The organisers of the Redress Design Awards 2022 have revealed the 30 semi-finalists in this year’s awards, who come from regions including Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Hong Kong. 

Two Australian semifinal designers are Louis Boase and Ruth Hadinjoto, who both engage in the womenswear section. 

Louis Boase studies fashion design at Curtin University. Her collection, Trapped, has been inspired by the feeling of being trapped in one’s mind and features warped, branching patterns that create the visualisation like the neural networks inside the brain. 

Boase used laser-etched prints to eliminate the print waste and 3D design tool in second-hand garment pieces. 

Ruth Hadinjoto holds a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design and BA in Fashion Design and Technology from RMIT University. She has designed ‘Folklore’, which combines Indonesian traditional batik technique with modern technology like laser cutting. 

The collection features natural ingredients and food waste such as avocado peel, rosemary, and gardenia. According to Redress, ‘Forklore’ contains “100 per cent natural fibres for recyclability, with wrap and tie finishing so they are not limited by the wearer’s size.”

“I think sustainable fashion… has been developed by our ancestors for a long time,” Hadinjito told the Redress Design Awards team. 

“I think as new designers we have to learn from the past to enrich our knowledge and skills to be more influential in the present day.” 

The Redress Design Award is a sustainable fashion design competition aiming to educate young fashion designers around the world about sustainability and a circular fashion system. 

The People’s Choice Award of the Redress Design Award 2022 is open for public voting until May 9 on the Redress Design Awards website.