In 2013, Michael Badger took RCGD’s top honors when he created a gold GOTS-certified silk crepe de Chine dyed by Penny Walsh. The dye process used a formula based on chamomile and goldenrod seeds and the garment—worn by actor Naomie Harris—included recycled details. | Photo courtesy of RCGD
FASHION
RCGD Partners With Tencel, CLO for Global Design Contest
Red Carpet Green Dress, a women-led global change-making organization, has launched the 2021 RCGD Global Design Contest in partnership with sustainable-fiber producer Tencel and 3D garment-design-software provider CLO.
The international design contest enables talent from all over the world to enter the prestigious competition. Open to fresh and established designers over the age of 21, the contestants are often looking to begin or continue their careers, which are often guided by an interest in or passion for sustainability.
“Fashion touches every part of the globe,” said Red Carpet Green Dress Chief Executive Officer Samata Pattinson about making the contest global. “It felt like a no-brainer.”
Focusing on sustainable-textile innovations using the Tencel brand, designers can submit their applications at rcgdglobal.com until Aug. 23. The winners will be selected by an international panel of design experts, including RCGD founder and leading environmentalist Suzy Amis Cameron.
“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,” Pattinson said. “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 year’s contest will give two lucky winners the opportunity to broaden their horizons and become part of our network of leaders in the space.”
The winning designs will be created in the fall from Tencel-branded fibers as one-of-a-kind pieces planned through CLO’s cutting-edge, true-to-life, 3D garment-simulation software. Each winning design will also be worn to the RCGD event by an RCGD ambassador.
“As a first-time partner of Red Carpet Green Dress, we are very excited to be working with them on their annual global design competition and to be the exclusive 3D-technology provider powering the digital twin of the winning garments,” said CLO Virtual Fashion CEO Simon Kim. “We believe that technology is the answer to helping designers and companies operate more sustainably and hope that contest participants are inspired to integrate CLO into their current and future processes to truly amplify their creativity and expand their ability to experiment with designs in a socially responsible way.”
The 2021 RCGD event is focused on showing the power of sustainable design using fabrics made with Tencel fibers—both botanic in origin and biodegradable—or Tencel Luxe filament. The event will specifically highlight environmental themes of regeneration, circularity and decarbonization.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Red Carpet Green Dress this year, and we can’t wait to be inspired by the innovative ideas that we will see,” said Harold Weghorst, Lenzing AG vice president of global marketing and branding. “By bringing together young and established talents, we hope to encourage more designers to take a proactive step toward building a more eco-friendly fashion world through experimenting with sustainable materials like Tencel-branded fibers in their designs. As we continue to lay the foundation for a more sustainable fashion future, eco-friendly materials and timeless fashion pieces will become mainstream choices among designers, brands and consumers.”
The winning designers will be announced in September. Prizes awarded to the winners include the opportunity to dress prominent talent in the fashion and media industry for a high-profile red-carpet moment, presenting work to an audience of sustainability leaders and innovators, a monetary award, a meeting with RCGD campaign founder Amis Cameron, a business mentorship with Pattinson and an invitation to join the 2021 Red Carpet Green Dress event.
In addition to Amis Cameron, the other judges for the RCGD Global Design Contest are Weghorst, celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger and Abrima Erwiah, co-founder of Studio One Eighty Nine.
The 2021 RCGD event will also present the 2020 contest-winning designs by Sanah Sharma Mehra and Jasmine Kelly Rutherford after COVID-19 forced the postponement of the RCGD pre–Academy Awards event earlier this year.
