Are you implementing sustainable, circular and regenerative approaches to fashion design? Are you fostering ethical practices? Are you challenging business-as-usual? If these are issues that concern you, then we’re looking for you! The Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards 2025 are open for nominations. Nominate yourself or a peer for an award. For the first time ever, we have introduced a pan-African award!
The Changemaker Award winner will receive R100 000. This Changemaker category is not open for nominations, instead the winner will be selected from the winners of the other categories. Due to logistics, the Pan-African Artisanal Fashion Award is not eligible to be considered for the Changemaker Award.
Nominations close on 3 October 2025.
How to enter
- Entrants are required to fill in a nomination form on the Twyg website. You can nominate yourself or someone else. See below.
- Submissions of each category will be judged against six criteria (see Annex A and Annex B of the Rules and Regulations) and will be rated between one and five.
- Nominees should be able to demonstrate:
- Finished, quality fashion garments, accessories, and/or collections;
- Ethical labour practices, including fair compensation among others;
- Transparency in design and manufacturing practice, in use of resources and sourcing of materials;
- A position on climate change, pollution and environmental damage.
- Besides the Emerging Designer, Retail, Student and the Tastemaker categories, designers, businesses, or brands should have been operating for at least three years, and should have made new garments/collections in the last 6 months and before August 2025. See details on the nomination forms.
- Winners of the 2024 Awards may not apply for 2025.
- The competition is open to South Africans, and people legally working in South Africa, and in the case of the Student Award, students should be legally studying in South Africa.
- Nominees should be aged 18 years or over.
- Nominations close on 3 October 2025.
Read the full rules and regulation here.
Categories with links to entry forms
Accessory Award
This award recognises an accessory brand that implements ethical labour practices, avoids toxic chemicals, considers end-of-life and uses sustainable materials to create a quality item. Ideally, materials used are locally sourced, recyclable or recycled materials. The quality, durability, creativity and innovative design of the nominated brands will be assessed. Examples of accessories are: jewellery, belts, cuff links and studs, sunglasses, gloves, handbags, hats and headwear, neckties, purses, socks and stockings, veils and shoes.
Enter the Accessory category here.
Emerging Designer Award presented by H&M
This category is suitable for young emerging designers who are in the early stages of establishing their brands. Designers can enter using one garment or a collection that addresses the challenges of sustainability in the most exciting and beautiful way. The judging assessment will look for creativity and innovation and for how young designers are engaging with environmental, cultural and social responsibilities. The judges will also consider the designers’ commercial potential and promise in contributing to the future of sustainable fashion. The designers should have been creating fashion and testing their markets for no more than three years, and should have made new garments/collections in the last 6 months and before August 2025.
Enter the Emerging Designer category here.
Farm-to-Fashion Award
This category celebrates a brand or designer who is committed to cultivating transparent and traceable supply chains and advocating for regenerative and sustainable textile practices. The farm-to-fashion movement advocates for rebuilding localised, natural fibre textile systems and supply chains. The garments created should be made from natural fabric, no fossil-fuel based synthetics and as few toxins and chemicals as possible. The purpose of this category is to promote a holistic view of sustainability in the fashion industry, encouraging practices that consider the environmental and social impacts of fashion from the very first stages of production on the farm.
Enter the Farm-to-Fashion category here.
Innovative Design and Materials Award presented by Polo South Africa
This award seeks to recognise a designer of clothes or / and textiles who is pioneering sustainable practices or technologies. For instance, this designer could be using creative pattern-making, introducing new technologies, innovating new business models, applying reconstruction techniques, innovating new materials and techniques, or returning to old, sustainable and cultural practices. If the innovative approach is not original, the innovation being adopted in a contemporary design should be acknowledged. Judges will consider the potential impact of the innovation. The purpose of this category is to highlight and reward those who are pushing boundaries and leading the charge in reimagining what fashion can be.
Enter the Innovative Design and Materials category here.
Pan-African Artisanal Fashion Award
This award is the first Twyg Award that is open to designers from across the continent. It recognises a designer who uses artisanal craft techniques such as weaving, embroidery, botanical dyeing or another artisanal practice to make fashion that foregrounds, celebrates and values the culture and skills of the people who make the garments. Craft is a living example of slow-paced, resource-mindful and socially and culturally sustainable production. The purpose of this category seeks to recognise the contribute to preserving skills while also integrating them into the contemporary fashion landscape. This category also promotes a deeper appreciation for the time, skill, and cultural heritage embedded in each handcrafted piece, encouraging consumers to value and invest in artisanal fashion. This award honours the late South African designer Nicholas Coutts who beautifully used and explored traditional crafts and techniques in his design. This award is only open to fashion designers and brands that produce on the continent. Due to logistics, the Pan-African Artisanal Fashion Award is not eligible to be considered for the Changemaker Award.
Enter the Pan-African Artisanal Fashion category here.
Retail Award
This award recognises a retailer or retailing initiative that enhances and supports sustainability and circularity through selling pre-loved and gently worn clothes, swap shops, garment rental, and similar commercial and non-commercial activities that keep clothes in use for as long as possible. The award is also open to retailers who support local producers and designers, vertical and regional supply chains and sustainable design and manufacturing. It also recognises the implementation of sustainable practices within retail operations.
Enter the Retail category here.
Student Award
This category is suitable for students who currently are registered at a South African academic institution. Designers can enter using one garment or a collection that addresses the challenges of sustainability in the most exciting and beautiful way using circular and sustainable design principles. The judging assessment will look for creativity and innovation and will recognise that student designers have the freedom to challenge fashion’s status quo, engaging with environmental, cultural and social responsibilities in a playful and creative way.
Enter the Student category here.
Tastemaker Award
Tastemakers decide or influence what is, or will become, fashionable. This award recognises a photographer, stylist, influencer, or content creator who has actively promoted slow, sustainable fashion and/or slow living over the last 12 months and who has sparked relevant conversations. This person is helping to shift our fashion aspirations and is contributing to a sustainable fashion ecosystem by amplifying alternative fashion practices in the media. The Tastemaker supports slow fashion habits and conscious local businesses while promoting these 5Rs (reduce, repair, refashion, reuse, recycle). The judges will also look at how the fashion content intersects with issues such as race, diversity, inclusion, identity, and culture.
Enter the Tastemaker category here.
Trans-seasonal Design Award
This award recognises a collection, garment or brand that promotes trans-seasonal, multi-functionality and versatile style. It rewards quality design that aspires to be timeless and is made to last, i.e. design that transcends seasons. This category also recognises brands that remain invested in garments after their sale, for example, through the provision of lifetime guarantees and repair services. It supports slower production cycles through trend-less fashion and timeless, well-made pieces that will last. The purpose of this category is to encourage the fashion industry to move away from the fast-paced, trend-driven nature of traditional fashion cycles.
Enter the Trans-seasonal Design category here.
For advice or further information, please email jackie@twyg.co.ca or nobanzi@twyg.co.za
Feature image: Gugu Peteni by The Dollie House
