Note from our Founder

The road to circularity is not a straight route. 

Getting the fashion industry to change from a linear system — of take, make, use, and waste — to a circular economy — where materials never become waste, nature is regenerated, and responsibility is taken for the product’s entire lifecycle and its impact on the planet — is full of twists and turns.

Despite this, all fashion travellers — from designers to brands, suppliers, investors, legislators, consumers — must be on the same road with the same circular destination. Without this, fashion’s negative impacts, from textile waste to microplastics, and climate impact to chemical use, will continue rising unabated. And we know from the floods, fires, and droughts that we don’t have the luxury of time on our side. More likely, we are out of time. 

Fashion designers are key partners on our common circularity adventure. Eighty percent of a product’s environmental impact is laid down at the design stage. That is why Redress educates emerging designers through the Redress Design Award, the world’s leading sustainable fashion design competition that is cultivating a global movement of designers who are paving the road towards circularity.

This year’s Redress Design Award magazine cover, ‘Circularity: Shaping the Future of Fashion’ calls on this new wave of designers to inspire the path ahead. Urgently. 

It’s a complex journey. We know that. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Who's journeying towards circularity with us?

Dr. Christina Dean
Founder and Board Chair, Redress