From the Sector

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) named the winners of ‘RECO Young Designer Competition’, Thailand's largest upcycling fashion design event, parading haute couture garments containing at least 60% recycled materials.

Eleven finalists showcased 33 handmade sustainable outfits at the 9th edition of the fashion show at IVL’s headquarters in Bangkok, using recycled PET and polyester items to craft creative fashions. Under the concept of ‘REVIVE: Start from the Street,’ RECO supports young Thai designers while raising awareness of recycling. The designs use a range of recycled materials including recycled PET yarns, discarded fabric from factories, and even repurposed safety belts.

RECO awarded finalists and winners with 500,000 baht in prizes to support their careers. First prize of 125,000 baht was awarded to 23-year-old emerging furniture designer Prem Buachum for his ‘The Origin of Rebirth’ collection, using fabric recycled from post-consumer PET bottles. The first runner-up, Sathitkhun Boonmee, was awarded 75,000 baht for his ‘Remembering Your Favorite Teddy Bear’ collection, using old dolls made of polyester fibers. Second runners-up, Worameth Monthanom and Tanakorn Sritong, received 50,000 baht for their ‘Regeneration of Nature (into Spring)’ collection, using unused fabrics and discarded PET film. Napat Tansuwan, a finalist with his’ Don’t Judge’ collection, will go on to create designer merchandise for sponsor Buriram United Football Club using local weaving techniques from communities in Buriram province.

Mrs. Aradhana Lohia Sharma, Vice President at Indorama Ventures and RECO Young Designer Competition Chairperson, said, “Since 2011, RECO's ambition has been to uplift recycling and inspire people to realize the value of recyclable materials to produce great new products for daily life. We have witnessed many thoughtful initiatives on upcycling through the collections created by our talented young Thai designers. The designs this year showcase stunning wearability and innovation while using a large percentage of recycle materials. Public interest in recycling has been growing immensely, and we are grateful to strengthen the relationship with partners like Buriram United Football Club.”

“Indorama Ventures hopes this competition will be a driving force in nurturing sustainable fashion concepts and increasing the acceptance of recycled materials, especially post-consumer PET. We are proud to be a stepping-stone for our youth's design journey and our community’s sustainable future.”

• EMMA SCALCON is the winner of the first edition of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION AWARD, an international competition for communication in sustainable fashion.

The award was established in October 2020 by Connecting Cultures and C.L.A.S.S. with the aim of creating new visual imagery and innovative communication models in sustainable fashion. Stylists, photographers, designers, illustrators, artists and other creatives, invited to rethink how to communicate the new generation of values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system, joined the open and international call.

The name of the winner of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition was announced during a webinar on March 30th at 4pm led by Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub; Anna Detheridge, President of Connecting  Cultures; Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London; and Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts.

Born in Padua, Italy, 22 years old, and a student in her second year in Textile & Fashion Design at IAAD - Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design, Emma Scalcon won the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition with her project TAKE A WALK ON THE GREEN SIDE, designing communications crafted with strong and impactful images and simple but detailed wording intended for younger consumers to inform them about sustainable fashion issues.

Scalcon ranked first among the finalists selected by a high profile jury composed of:
·   Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
·   Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
·   Rita Airaghi, Director, Gianfranco Ferré Foundation
·   Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Jeanine Ballone, Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
·   Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
·   Chiara Luisi, Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Sustainable Strategies, Council of Fashion Designers of America  
·   Dio Kurazawa, Socio fondatore, The Bear Scouts
·   Renata Molho, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
·   Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London
·   Stefania Ricci, Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Emma Scalcon was awarded the €3,000 prize, made possible by the Main Sponsor ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei and by the other sponsors of the project: ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei - a latest generation fabric collection that promotes responsible innovation with advanced high-tech performance, C.L.A.S.S., and the Greek smart cotton SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos.
 
“It is time to be pioneers in communication and for this we have supported the Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award,” commented Takaaki Kondo, global marketing department manager for ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, the Main Sponsor of the award. ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei is a high quality stretch fibre with an innovative range of intelligent functions to satisfy every modern wardrobe need for sports, underwear, and fashion. “We believe that together with responsible innovation, communication is the key to bring sustainability to the next level: to inspire, educate, inform and allow both professionals and consumers to make the right choices.”

“The competition is an opportunity to rethink how to communicate the new and different values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system,” explained Anna Detheridge. “I am quite impressed with the results of the competition — the diversity of forms that we received show both an interesting change in sensibility and a practical approach to communicating these values. There is less visual rhetoric and reliance on compelling images and more investment in basic information and a greater variety of narratives.

It is a great pleasure to see the energies from a wealth of young creatives, small businesses, and designers from all over the world with cross-disciplinary interests and a diversity of talents who are ushering in a new culture of design. My heartiest congratulations go to Emma Scalcon".

“I completely agree with Anna's comments on the quality of the work submitted by participants in the competition and together we have renewed our intention to continue IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION into 2021 with a new edition of the award,” stated Giusy Bettoni. “After this initial experience, we find ourselves even more motivated to explore some of the themes that emerged during the selection process, in particular those regarding the ethics of intellectual and cultural property, a topical issue in an industry like fashion. For this reason, we are already working together on organizing a webinar on this topic with outside specialists, including legal experts.”

 21 Grams, the group comprised of Veronica De Nigris, Serena Paone e Immacolata Esposito, won a special contest open to the public among the finalists selected by the jury, receiving the most votes from Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S.’s corporate Instagram profile. The media partner for the initiative is Renoon, the leading search tool and data hub for sustainable fashion, a rising start-up of the year, aggregating +190 brands offering sustainable options to consumers. 

ILUNA Group and ROICA™ continue their close partnership to present the most “advanced” and responsible innovations to the market today. ILUNA GREEN LABEL lace collections made with premium stretch thanks to the use of the unique ROICA ™ Eco Smart GRS certified family- now offer the next evolution: a new stretch Galloon lace to be combined with mesh and lace fabrics collections, now fully made with GRS certified materials. This new evolution offers the right choice to contemporary consumers in products that are beautiful, high quality and sustainable.
This is in addition to a decision last year when the ILUNA GROUP converted all their stretch yarn exclusively to the unique ROICA™ Eco Smart family for all of its top of the range jacquardtronic and Textronic articles.
To reinforce this commitment, ILUNA can also celebrate its new STeP (Sustainable Textile Production) certification by Oeko-Tex, a certification that clarifies and communicates the company’s sustainable production commitment regarding manufacturing and processing to all its partners and customers in a transparent, clear manner.
Fashion & ILUNA feature on the catwalk in Paris with the ‘Momenti Di Passione’ fashion show at the Interfiliere salon on 8th to 10th July. Here you will be able to enjoy a dazzling and exciting new range of bold ECO flocking beachwear & cover up.
And at the show, breakthrough fabric designs from ILUNA show a revolutionary quality in the new Burano collection: a range of decorative, macramé precious pattern effects that are diaphanous and semi-sheer styles that use at their heart the ROICA™ Eco Smart premium stretch family exclusively.