This article was originally published on Vogue Business by Sujata Assomull
Photo: CDC Alumni, I Was a Sari
A leading sustainability initiative from India aims to become a global platform for young fashion design talent rooted in circularity from across the world.
At Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) in Delhi this October, finalists of the Circular Design Challenge (CDC) will take to the runway to show off their collections of upcycled designs, made using materials such as banana crop waste, factory surplus fibres and zero-waste pattern-making techniques. Circular design principles, social impact, the UN’s sustainable development goals and the potential for scalability were front of mind.
The annual design competition — India’s largest sustainable fashion award — encourages waste upcycling and material innovation with the aim of reducing fashion’s environmental impact through circularity, says Rakesh Bali, senior vice president and head of marketing at Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. CDC is presented by Reliance-owned brand R-Elan, the next-gen fabric brand of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), in association with the United Nations in India. For the global expansion this year, CDC has partnered with the British Council in the UK, Istituto Marangoni in the EU and Redress in the APAC regions. This year’s competition was opened up to global designers for the first time with regional rounds held in Milan, London and Hong Kong.