COMING CLEAN

Waste has long been the fashion industry’s dirty secret, but thanks to the efforts of these sustainability champions in the field, we’re beginning to see change

- Cherry Mui and Andrea Lo

The equivalent of a rubbish truck-full of unwanted clothing ends up in landfill every second worldwide, according to the Hong Kong-based non-profit environmental organisation Earth.org. To create a change in brands’ and manufacturers’ business strategies, in consumer behaviour and in government regulations is no mean feat, but thanks to the efforts of those advocating for change, we might finally be moving in the right direction. Tatler speaks to Christina Dean of sustainable fashion NGO Redress, Dounia Wone of luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective, and Edwin Keh of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel to learn about how they’re moving the needle.

CHRISTINA DEAN, REDRESS 

Christina Dean founded the NGO Redress in Hong Kong in 2007 with a mission to promote sustainability in fashion. She is also behind The R Collective, a social impact brand which reuses and recycles fashion waste; and Haustage, a sustainable fashion and lifestyle boutique. Having been away from Hong Kong since Covid began, she returned this year and now splits her time between the SAR and London. The Redress Design Award, an annual sustainable fashion design competition that spotlights talents in the field, will take place in September.

What are your goals now that you’ll be spending time on this side of the world again?
Redress always has big goals; we never lack motivation and muscle when facing our huge mission of accelerating the change to a circular fashion industry by educating and empowering designers and consumers.