Jacinta FitzGerald, Mindful Fashion New Zealand chief executive, during the judging process, which saw 20 shortlisted entries whittled down to 10. Photo / Josh Szeto

The finalists were judged by business leader and philanthropist Theresa Gattung; founder and CEO of Untouched World, Peri Drysdale; founder of Cool Pretty Cool and stylist, Chloe Hill; textile artist Maungārongo Ron Te Kawa; 3D artist, industrial designer and 3D innovation specialist Dylan Mulder; divisional manager of growth and digital at Deane Apparel, Hannah Sharpe;⁠ ⁠co-founder of Mindful Fashion and general manager of Ruby and Liam, Emily Miller-Sharma; and Viva creative and fashion director Dan Ahwa.

Since it was established in 2019, Mindful Fashion has developed a strong network of members throughout the country who support initiatives like the Climate Action Toolkit, Workforce Development Programme, and now the Circular Design Awards.

Jacinta FitzGerald, Mindful Fashion New Zealand chief executive, says: “Our award-winners showed what’s possible when creative problem-solving and Kiwi ingenuity come together. Designing for the circular economy is imperative if the fashion industry wants to meet a 1.5-degree pathway. By providing a platform for innovation away from current wasteful and polluting systems, we have empowered designers to channel their creativity to be at the leading edge of change.”

Mindful Fashion New Zealand staff and board members, left to right: Saiida Bruce, Wayne Conway, Emily Miller-Sharma, James Walker, Kate Sylvester, Trevor Hookway, Louina Fifita, Dan Ahwa, Juliette Hogan, Emma Wallace and Jacinta FitzGerald. Photo / Josh Szeto

Emily Miller-Sharma, general manager at Ruby and one of this year’s judges, says she was “struck by the variety of solutions offered by all entrants, and in particular our finalists. From considerations of where they source their materials, to where they would end up, and how each submission connected to the land and to us, the people taking care of it.”

Building on the success of the 2023 awards, Mindful Fashion is excited to be developing its programme for 2024.

Juliette Hogan, fashion designer and chairperson for the Mindful Fashion New Zealand board. Photo / Josh Szeto

Karlie Morrow’s design. Photo / Mara Sommer

KARLIE MORROW

Winner of the Award for Creative Excellence, Karlie Morrow reconstructed end-of-life denim, creating a yarn to replace faux fur. Her entry, ‘No Virgins Allowed’, questioned the role of virgin materials in our clothes and proposed a new future for fashion based on utilising our existing resources.

“I created these garments from recycled clothes that can’t be worn, sold or donated and fashion off-cuts and fabric samples left over from the manufacturing process.”

A detailed shot of Karlie’s ‘faux fur vest’ made from denim. Photo / Josh Szeto

“I created these garments from recycled clothes that can’t be worn, sold or donated and fashion off-cuts and fabric samples left over from the manufacturing process,” explains Karlie.

“I tried to use low-waste cutting techniques. The pants and vest are created from rectangles with minimal shaping for the crotch and shoulders. I used the off-cuts from the pants and vest to create accessories, a hat and a bag. The pants are designed to fit multiple sizes to increase their longevity. The trims are all vintage/recycled and metal. I used 100 per cent cotton thread and no fuse.”

Katherine Chow’s design. Photo / Mara Sommer

KATHERINE CHOW

Winner of the Award for Excellence from a Rising Talent, Katherine Chow breathed modern life into obsolete parachutes. While considered waste due to wear and tear, ageing and environmental exposure, the parachute fabric is still strong and usable. Referencing the original purpose of the material, Katherine’s design infuses the thrill experienced by extreme athletes into the garment and serves as a reminder for those who wear and witness the pieces to move towards responsible fashion practices and to respect and preserve the land.

“Through repurposing this performance-designed material, the outfit aims to infuse a sense of thrill experienced by extreme athletes into the garments.”

A close-up detail shot from Katherine’s design. Photo / Josh Szeto

“Through repurposing this performance-designed material, the outfit aims to infuse a sense of thrill experienced by extreme athletes into the garments,” says Katherine.

“It also serves as a reminder for those who wear and witness the pieces to be inspired to move towards responsible fashion practices and to respect and preserve the land. The outfit’s multifunctional aspects, such as changing the standup collar to a flat folded one, the length of the skirt, and a skirt [that can become] a dress, symbolises the everchanging elements in nature, capturing the essence of uniqueness and creativity. Its lack of colour serves as a metaphor, representing the varied meanings ‘place’ holds for different people.”

Olivia Schaw’s design, made from household linens. Photo / Mara Sommer

OLIVIA SCHAW

Winner of the Innovation, showing Exciting Commercial Potential Award, Olivia Schaw created a zero-waste design that solves an enormous waste problem. Used household linens are a readily available waste stream, and provide a commercially scalable option as they are relatively consistent in size. The pattern has been developed so every part of the sheet is used, with shapes that can easily be adapted for different body and fabric sizes.

William Keane Jung-Ying Fitzgerald’s design, made from removal blankets. Photo / Mara Sommer

WILLIAM KEANE JUNG-YING FITZGERALD

Winner of the Viva Editorial Award, William Fitzgerald challenged perceptions of what we view as waste, creating a tailored, gender-less suit called ‘Cockroach’. His suit used textiles made at a recycling factory in Onehunga, where waste fabrics are torn down to their smallest fibres and re-matted to form a utilitarian textile known as ‘shoddy’, or removal blankets.

“The designer came across the fabric while delivering textile waste and was enamoured with the textile and functional circular process.”

Ruby and Liam general manager Emily Miller-Sharma tries on William’s design during the judging process. Photo / Josh Szeto

The designer came across the fabric while delivering textile waste and was enamoured with the textile and functional circular process. Its deep purple-red colour comes from the integration of pink insulation. The judges commented on the suit’s beautiful craftsmanship, its challenge to industry norms and the thoughtful use of an unlikely material in a fashion context.

Donna Stobie’s safari-inspired ensemble. Photo / Mara Sommer

DONNA STOBIE

“I sourced a box of decommissioned Wellington Zoo shirts from Envirohub Tauranga, and boxes of discontinued Lazy Boy leather samples that were going to be thrown away,” explains Donna. “I found trims that were discarded at the ASB Arena when the Tarnished Frocks and Divas were emptying their wardrobe last year.”

“My inspiration was to create a garment that the wearer would create a personal connection with, fostering a sense of empathy and appreciation for the natural world and our responsibility to create a circular economy,” says Donna. “Simply deconstructing shirts [gave] me an idea of what I had to work with. My inspiration was a safari look that could be worn many ways — streetwear, festivals, formally — through the adaptability of the design. With so much fabric, I decided to make panels on the jacket.”

A mix of reclaimed textiles, printing and natural dyes were included in Phillipa Hoogesteden Casey’s design. Photo / Mara Sommer

PHILLIPA HOOGESTEDEN CASEY

“An old tea towel, wool and calico offcuts are pieced into a simple, oversized, reversible jacket to encompass the body in the darkest times,” says Phillipa. “I added gold print paste to some of the moths to add depth and that dusty look they have. I screen printed over an untwisted section of muka to create the band and connection to the tool used from our environment, the kuku shells.”

“[I used] vintage fabric, muka from harakeke for button loops, buttons reclaimed from old garments, and care labels from vintage stamps found in a secondhand shop in Waikouaiti. All these elements tell a story.”

Crafted from her grandmother’s old wedding dress, Whitney’s design also included a wool pillow inner, scrap sheets, a broken bra and brown onion skin. Photo / Mara Sommer

WHITNEY HENTON

“I work in the distribution centre at Dove Hospice, and we see thousands of items come through our door every week,” says Whitney. “My reused materials included my grandmother’s 62-year-old silk wedding dress, a wool pillow inner, damaged scrap sheets, a broken bra and brown onion skin. New materials include madder root for dyeing, organic cotton, natural rubber elastic, and thread.”

“With age, my grandmother’s dress had developed blemishes and holes throughout. I was gifted the dress, so when I embarked on this project, I wanted to bring new life to it in any way I could. I spent my time carefully deconstructing and naturally dying her old wedding dress to create this three-piece set, including a fully-lined wadded bomber jacket, a crop pin-tucked top and elasticated, panelled wide-leg pants. I collected brown onion skins from Lincoln Road Pak’nSave and fruit shops a block away from my grandparents’ old orchard. I combined the brown onion skins with madder root my aunty gifted me from India, where my grandad spent a large portion of his life as a missionary. I wanted to make sure I honoured the rich history of my family when I took on this project. I naturally dyed the fabric in batches using alum as my mordant.”

Photo / Mara Sommer

NETHASHA ABEYSINGHE

“I wanted to weave together my upbringing in Sri Lanka and my new home in New Zealand,” says Nethasha. “The braids represent the culture that I grew up with and the cultures in New Zealand, combined together to form the person I am now today.”

“I visited the orgainsation Upparel to collect over-jackets (branded worker clothing) and received more than 10 tonnes of branded textiles. They are located in Onehunga. For my final garment, I used six jackets.”

Some of the judging panel and Mindful Fashion during the judging process. Left to right: Chloe Hill, Emily Miller-Sharma, Dan Ahwa, Peri Drysdale, Theresa Gattung, Jacinta FitzGerald, Saiida Bruce, Dylan Mulder and Hannah Sharpe. Photo / Josh Szeto

Photo / Mara Sommer

JOSH BOGNAR

“I’ve always had a slightly impulsive urge to hoard offcuts with the intention of using them,” says Josh. “I feel like this relieves some of the pressure of creating something perfect and eliminating the financial cost and risk of wasting materials in its primary state. The resources have been collected from my places of employment. I am a collector. I quilted together the hems into pieces of fabric big enough to fit my pattern pieces, making sure the hem colouration from the dyeing process was prominent. I wanted to transform the cuttings of our most popular upmarket and tailored fabrication into a more casual range of garments.”

A two-piece set by Izzy Levien. Photo / Mara Sommer

IZZY LEVIEN

“Golden Bay is the inspiration for this design. The concept of spiritual consumption as a response to economic challenges aligns with the project, which ties into the idea of reincarnation of repurposed secondhand materials,” explains Izzy.

“Waste fabrics that were due to be landfilled were sourced from Trash Place in Takaka, along with old household linens and waste from university projects. The outfit is designed for the Golden Bay area; festivals, summery days, music performances. The shape of the skirt panels was determined by the jacket offcuts, with additional seams being used where needed to minimise waste in the design and construction stage.”

“Each panel reflects a different aspect of Takaka — its sunny, hippy vibe; the ocean and how it sparkles; the golden sand and dunes.”

Close-up details of Izzy’s design. Photo / Josh Szeto

The hand embroidery process is a slow-fashion method that encourages appreciation of the craft and doesn’t rely on electricity. To ensure durability, the garment features double linings, which also enhance comfort and shape retention. Each panel reflects a different aspect of Takaka — its sunny, hippy vibe; the ocean and how it sparkles; the golden sand and dunes; and the marine life the designer has collected over the years.