Grand Final Fashion Show features sustainable fabrics from Eastman Naia

Sustainably sourced Eastman Naia cellulosic yarn featured prominently in the Grand Final Fashion Show of the 2019 Redress Design Award in Hong Kong on September 5, 2019. Naia from Eastman, the Gold Sponsor of the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition, was showcased in 10 innovative collections of waste-reducing designs. The competition finalists were challenged to incorporate Naia fabric remnants into their collection pieces. The Grand Final Fashion Show reached a global audience of industry professionals, media and VIPs at CENTRESTAGE and was livestreamed internationally.

“These stunning collections demonstrate Naia yarn’s texture, versatility and luxurious appearance,” said Ruth Farrell, Eastman global marketing director of textiles. “By sponsoring the Redress Design Award, Eastman’s goal is to help educate the fashion and design community about the importance of sustainable yarns. We want to raise awareness of the Naia brand and support emerging designers on their journey toward building eco-friendly fashion brands of the future.” To that end, Naia is made from fully traceable and sustainably sourced wood pulp in a safe, closed-loop process where solvents are recycled into the system for reuse. In addition, Naia has an optimized, low-impact manufacturing process with a low tree-to-yarn carbon and water footprint. With a third-party reviewed life cycle assessment compliant with ISO14044, Naia is listed on the Higg Materials Sustainability Index. Eastman holds FSC® and PEFC Chain of Custody certifications. Naia is also certified as biodegradable in freshwater and soil environments and is compostable in industrial settings, having received the “OK biodegradable” and “OK compost” conformity marks from TUV AUSTRIA. “Sustainability savvy in fashion must extend from fiber to fashionista,” said Christina Dean, Redress founder and board chair. “There is an innovation race to find more environmentally sound materials for fashion.”

Due to its inherent softness and luster that blend well with other eco-friendly yarns, Naia can be the starting point in the sustainability journey of virtually any fabric or garment. With Naia, Eastman offers a viable eco-conscious choice of materials for sustainable fashion. The 10 Redress Design Award finalists were selected from hundreds of applicants by an international panel of judges, including Farrell. The designers represent eight different countries as well as Hong Kong. First-prize winner Maddie Williams will join JNBY Group to design a sustainable collection for retail. Runner-up Carina Roca Portella will mentor with Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution.

Naia will showcase the Redress Award-winning garments at Booth 6C55 in the Premiere Vision Yarns Hall during Premiere Vision-Paris, the international fashion and textile exposition, Sept. 17–19.