The fourth edition of Circular Design Challenge (CDC) - India’s largest platform and award for design entrepreneurs working in Circular Fashion, an initiative by R|ElanTM Fashion for Earth, in association with FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week and United Nations and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has announced a shortlist of six emerging design entrepreneurs. The winner will be declared post a final competitive round on March 24th – Sustainable Fashion Day in New Delhi.
This season, the platform transcended borders to encourage international nominations in partnership with British Council & Studio MM04 for UK and Germany respectively. The program received over 55 applications from across India as well as United Kingdom and Germany. The final six start-ups were shortlisted following a rigorous online pitch and evaluation process that considered circular design, environmental & social impact, business plans and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The finalists – CHAMAR by Sudheer Rajbhar, Humanity Centred Designs by Vishal Tolambia, Pieux by Pratyush Kumar, Sanah Sharma by Sanah Sharma, SATAT by Radhika Malhotra and Thaely by Ashay Bhave will present their case and collections to the final jury in a bid to join the league of previous winners of the platform - ‘I was a Sari’ from season 1, ‘Malai’ from season 2 and ‘Bandit’ from season 3.
The six finalists were selected by an esteemed jury comprising Archana Datta, SCP and Circular Economy Expert - Asian Institute of Technology, Darshana Gajare, RISE Worldwide, Karishma Shahani, Design Mentor, Pranav Khanna, Business Mentor, and Rakesh Bali, Reliance Industries Ltd. The finalists will be nurtured through various mentorships that will equip them with knowledge and skills across design and product development, business and marketing, circularity principles and life cycle analysis. These mentoring sessions aim to empower them to be true agents of change through their business and innovations.
Basis the mentorship programs, each of the six entrepreneurs will be expected to present a pitch to the jury live on Sustainable Fashion Day at FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week. This final winner selection, for the first time, will include a segment where the public can vote, and results will be added to the main score. The people’s choice polling is aimed to provide a greater reach for the finalists and make circularity a household conversation.
