Seven global finalists dazzle during R|Elan Circular Design Challenge at Sustainable Fashion Day in Lakme Fashion Week

The finalists for the season included EU: Wenyan Xu & Meng Wang (Saltless); APAC: Tsang Fan Yu; UK: Silvia Acien (ACIEN); India: Gautam Malik (Jaggery), Ritwik Khanna (RKive City) and Chandini Batra (A Blunt Story).

Rashmick Bose and Drishti Modi (Lafaani) joined as wildcard entry from India.

The eminent jury for the final Circular Design Challenge (CDC) contest comprised fashion industry stalwarts.

Sara Sozzani Maino - creative director, Sozzani Foundation; Clare Press - Journalist, author and presenter; Anavila Misra - designer and social entrepreneur; Shombi Sharp - UN Resident Coordinator in India and Bhumi Pednekar - actor and UNDP India's national advocate for the SDGs.

The Rkive City label by Ritwik Khanna was declared the winner of the 6th Edition of the R|Elan Circular Design Challenge, while the Lafaani brand by Drishti Modi and Rashmick Bose was judged the runner-up.

Ritwick Khanna expressed his excitement. "I think essentially winning for us was just a matter of us getting to know what we believed in, and it is for others as well. The clothes that we make and the upcycling that we do, should encourage people of the next generation to believe that this is possible. I really thank everyone who has appreciated it"

Since its inception in 2018, the R|ElanCircular Design Challenge (CDC) has become a leading platform for emerging talent in sustainable fashion to showcase their circular innovations globally.

In its 6th Edition, R|Elan Circular Design Challenge has travelled across the globe, partnering with global entities like the British Council, Istituto Marangoni, and Redress to scout the most exciting innovators, a release said.

These journeys across continents hosted impressive juries attended by industry experts and key international media in London, Milan, Hong Kong, and Mumbai, all coming together to select the CDC Batch of 2024.

Presented by R|Elan, the next gen fabric brand of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), in partnership with the United Nations in India, CDC is committed to promoting a greener and more sustainable future by fostering eco-conscious creativity that addresses the pressing issue of waste and the carbon footprint of the fashion industry.

R|Elan Circular Design Challenge has been pivotal in driving India's fashion industry towards eco-consciousness and aims to provide a global platform for sustainable fashion and design talent to find scalable waste-reduction solutions. CDC originated in India six years ago with a mission to nurture emerging talent in the fashion industry. Last year marked its first global edition, expanding its reach and impact, the release said.

The CDC winner received funding worth Rs15 lakh, CDC Trophy, and a six-month mentorship program, along with a stand-alone showcase at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI in March 2025. The runner-up received funding worth Rs 5 lakh and mentorship.

The winner and runner-up will be mentored by Orsola de Castro, co-founder of Fashion Revolution and Creative Director of Estethica; and this influential partnership will provide invaluable guidance to the designers, the release said.

For the past few years, the CDC has identified and supported exceptional innovators who integrate fashion with environmentally friendly advancements. Notable winners include Without by Anish Malpani - recycling multi-layer packaging to make eyewear, I Was A Sari, which upcycles discarded saris to empower women artisans, and Bandit, which masters upcycling diverse materials into trendy eco-conscious products.

Moreover, the platform has supported over 25 alumni through workshops and networking, gradually transforming the fashion ecosystem towards sustainability.

Hemant D Sharma, President - Polyester, Reliance Industries Ltd, said: "At Reliance Industries, we are committed to pioneering sustainability. R|ElanCircular Design Challenge exemplifies our dedication to fostering innovation and circularity in the fashion industry. By identifying and supporting eco-conscious designers and incentivizing scalable circular solutions, we are working towards a greener future. Our efforts to reduce waste and inculcate sustainability in fashion reflect our broader goal of creating a circular economy that benefits both the environment and society".

Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, India said, "Responding to the UN Secretary-General's urgent call to 'make peace with nature', the UN in India is a proud partner of the CDC. For its second edition, CDC is once again joining hands with our partners in the various regions spotlighting designers and entrepreneurs, who practice circularity and sustainability in the fashion and textile industries. Together, we are helping drive innovations in energy efficiency, closed-loop systems, and the use of ethically produced materials, ensuring that the social and environmental impacts align with one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals."

Jaspreet Chandok, Group Vice President, Reliance Brands that organises Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with Fashion Design Council of India said, "Together with R|Elan and the United Nations in India, have made Circular Design Challenge India's largest global award for sustainability and circular fashion. CDC pushes the needle on climate action by discovering and mentoring circular fashion designers and innovators, helping them scale and empowering them to drive real impact. We envision transforming this platform into a global beacon of forward-thinking excellence, inviting groundbreaking partnerships worldwide."

CDC partners across borders include the British Council for the UK, Redress for Hong Kong / Asia Pacific, and Istituto Marangoni for the European Union.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Circular Design Challenge for a second year, uniting with Reliance Industries and United Nations in India, to support the next generation of designers, who are championing a more inclusive, responsible and regenerative industry. We hope that this platform will act as a catalyst for creativity - showcasing a diversity of sustainable practices from across different geographies, as well as facilitating knowledge exchange around alternative fashion systems," said Hannah Robinson, Architecture Design & Fashion department, British Council.

Dr. Christina Dean, Founder and Board Chair of Redress said, "We are delighted to support the CDC and Reliance Industries in hosting the second APAC jury event. Our mission at Redress is to educate and empower designers and consumers alike to pave the way for a circular fashion industry. As Asia is the world's largest producer and consumer of textiles and apparel, our work is strategically Asia-focused, and we're honoured to participate in the Asia-Pacific semi-final of this important initiative that recognizes our talented designers of the future."

Stefania Valenti, Managing Director, Istituto Marangoni said, "We are pleased to partner with CDC and Reliance Industries to host the second edition of the European selection chapter of the Circular Design Challenge. As one of the leading educational institutions focused on fashion, our mission is to train the new generation of designers for creating a culture of circularity and sustainable fashion and an eco-conscious mindset," Valenti said.

"Thanks to the past collaboration of one of our notable Alumni Fashion Designer, Rahul Mishra, with Reliance Brands, who supported him because of his strong commitment to sustainability, we are honoured to participate in this year's CDC edition with our emerging Alumni Fashion Designer, Rahul Mishra, with Reliance Brands, who supported him because of his strong commitment to sustainability, we are honoured to participate in this year's CDC edition with our emerging Alumni Designers that effectively represent this mindset," Valenti added,

The release said Tsang Fan Yu repurposes fabric waste from local Japanese sources, like kimonos and life jackets, blending them with natural materials such as pineapple fibre and apple vegan leather, reducing the need for virgin resources and diverting waste from landfills. He strives to create a closed-loop production system, ensuring that his pieces can be recycled or reused at the end of their life cycle. By encouraging collaboration in the textile industry, including manufacturers and brands, he helps foster innovation to tackle textile waste comprehensively.

Silvia Acien's brand Acien is all about inspirations from nature. "The Freckle" collection brought a merger of innovative regeneration by using Himalayan nettle, pineapple yarn, Tencel, regenerative merino wool and organic cotton. The ensembles were dyed with natural plants and used bacterial dyes to save water. One of the top regenerative knitwear designers, Silvia from Spain graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA in knitwear design. The collection was easy on the eye with colourful, relaxed wear.

Cool, strappy dresses, minis, blouses, pants and intricately knitted gilets were some of the eye-catchers. The buttons were created from corozo bane and hand crafted. Very interesting Spanish weaving techniques were used with dry branches gathered from Spanish mountains.

The Saltless brand by Meng Wang & Wenyan Xu was launched in 2019 in Milan's Zone Lima. It combined vintage Italian craftmanship with sustainability. Nearly 80 per cent of the products were from reuse of closet clutter, waste materials from tailoring, dead stock and cutting waste material from factories.

The latest collection was inspired by the film Oppenheimer that amalgamated the 1940's men's wear and military uniforms for a powerful women's wear line. Wenyan deconstructed WWII military uniforms, then added spray painting and sublimation fabric printing techniques. The bold, military styling for for jackets, skirts, multi pocket pants, gilets, coats, and maxis had a future forward appeal.

Turning waste into wearable art has always been Gautam Malik's mantra when he started Jaggery bags in 2018. Using discarded materials like car seatbelts, cargo belts, decommissioned army parachutes, ex-army canvas and old army tents, the brand unveiled a great line of garments.

The Blunt Story launched by Chandni Batra is a foot wear line that leaves a sustainable footprint. Created from plant based and recycled materials, the brand had removed all plastics from the making of the soles and abandoned the concept of crude oil paradigm.

Ritwik Khanna's brand Rkive City was all about using waste by deconstructing garments, when old jeans are turned into orange jackets. Upcycling denim has been the brand's specialty with a research and design approach that focused on post-consumer textile waste usage. The collection called "First Conclusion" was visualised from old threads, zippers buttons and everything that was saved for future use, the release said.

Since the time Drishti Modi and Rashmick Bose launched the Lafaani label three years ago the brand has come a long way. They had a firm belief to design 100 per cent bio degradable clothing for both sexes. Their passion was hand embroidery that would be incorporated on zero waste projects. The Lafaani creations were multi-functional, versatile garments with interchangeable uses. The pair used Kala Cotton from Gujarat, temple flowers from Maharashtra for hand painted textiles, besides cottons from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal, the release said. (ANI)