Designers
Play Sustain 2025

We invite all people who are at least 18 years old and who are close to the idea of circular fashion. People who design upcycled fashion, who are interested in and practice eco-design and use various tools, including digital, to make fashion more sustainable.

To participate in the Designers Play Sustain 2025 competition, you must register through the form provided at www.playsustian.pl We encourage you to read the terms and conditions.

Important: only those who send a complete form by the deadline, January 31, 2025, will be evaluated by the competition jury.

In 2025, we have introduced two categories to the Designers Play Sustain competition and are conducting two, simultaneous calls.

Category No. 1 is Upcycling Ready-2-Wear, which is based on the rules of the first Designers competition. It is aimed at people who design upcycling fashion and will present their idea and make a collection from second-hand fabrics.

Category No. 2 is Digital-2-AI Ecodesign, which is a new one in which designers will primarily create competition digital collections.

Each category has its own separate rules and regulations, which define the most important concepts, describe the course of the competition and define the rights and obligations of both the Organizer and Participants. It is worth reading the documents, and if you have additional questions, write to us at designers@playsustian.pl

Important: at the application stage, choose one of the two categories in which the person wants to participate. It is not possible to participate in both categories.

REMEMBER: if you are not a winner of Designers 2024, you can participate in the contest in both categories!!! If you have questions or need help – write to us at designers@playsustain.pl

Individuals who participated in the 2024 edition may reapply to the competition. The exception is for those who were awarded in Designers Play Sustain 2024. The winners have a one-year grace period to participate in the competition, in the Upcycling Ready-2-Wear category, which in this case means that they will be able to compete again in 2026.

The good news is that restrictions do not apply in the new Digital-2-AI Ecodesign category. Anyone 18 years of age or older can enter this category.

According to the rules of Designers Play Sustain 2025, each person who receives a promotion to the final stage is required to donate one sewn silhouette to the Play Sustain Foundation. The rule applies to both competition categories.

In addition, the Play Sustain Foundation has the right to the image of the entire collection, which it uses for statutory purposes.

Yes, there is no fee to enter the contest.

The competition’s finale, the Designers Play Sustain Final Gala, will be held on June 3, 2025, in Warsaw, Poland.

The exact location will be announced after January 31, 2025.

This year the competition will be held in two categories:

1. Upcycling Ready-2-Wear – the grand prize is PLN 50,000.
2. Ecodesign Digital-2-AI – the grand prize is 10,000 PLN

The organizer will also award a financial prize of 10,000 zlotys to the designer selected by the votes of the public.

The organizer also anticipates additional special prizes. We will keep you informed about the details on the website and on the official social media channels.

Entry to the contest requires completion of all mandatory fields in the contest form. In the case of the Upcycling Ready-2-Wear category, by January 31, 2025, a person who has decided to participate in the competition should send a complete form that includes the following data and materials:
– personal data,

– contact information,

– granting the necessary approvals,

– design of a 7-silhouette cohesive collection, designed using second-hand fabrics and clothes; the collection should be presented in 8 illustrations made using any technique (hand-drawn drawings, digital materials, collages, mixed techniques), presenting each silhouette 1-7 ‘from head to toe’ in a separate illustration; the 8th illustration should include a summary of the silhouettes of the entire competition collection,

– Description of the collection – the idea, the idea of circularity, a description of individual silhouettes, with a total maximum length of up to 1800 characters with spaces.

Entry to the competition requires the completion of all mandatory fields in the competition form. In the case of the Digital-2-Ai Ecodesign category, by January 31, 2025, a person who has decided to participate in the competition should send a complete form that includes the following data and materials:
– personal data,

– contact information,

– granting the necessary approvals,

– portfolio, which consists of 10 silhouettes selected by the author – fashion projects, made with digital techniques, which, in his opinion, will best reflect the creative potential and thinking about fashion of the future,

– description / statement on the idea of using new technologies and the possibilities of artificial intelligence for the development of eco-design in fashion, with a maximum length of up to 1800 characters with spaces.

In the digital category, we ask you to prepare your portfolio – what does that mean?

A portfolio is a collection of selected works by an artist to represent your skills, style and experience.

In this case, you submit 10 silhouettes, from head to toe. They don’t have to be a cohesive collection, it’s more about seeing your versatility, style, creativity.

Very important: in this category the designs should be created digitally, that is, they can not be hand-drawn, photographed finished silhouettes or made using the traditional collage method. Here you need to demonstrate the ability to use graphic programs, to a degree that will be a good starting point for further study of design, already using generative tools.

Even more important: you do not have to do your projects using AI at the application stage. That’s how it will work once you’ve been selected into the finalist group.