Redress Fashion Workshop

Christina Wong, Fashion Design

With the financial support of SiAG, Cassandra McIndoe, Isabell Ferger and myself, Christina Wong, were able to go to Sheffield for a workshop hosted by Redress. Redress is an organisation based in Hong-Kong aiming to raise awareness about the negative impacts of the fashion industry on the environment. Redress actively engages with industries in China, with students, consumers and new designers. They also organise the biggest upcycling fashion competition; The Redress Design Award.

The speakers at the workshop came from a range of backgrounds; textile, marketing and also Kate Morris who is the winner of the Redress Design Award of 2017. They addressed in different ways how it is necessary to demand companies to become more transparent, and how as future designers, have a responsibility. We got more insight about how branding and marketing are important if we want to change the fashion industry. They encouraged authenticity in our work and also the use of technology to find solutions. By referring to how progressive brands such as Patagonia, Nike, Artez and Mudjeans are approaching sustainability in different ways, this enhanced my understanding of how big brands can improve their business models. These techniques range between assessing the material, re-thinking of the design, upcycling, or providing new services within the industry to facilitate re-use and recycling. We also watched Frontline Fashion 2 to understand the finalists’ journey to the Redress Design Award. Kate Morris, the winner of 2017 was also there, presented her work and elaborated on her approach to sustainability.

It was also a great opportunity to network with the amazing speakers we met. Cassandra and myself stayed after the workshop and had the chance to speak to Roger Bateman, the Deputy Head of the school of design at the Sheffield Hallam University. It was an exciting encounter as he actively supports the design departments to engage with sustainability in their curriculum. Therefore, it was great to discuss with an educator with experience about how us as students could help change that in GSA.

After coming back to Glasgow from the workshop, I was motivated to participate in the Redress Design Award. I was later selected among the 30 semi-finalists, and also was the first weaver and GSA student to ever be selected. Although I did not make it to the finals, I hope to re-apply next year with a stronger application!

With the help of SiAG, this trip to Sheffield also led the Responsive Art and Design to host a screening of Frontline Fashion 2 the financial support of SiAG, Cassandra McIndoe, Isabell Ferger and myself, Christina Wong, were able to go to Sheffield for a workshop hosted by Redress. Redress is an organisation based in Hong-Kong aiming to raise awareness about the negative impacts of the fashion industry on the environment. Redress actively engages with industries in China, with students, consumers and new designers. They also organise the biggest upcycling fashion competition; The Redress Design Award.

The speakers at the workshop came from a range of backgrounds; textile, marketing and also Kate Morris who is the winner of the Redress Design Award of 2017. They addressed in different ways how it is necessary to demand companies to become more transparent, and how as future designers, have a responsibility. We got more insight about how branding and marketing are important if we want to change the fashion industry. They encouraged authenticity in our work and also the use of technology to find solutions. By referring to how progressive brands such as Patagonia, Nike, Artez and Mudjeans are approaching sustainability in different ways, this enhanced my understanding of how big brands can improve their business models. These techniques range between assessing the material, re-thinking of the design, upcycling, or providing new services within the industry to facilitate re-use and recycling. We also watched Frontline Fashion 2 to understand the finalists’ journey to the Redress Design Award. Kate Morris, the winner of 2017 was also there, presented her work and elaborated on her approach to sustainability.

It was also a great opportunity to network with the amazing speakers we met. Cassandra and myself stayed after the workshop and had the chance to speak to Roger Bateman, the Deputy Head of the school of design at the Sheffield Hallam University. It was an exciting encounter as he actively supports the design departments to engage with sustainability in their curriculum. Therefore, it was great to discuss with an educator with experience about how us as students could help change that in GSA.

After coming back to Glasgow from the workshop, I was motivated to participate in the Redress Design Award. I was later selected among the 30 semi-finalists, and also was the first weaver and GSA student to ever be selected. Although I did not make it to the finals, I hope to re-apply next year with a stronger application!

With the help of SiAG, this trip to Sheffield also led the Responsive Art and Design to host a screening of Frontline Fashion 2 at GSA on the 25th of May. We also had Kate Morris with us to give a lecture to share her journey to the competition. Kate’s approach was very interesting by the way she researched about sustainable fashion and tested her own ideas and concepts.