A gown made from video tape and wool was among the standout entries at Mindful Fashion NZ Circular Design Fashion Awards.
If there was an award for a garment with the most wow factor at the Mindful Fashion NZ Circular Design Awards it would have gone to Maureen Reinds for “Cinewave” – a multi-layered couture-inspired dress crafted from reclaimed video tape and recycled mohair/wool.
Merging cinematic nostalgia with sustainable design, the gown explores the idea of storing memories and how that can be transformed into a conceptual garment – using a dramatic silhouette with organic layering that is that has the appearance of waves.
Reinds who is an experienced knitter took on the challenge of hand knitting between 180 and 240 video tapes over the course of ten months!
“Cinewave” by Maureen Reinds – a multi-layered couture-inspired dress crafted from reclaimed video tape and recycled mohair/wool.
Her conceptual design targets high/couture fashion as a red-carpet piece for clients seeking bold, conceptual design – even as a form of protest against unsustainable fashion practices.
Circular Fashion Innovation Award
On the night the judges unanimously voted Kensa Munroe supreme winner of the Circular Fashion Innovation Award for her entry “Deconstructed Heritage”, and the prize for Cotton Innovation.
Munroe used waste cotton household linen, an antique hemp mosquito net, and salvaged canvas from a stretcher and tent as well as botanical dyes, and near-zero-waste cutting techniques.
Versatile garments, hand-finished and designed for disassembly, with hardware recoverable for reuse and fabrics compostable or recyclable at end-of-life.
“Decontructed Heritage” supreme award winner Kensa Munroe. Photography Matt Hurley, styling Dan Ahwa, hair and make-up Kiekie Stanners. Model Charlee from Unique.
Accessory award
A school backpack with a detachable teddy bear designed by Deonne Schollum and Maryna Lottering won the supreme Circular Innovation Accessory Award for “Comfort Bear”.
A functional, child-centred design that supports both wellbeing and circularity made from discarded commercial textiles. The pair were inspired by waste streams at their workplace Apparelmaster, and repurposed workwear and linen that had reached the end of its first life.
Circular strategies employed by Schollum and Lottering included low-waste cutting, durable stitching, repair-friendly features and the reuse of the offcuts as bear stuffing.
Circular Innovation Accessory Award winner “Comfort Bear” by Deonne Schollum and Maryna Lottering.
Circular business innovation
Lof, winners of the supreme Circular Business Innovation Award, impressed the judges with its systemic approach, material integrity, and strong alignment to circular economy principles. Lof has embedded circularity not just in products but its entire business model. Lof transforms undervalued strong wool into regenerative, high-performance products designed for disassembly, reuse and home composting to close the loop from fibre to soil – while fairly paying growers and revitalising local manufacturing, proving circular design is desirable, scalable and commercially viable.
Strength in field
Award finalists that also caught our eye included three-time finalist Josh Bognar used innovative appliqué techniques to stitch together discarded scraps from menswear garments. His design “Collaged Menswear” repurposed larger components such as sleeves, collars, denim pocketing, and waistbands sourced from fast fashion sampling waste, reimagined into oversized T-shirts and jeans.
“Collaged Menswear” by three-time finalist Josh Bognar. Photography Matt Hurley, styling Dan Ahwa, hair and make-up Kieke Stanners. Model Harper from Red 11.
Pip Stevenson’s “Ewe Turn” also used a patchwork approach to create a “black” puffer jacket through a fully circular lens, replacing synthetic fibres with natural, waste-derived materials including surplus strong wool for the padding. Her entry featured flawless French seams and was designed for longevity and repair as the jacket can be refilled with wool as needed and at end of life is fully compostable.
Patchwork puffer “Ewe Turn” by Pip Stevenson. Photography Matt Hurley, styling Dan Ahwa, hair and make-up Kiekie Stanners. Model Charlee from Unique.
Cultural sculpture
Cheremene Castle embedded Mãori identity and storytelling into design into her ensemble “Cultural Sculpture” where materials such as rubber tubes, discarded tarpaulins, flooring scraps, old shirts, and household linen were given new life and cultural resonance.
“Cultural Sculpture” by Cheremene Castle. Photography Matt Hurley, styling Dan Ahwa, hair and make-up Kieke Stanners. Model Harper from Red 11.
Place to be
The sold-out event was held at Webbs Auction House, Auckland on 9 October 2025 – a great alignment since the auctioneers believe in the value of objects that live many lives and continue to inspire.
“Eighty per cent of the garment’s ultimate impact is determined by how it’s designed. Decisions such as how to attach labels, which fabrics to use, how it’s dyed, and the durability of workmanship,” says Mindful Fashion NZ chief executive Jacinta Fitzgerald. “Decisions made at the design stage are crucial in affecting how long a garment will last and how the garment can be used at the end of its life. And moving towards circular fashion has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one third.”
Full winner list
• Kensa Munroe – Deconstructed Heritage (Circular Clothing Innovation Award) & (Cotton Innovation)
• Deonne Schollum & Maryna Lottering – Comfort Bear (Circular Accessory Innovation Award)
• LOF – (Circular Business Innovation Award)
• Wool Source – (Business Innovator to Watch)
• ImpacTex – (Circular Business Leadership) (ImpacTex)
• Mima Lewis Gourdie – (Rising Talent)
• Deonne Schollum & Maryna Lottering – (Commercial Potential)
