free membership in Fashion Takes Action
• A three-month national PR campaign, provided by Third Eye Media
• Feature in EcoSalon – the number one green fashion blog!
• Participation at Nolcha Fashion Week’s Ethical Fashion Preview in NYC in September 2010
• Travel and accommodations for two, provided by Air Miles Reward Program
• 75 meters of eco-friendly fabric, supplied by Telio (to make a sample collection to show in NYC)
• Look book photo shoot with full creative team including photographer, models, hair & makeup and stylist
• Look book graphic design by pencil design
• $1,000 towards Fair trade and Organic certification, provided by Ecocert.

The voting will close @ midnight on Friday, April 16^th.

To all the designers, we wish you luck!

Your Green Idea (M&S, 2010)

As a part of M&S’s ambitious Plan A scheme they are looking for the ultimate green idea. As consumers we are always on the look out for better shopping experiences and if it is beneficial to our planet it is even better.

On their Plan A website M&S says: “Working with our customers over the last couple of years, our Oxfam Clothes Exchange has recycled 4 million garments, our bag-charging scheme has saved 600 million bags and we’ve reused or recycled 350 million coat hangers. But that’s only the beginning.”

Now M&S is looking for your green ideas.

So get your thinking cap on. Next time you’re in M&S think about a way our customers can shop for the better. You could use our ideas as inspiration or come up with your own. Think green, but think big. And here’s a thought – if your brainwave is picked as the ultimate green idea it could be seen by 21 million people every week at over 700 M&S stores. And, what’s more, you could win £100,000 for your favourite organisation to spend on their green initiative. It could be for a school, local community project, a small business or charity… it’s up to you.
You’re the brains.

This is a great opportunity, regardless of  your background, to have a positive impact on the future of consumerism.

More details about the competition can be found here.

Source: M&S Plan A website.

Events:

25^th February 2010: Fairwear Fashion Show at Bristol Cathedral featuring the premiere of the Emma Watson collection for People Tree as well as many more fair trade fashion brands. Booking essential to avoid disappointment

8^th and 9^th May 2010: The Slow Textiles Conference at the Stroud International Textiles Festival in Gloucestershire. This two day event aims to be a comprehensive introduction to the subject and to stimulate discussion in and around the various and overarching themes central to Slow. Speakers include Becky Earley, Emma Neuberg, Clara Vuletich and Philippa Brock. For further information and to book tickets.

14^th May: Create Sustain Ability: The Art Design Media Subject Centre’s (ADM-HEA) 2010 Annual Forum will focus on the subject of Education for Sustainable Development. The Forum aims to support art design and media subjects to develop curricula and pedagogy that will help students develop the skills and knowledge to live and work sustainably. For information on submitting an abstract to the conference or registering to attend.

Resources:

Book: Clean Clothes: a global movement to end sweatshops. The worldwide anti-sweatshop Clean Clothes Campaign marked its twentieth year in 2009. To coincide with the anniversary a new book on the movement was launched, Clean Clothes, by Dutch writer and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter.

Opportunities:

Competition: No Chains t-shirt design competition - a collaborative project undertaken by the two worker cooperatives La Alameda in Argentina and Dignity Returns in Thailand, seeks artists, designers, and activists to assist in creating images for a global sweat-free brand of t-shirts to be launched in April 2010. Deadline for applications is the 25^th February 2010. For more information and to get involved.

Competition: Student Essay Competition – ADM-HEA invites students on UK-based art, design or media higher education courses to enter this year’s essay competition and answer the question; Learning to live sustainably – how can your subject area contribute? The overall winning submission will receive £250.

Internships: Himalayan Highlands Summer Exhibitions Ltd, currently the largest importer of Fair Trade products into Scotland, are looking for a Knitwear Design intern and a Fashion Designer/project manager to be based in Kathmandu Nepal. The deadline for application is the 10^th February.

Competition: 2010 Green Gown Awards – this year’s awards are now open for submissions. The Green Gown Awards, now in their 6th year, recognise exceptional initiatives being taken by universities and colleges across the UK to become more sustainable.

News:

Improving factory conditions in Bangladesh: This month BBC Radio 4’s Just Business reported on the story of Windy Group, a supplier in Dhaka, which illustrates the power that fashion retailers have to bring about real change for workers.

With the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games just around the corner, the Play Fair Alliance are calling on sportswear brands, such as Nike, adidas, and Puma, to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains. Find out what your favourite sportswear brand is, or is not doing, to ensure workers’ rights are respected.

For more on “Clearing the Hurdles,” click here.

Source: FEI

Source: Puff and Flock and Create10