LFW shortlists designers for Circular Design Challenge

The Circular Design Challenge is India’s first sustainability award in fashion. This is an initiative launched by Reliance, Lakme Fashion Week and the United Nations. With over 900 registrations from more than 30 cities, eight designers have been selected, one of which will take home the cash prize of Rs 20 lakh.

The eight shortlisted designers are: Aiman Sabri, Aman Singh, Bhavya Goenka, Poornima Pande and Stefano Funari, Kanika Ahuja, Pooja Monga, Seerat Virdi and Kriti Tula. They have all incorporated waste fabrics in their collections while also looking at the aesthetic quotient, business viability and value chain aspects.

India is the top importer of used clothes—clothes that would have otherwise ended up in landfill—that are broken down into yarn and then rewoven into fabric used to make blankets. Sustainability in fashion has been gaining more weightage rather than just being a mere buzzword. Leading luxury labels have banned fur and exotic animal skins from their collections in an attempt to address animal rights. One detrimental impact of the fashion industry on the environment is the sheer amount of waste created by fashion houses and consumers alike.