EcoChic Design Award 14/15 Finalist, Laurensia Salim

Singapore  Finalist Laurensia Salim
Image Courtesy of Redress Asia

I'm always very excited this time of year because it is when Redress Asia announces the finalists of the EcoChic Design Award, an award that promotes the vision of an environmentally low-impact fashion industry. This year, Laurensia Salim of Singapore is one of ten emerging sustainable fashion designers from around Asia and Europe who will show off her competing designs at the The EcoChic Design Award 2014/15 Grand Final at HKTDC Fashion Week in late January 2015.

Laurensia is a student at the Raffles Design Institute Singapore, and will be using upcycling and reconstruction techniques for her collection. I had the opportunity to interview her.

What made you decide to take part in the EcoChic Awards? 

I want to challenge myself by taking part in the EcoChic Design Awards, and to know how far I can go in designing sustainable fashion. I also want to expand my knowledge on how to create better fashion, which means less harm to others and the environment.

Why did you use mostly jeans waste material, and how did you source for it? Were there any difficulties?

Due to its construction and material, the quality of jeans does not deteriorate as much (compared with other textiles) with time. The effect that is given by jeans compliments my theme. There is a lot of jeans waste because almost everyone owns a pair of jeans (if not more). This makes it very easy to find jeans waste - I found a lot in many second-hand shops. I did not have a hard time in finding my material.

Besides incorporating textile waste, how does your collection inspire the public to protect the environment?

My collection theme is ‘The Sea and its Creatures’, and I want to convey to the public that we have a beautiful harmonious sea. The sea and all the creatures have supported a lot of our daily needs. However, without even realising, we have created lots of harm to the sea. Just in the fashion world, the sea has been polluted by textile waste, denim dyeing and many others. Denim is used as the main material in this collection and is used to communicate to the audience that as the denim making process is already harmful enough to the sea, we need to maximize the usage of the denim. I want my collection to speak out that we need to protect our environment, not only the sea but by buying fashion items smartly, use it smart, and take care of it even smarter so that waste of textile can be less.

Tell us why you chose the theme "The Sea and its Creatures"?

With billions of living creatures there, there are great diversities in the sea. Aside from the concern on sea condition, I am inspired by how the diversities in the sea and its creatures, and how in the end, everything just comes together beautifully. That is what I want to achieve in my collection.

Thank you to Laurensia for agreeing to be interviewed, and I wish you all the best! I'm looking forward to seeing your collection.

Redress Asia's EcoChic Design Award is into its 5th cycle. The first prize winner will design their own capsule collection using up-cycled textiles for Shanghai Tang and in doing so become the first emerging fashion designer to work with China’s leading luxury brand.

The second prize winner will design textile waste-reducing staff uniforms for Hong Kong’s legendary five star hotel, The Langham, Hong Kong, for their two-star Michelin-restaurant, T’ang Court. 

The special prize winner will go on an enlightening educational trip to sustainable luxury brand, John Hardy’s workshops located in Bali, Indonesia to experience first-hand the brand’s sustainable design, production and business philosophies.