Red Carpet Green Dress opens 2021 design contest

Global sustainable design competition Red Carpet Green Dress has opened its 2021 edition in partnership with Tencel and 3D garment design software Clo Virtual Fashion, challenging designers to submit a digitally designed, sustainably produced red carpet-worthy outfit.

The international contest, open to talented designers over the age of 21, aims to kickstart the career of fashion’s next generation with the winning designs set to be worn by a Red Carpet Green Dress ambassador from the world of fashion and media. The two winners will also receive access to the Red Carpet Green Dress sustainability network, business mentorship and a monetary prize.

This years contest has a focus on sustainable textile innovations, with the winning designs to be rendered as one-of-a-kind pieces in Clo’s cutting-edge true-to-life 3D garment simulation software and then made using Tencel branded fibres that are botanic in origin and biodegradable.

The unveiling of the winning looks will take place at this year’s Red Carpet Green Dress event in Los Angeles in September. The event will showcase the power of sustainable design using fabrics made with Tencel fibres or Tencel Luxe filament with a spotlight on regeneration, circularity and decarbonisation.

The event will also present the 2020 contest winning designs by Sanah Sharma from Chennai, India, and Jasmine Kelly Rutherford from New York, US, after the postponement of the Red Carpet Green Dress pre-Oscars event in early 2021 to comply with global Covid-19 safety protocols.

Emerging designers having until August 23 to enter, with the winners set to be announced in September, chosen by a judging panel including Suzy Amis Cameron, founder of Red Carpet Green Dress, Harold Weghorst, vice president of global marketing and branding at Lenzing AG, celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger and Abrima Erwiah, co-founder of One Eighty Nine.

Samata Pattinson, chief executive of Red Carpet Green Dress, said in a statement: “The emerging design community is one of the most exciting and rewarding to work with - it is full of immense talent, inspiring creativity and uplifting hope.

“We are so excited to be working with Tencel to showcase the future of sustainable textiles, and with Clo to showcase the future of design creativity through software. This years contest will give 2 lucky winners the opportunity to broaden their horizons and become part of our network of leaders in the space. I am excited and can’t wait to see the final winning designs!”

The Red Carpet Green Dress competition was conceived in 2009 by Suzy Amis Cameron during the press tour for her husband, James Cameron’s film ‘Avatar’. It calls on designers to design eco-friendly garments with a no-waste, circular economy approach, with social impact consideration, including fair and humane treatment of manufacturers, a clear supply chain and, importantly, materials, which use a high proportion of eco-friendly and recycled materials.