Deadline extended! There’s still time to nominate sustainable fashion for the Twyg Awards

Deadline extended! There’s still time to nominate sustainable fashion for the Twyg Awards. The annual Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards, now in its sixth year, has extended its nomination phase from the original closing date of Friday 27 September to Monday 7 October 2024. The deadline extension is to accommodate designers, industry professionals and members of the public who have requested more time to enter the awards.

Why enter? Two people stand a chance of winning R100 000 each. There are more prizes to win including a Husqvarna Viking sewing machine and MUNGO product.

Open to all South Africans aged 18 and older, the aim of the awards is to celebrate fashion that is ecologically, socially and culturally fit for the future. The awards have seen fashion designers gain recognition for their sustainable ethos – not an easy task in a world where greenwashing is so prevalent.

Twyg is calling on the public and members of the trade to put forward worthy contenders. All fashion designers are also urged to self-nominate to be considered for an award. ‘Both established and new-up-and-coming designers are encouraged to share their dedication to sustainable fashion with South Africa, and enter one of the 10 categories,’ says Twyg founder Jackie May.

The awards function in November 2023, will include an 11th category, the Changemaker Award, which is not open for nominations. The Changemaker Award will be presented to the overall winner – drawn from all the categories and based on the judges’ scoring results – and will receive a substantial prize. Previous winners, Cleo Droomer of Droomer and Thando Ntuli of Munkus, used their prize money to take their labels to new heights and further highlight that sustainable fashion is viable. The Changemaker winner is one of the recipient’s of R100 000.00

The awards programme and judging process are audited by advocate John Shija to ensure the principles of transparency, objectivity, fairness and equity are applied to the judges, the entrants, and the sponsors. The finalists will be announced on Tuesday 8 November 2024 and the winners will be announced on Wednesday 20 November 2024.

The entry categories are:

• Emerging Designer Award
• Student Award
• Footwear Award
• Accessories Award
• Innovative Design and Materials Award
• Trans-seasonal Design Award
• Farm-to-Fashion Award
• Nicholas Coutts Artisanal Fashion Award
• Retail Award
• Tastemaker Award

Detailed descriptions of each category can be found here: https://twyg.co.za/awards-2024/ All awards nominations are to be made online via the Twyg website. The submissions process has been formulated in collaboration with Eco Standard South Africa. The awards rules and regulations, entry criteria and entry forms for each category can all be found here: https://twyg.co.za/awards-2024/