General Pants Co. has partnered with Sydney-based social enterprise Circular Centre to launch Australia's largest denim redesign project and competition.
The competition encourages designers and fashion students to use reclaimed denim to create ready-to-wear designs for their chance to be showcased in one of General Pants Co. flagship stores.
Participants will have access to over 1,000 pieces of reclaimed denim donated for the competition.
The denim stems from a 2019 General Pants Co. initiative, ‘Denim Amnesty’, which encouraged customers to bring in their unwanted denim to help reduce landfill waste.
Speaking on the initiative, General Pants Co. CEO Sacha Laing the program provides a new way for the fashion industry to make use of textile waste.
"Being environmentally conscious is a responsibility for the present and for the future.
"Each year in Australia, unwanted textiles are sent to landfill, which is why we launched Denim Amnesty.
"We’re now calling on Australian designers and fashion students to grab our reclaimed denim, or use their own, and be part of a growing movement looking for circular ways to manage unwanted clothing that might otherwise be considered waste," he said.
The textile waste diversion initiative is one of many streams available at Circular Centre to capture and reuse denim.
The service saves all 'unwearable' clothing and textile homewares from landfill and from being shipped overseas - as both waste diversion options will still result in creating more carbon emissions and pollution.
"We keep 100% of donated textiles out of landfill and 100% in Australia to create job opportunities for our disability enterprise partners and help develop innovative manufacturing and entrepreneurial circular supply chains," Circular Centre director Alison Jose added.
"Circular Denim is one of 20 streams that diverts and redistributes denim for reuse and redesign.
"Our fantastic team is trained to help us divert all denim; the good, bad and ugly.
"We also ask designers to return any cut-offs and to add our QR code with their 'new' garment so once its finally unwearable
their customer can return it.
"We loop it back to become products like carpet, underlay and acoustic panels.
"Rivets are melted, and good zippers and trims go to Worne.world, a start-up reselling fashion hardware," she said.
The first-place designer will win an internship at General Pants Co. to work alongside some of Australia's leading designers.
Meanwhile, the first three winners selected will also receive a package of 'CircStretch' the world’s first non-toxic home compostable stretch fabric from Circular Centre.
Designers and fashion students can enter the competition and download the design brief via the Circular Centre website.
The design submission deadline is 9pm on June 27.