September is considered fashion month in Hong Kong. One might as well call it Hong Kong's sustainability month, as sustainable clothing was front and center at both of the city's two major annual fashion events, which took place in the first week of September.
Held from Sept 4 to 7, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council-managed Centrestage reiterated its commitment to sustainable fashion, dedicating one of its thematic zones to circular fashion, China Daily reported.
The focus on sustainability is more of a given when it comes to the international fashion design competition, the Redress Design Award. Hosted by the eponymous environmental activism-oriented NGO Redress and held on Sept 6, the event kicked off with a star-studded panel. It had Cantopop boy group P1X3L, supermodel and environmentalist Bonnie Chen, actor Carlos Chan and fencer Shawn Cheung Siu-lun discussing the significance of embracing circular fashion from an Asian perspective.
The focus on sustainably made garments is especially relevant, if not an imperative, when it comes to Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel website, the city generates around 300 metric tons of textile waste on a daily basis. It also states that the local landfill sites, where 52 percent of such waste ends up, will soon run out of space.