The 2021 RCGD Global Design contest will champion digitally designed; sustainability produced; fashion that transforms moment to movement whilst kickstarting the careers of fashion’s next generation.

LONDON, 30^th July, 2021 - Red Carpet Green Dress™ (RCGD) launches the 2021 RCGD Global Design Contest in partnership with TENCEL™ and CLO. Founded by leading environmentalist Suzy Amis Cameron over a decade ago, the international design contest is open to talented designers over the age of 21. Enabling design talent all over the world to enter the prestigious competition, alongside established designers looking to begin or extend their sustainable journey, the 2021 contest is open to anyone with an interest or passion for sustainability.

With a focus on sustainable textile innovations with the TENCEL™ brand, designers can submit their application through rcgdglobal.com from 30^th of July until 23^rd of August 2021. The winners will be selected by an international panel of design experts. The winning designs' construction will take place this fall and will be created as one-of-a-kind pieces in CLO’s cutting-edge true-to-life 3D garment simulation software. Created from world leading TENCEL™ branded fibers - botanic in origin and biodegradable - each sustainable piece will be worn by a RCGD ambassador from the world of fashion and media to this year's RCGD Event. Attended physically and powerfully brought to life digitally with CLO software to an audience of the world’s most passionate sustainability voices, this year's event will showcase the power of sustainable design using fabrics made with TENCEL™ fibers or TENCEL™ Luxe filament with a spotlight on the key environmental themes such as regeneration, circularity and decarbonisation.

Alongside the exhibition opportunity, access to RCGD’s network of sustainability pioneers and talents, the contest prize for the design contest will include a business mentorship, monetary prize and partner goodies.

The 2021 RCGD Event in partnership with TENCEL™ and CLO will also finally present the 2020 contest winning designs by Sanah Sharma Mehra (Chennai, India) and Jasmine Kelly Rutherford (New York, USA) after the postponement of the RCGD Pre-Oscars Event in early 2021 to comply with global COVID-19 safety protocols.

The campaign is working proudly in partnership with TENCEL™, the textile specialty brand under The Lenzing Group, covering textile specialty product fiber offerings for the red carpet, everyday apparel and home. The TENCEL™ product brand portfolio defines a new evolutionary step in terms of sustainability, functional benefits, natural comfort and caters for distinctive everyday usage or application. TENCEL™ branded modal and lyocell fibers and TENCEL™ Luxe lyocell filament yarns are produced via environmentally responsible production processes and are compostable and biodegradable, thus can fully revert back to nature.

RCGD is also working proudly with CLO, the market-leading 3D garment design software that allows apparel designers and brands to easily and accurately construct digital garments. With its user-friendly workflow and state-of-the-art cloth simulation algorithm, CLO provides brands with the ability to instantly see their designs come to life, while also reducing their sample lead time to as little as 27 hours.

“The emerging design community is one of the most exciting and rewarding to work with - it is full of immense talent, inspiring creativity and uplifting hope. We are so excited to be working with TENCEL to showcase the future of sustainable textiles, and with CLO to showcase the future of design creativity through software. This year's contest will give 2 lucky winners the opportunity to broaden their horizons and become part of our network of leaders in the space. I am excited and can’t wait to see the final winning designs!”

- Samata Pattinson, CEO of Red Carpet Green Dress™.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Red Carpet Green Dress™ this year and we can’t wait to be inspired by the innovative ideas that we will see. By bringing together young and established talents, we hope to encourage more designers to take a proactive step to building a more eco-friendly fashion world through experimenting sustainable materials, like TENCEL™ branded fibers, in their designs. As we continue to lay the foundation for a more sustainable fashion future, eco-friendly materials and timeless fashion pieces will become mainstream choice among designers, brands and consumers.”

- Harold Weghorst, Vice President of Global Marketing and Branding, Lenzing AG.

“As a first-time partner of Red Carpet Green Dress™, we are very excited to be partnering with them on their annual global design competition, and to be the exclusive 3D technology provider powering the digital twin of the winning garments. We believe that technology is the answer to helping designers and companies operate more sustainably and hope that contest participants are inspired to integrate CLO into their current and future processes to truly amplify their creativity and expand their ability to experiment with designs in a socially responsible way.”

- Simon Kim, CEO of CLO Virtual Fashion

Red Carpet Green Dress™ was conceived in response to the growing need for sustainable fashion. When faced with the lack of ethical fashion choices whilst attending global premieres of husband James Cameron's' ‘Avatar’, campaign founder Suzy Amis Cameron decided that it was time for a change. She created a design contest which challenged emerging and established designers across the globe to create sustainable Oscar-worthy gowns, thus fulfilling the Green Dress criteria to serve the obvious need for more sustainability in the industry.

The Prize:

Winning designers will be announced in September 2021.

The prize includes:

• The opportunity to dress prominent talent in the fashion and media industry for a high profile red carpet moment
• The opportunity to present their work to an audience of sustainability leaders and innovators
• A monetary award
• Spend time with RCGD Campaign Founder Suzy Amis Cameron
• Business mentorship with RCGD CEO Samata Pattinson
• An invitation to join the 2021 Red Carpet Green Dress™ Event

The Judges:

• Suzy Amis Cameron, Founder - A noted environmental leader, business pioneer, mom of five and new grandma, Suzy Amis Cameron is committed to caring for our wild, living Earth, with an emphasis on plant-based food to address climate change. In 2009, she launched Red Carpet Green Dress™, a global sustainable fashion campaign showcasing environmentally responsible fashions on the red carpet in partnership with The Oscars. RCGD also co-creates sustainable garments with luxury international fashion brands.

• Harold Weghorst is Vice President of Global Marketing & Branding, Lenzing AG, heading the company’s international marketing and branding efforts for the TENCEL™ and TENCEL™ Luxe brands. A leader and visionary in brand marketing and strategic brand management, Weghorst brings with him over 25 years of experience in managing global retail businesses and brands. Weghorst has been the driving force behind the transformation of the TENCEL™ brand from a B2B offering to a household name. He is committed to making sustainability a mainstream discussion in the fashion world.

• Micaela Erlanger is a Celebrity Fashion Stylist based in New York City. Her work has been seen on the biggest red carpets around the globe and in the pages of top fashion publications worldwide. As one of the most sought-after Celebrity Stylists in the industry, Erlanger’s unprecedented ascent to power stylist has been profiled by Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and numerous other publications. Having been repeatedly named one of the ‘Most Powerful Stylists,’ by The Hollywood Reporter, a position she has held since 2014. Her diverse high-profile clients include Meryl Streep, Lupita Nyong’o, Common, Diane Kruger, Sigourney Weaver and Amanda Hearst to name a few.

• Abrima Erwiah (Accra | New York), with actress and activist Rosario Dawson, is the co-founder of Studio. One Eighty Nine, an artisan produced fashion lifestyle brand and social enterprise that is currently a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund 2021 recipient. Studio 189 focuses on empowerment, creating jobs and supporting education and skills training. Erwiah is an undergraduate and graduate Professor at Parsons University, and was the former Worldwide communications director at Bottega Veneta. Erwiah is the founder of Fashion Our Future, a campaign focused on voter registration and participation that aims to leverage the power of fashion to engage underrepresented communities in the political process. She is the recipient of prestigious awards including FIT Changemaker, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Emerging Designer and the CFDA Lexus Fashion Initiative for Sustainability.

Images related to the announcement can be downloaded here.

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About Red Carpet Green Dress™:

Red Carpet Green Dress™ (RCGD) is a women-led global change-making organization. Conceived in 2009 by Suzy Amis Cameron, RCGD challenges designers from around the world to deliver eco-friendly garments through a no-waste approach, focusing on social impact consideration, fair and humane treatment of manufacturers, a clear supply chain, and materials which use a high proportion of recycled and biodegradable materials. Since its inception, the campaign has grown to include brand collaborations, internships, knowledge-share platforms and educational experiences for students, and our remit continues to grow.

Leading fashion houses including Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood, Armani, Elie Saab, Swarovski, Christian Siriano, Bulgari, Dunhill and Reformation have joined the design campaign initiative to create sustainable red carpet wear with celebrities including Kaitlyn Dever, Léa Seydoux, Sophie Turner, Emma Roberts, LaKeith Stanfield, Camila Alves, and Naomie Harris stepping up as representatives. RCGD has been featured in Vanity Fair, W Magazine, People, The Hollywood Reporter, WWD, Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, VOGUE, Refinery29, The Guardian, ELLE, LA Times, The New York Times, InStyle and others.

CLO Virtual Fashion:

CLO Virtual Fashion is a multinational technology company founded in 2009. With more than 15 years of research and development in garment simulation, CLO Virtual Fashion is leading the market by digitally merging, consolidating, and converging all components related to digital garments through its state-of-the-art 3D Cloth Simulation Algorithm. From 3D garment design software, digital asset management and design development collaborative platform, to consumer facing services such as virtual fitting on e-commerce, all of CLO Virtual Fashion’s products and services are interconnected to provide clients and users with a more consolidated experience. Their products include CLO, 3D design software for apparel designers and brands, Marvelous Designer, 3D design software for character artists at gaming and animation companies, CLO-SET, communications and archiving platform for virtual garments, and CLO-SET Connect, global community for fashion creators and open marketplace. CLO Virtual Fashion is a global company with offices in New York, Munich, Los Angeles, Madrid, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangalore, and Tokyo. For more information, visit http://www.clovirtualfashion.com.

Editor’s notes:

• Applications for the Global Design Contest are open from 30th July to 23rd August 2021
• In partnership with TENCEL™ and CLO Virtual Fashion
• Winners will be announced in September 2021
• Winning design construction will take place in fall 2021
• Winners will have the opportunity to dress talent for a carpet moment, receive a monetary award and business mentorship