From the offbeat and the eccentric to the overtly playful, talented stylist Sean Kunjambu and internationally renowned photographer Wing Shya capture the mood of each of the EcoChic Design Award 2017 finalists’ unique waste reducing designs in a photoshoot to remember.

The spotlight is firmly on what can be achieved when you mix boundless creativity, genuine innovation as well as a fresh fight for change in fashion and on the planet with beautiful waste materials. Emphasising the aims of the competition, the rich, intricate textures of the collections – which use the techniques of up-cycling, reconstruction and zero-waste design – are juxtaposed against everyday items that are often discarded too soon to demonstrate the detrimental effects of over consumerism and the scale of wastefulness, in Hong Kong and across the world.

Sean Kunjambu, Hong Kong-based art director, curator and stylist extraordinaire was the creative mastermind behind ‘Fresh Fight’ – the EcoChic Design Award 2017 fashion shoot. Sean remarked, “The variety of textures created from multiple sources of clothing waste was beautiful. I was impressed by the uniqueness of this new group of talents when tasked with the transformation of what we consider trash.”

“I was really inspired by the innovative use of textile waste into fashion and wanted to use every day, disposable objects to strengthen the message and accessorize and bring out the different personalities of each design,” added Wing Shya, world renowned fashion photographer, artist and filmmaker.

The 10 EcoChic Design Award 2017 finalists will arrive in Hong Kong on 1 September for an eight-day journey of workshops and challenges, exploring issues of uniform waste, customer care and design to manufacturing – as well as presenting their competition, waste reducing collections at the grand final show at HKTDC’s fashion week CENTRESTAGE to a 600 strong, international fashion audience. Here our international judges will determine the winners of this cycle and prizes will be announced.

The event will also be livestreamed worldwide at www.facebook.com/ecochicdesignaward.com at 5pm (HKT) 7 September 2017.