CIRCULAR DESIGN CHALLENGE by Lakme Fashion Week, RElan and the UN Environment
Circular Design Challenge is a platform that was created to give upcoming sustainable brands and fashion entrepreneurs a voice and strong visibility to showcase their talents.
Launched in collaboration with Fashion for Earth by R|Elan™, UN Environment and Lakmè Fashion Week, it is one of India’s first and largest sustainable fashion challenges in the fashion, textiles and apparel industry.
The selection procedure is rigorous and only one winner is awarded a cash prize to kickstart their sustainable journey and take it to the next level.
On 31st Jan 2019, two of the CDC finalists used our fabrics and scraps to design their collection. It was a momentous occasion as the Indian fashion industry got a glimpse of hemp on one of the most prestigious platforms.
SEERAT VIRDI
A fashion designer from Ludhiana and founder of the brand Miesu, Seerat Virdi has a long-standing association with sustainable fashion. Having been a finalist at the Redress Fashion Award in Hong Kong, one of the largest platforms for sustainable designers, she is not unfamiliar with the concept and is well-known for upcycling and reusing wasted fabrics to create stunning designs that can be worn from day to night. For her CDC collection, Seerat used our 100% hemp woven fabric which was embroidered with Phulkari, an old Indian embroidery technique that’s native to the northern state of Punjab.
BHAVYA GOENKA
As a founder of zero-waste label Iro Iro, Bhavya primarily works with leftover cotton, linen, and denim. She also uses Aakh—an indigenous fiber from Rajasthan, which does not require water to grow and works with natural dyes like Indigo and Kashish that are created by artisans of Bagru, Rajasthan. Since the inception of her brand, Iro Iro has upcycled 1,500 kgs of scrap and supported 8 weaver families. At CDC, Bhavya took some of our leftover hemp fabric scraps and beautifully upcycled them in her collection.
