Zalando x Graduate Fashion Foundation Circularity Masterclass 2026 Winner Announced
Zalando and the Graduate Fashion Foundation are excited to announce the 2026 winner of the Circularity Masterclass competition, a design challenge for second and third year fashion students across the EU and the UK.
Following a judging session during Graduate Fashion Week in London on the 16th of June, four leading circular fashion experts met with 13 shortlisted winners from participating universities to learn about their work and decide on an overall competition winner.
The winner is: Naomi Robinson from the University of Lancashire
Naomi’s award winning idea is a circular bridal collection that looks at renting instead of purchasing, upcycling damaged garments, and turning old fabrics into new ideas that can revolutionise the bridalwear industry.
Alongside a trophy and a copy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s The Circular Design for Fashion Book, Naomi will receive 1-1 mentorship from a circular fashion designer to continue their exploration of this vital topic for the fashion industry. Naomi will also be featured on GFF platforms to highlight and celebrate her award-winning work.
“It feels amazing and surprising to win. I had a great time with the judges, and I got lots of new ideas from them as well. I am looking at putting together a business plan and exploring this as a career opportunity”
The judges were:
Ania Kurzawinska, Circular Assistant Manager, Selfridges
Anna Foster, Founder & Creative Director of E.L.V. DENIM
Natalie Binns, Founder of Better Fashion Consultancy
Helena Pribyl, Fashion & Textiles Project Manager, Ellen McArthur Foundation
“We chose Naomi because she took the existing fashion system and created a solution that fit alongside it. Her solution was not only circular and sustainable, but she still kept the craft of making beautiful dresses and the bridal experience, but she added in adjustability, rental options, reuse, repair, and upcycling. That’s what’s made it so strong.”
“Naomi’s competition submission was innovative, comprehensive and tackled a wide variety of issues in the bridalwear industry that don’t often receive a lot of attention. The judges were impressed by the quality of ideas coming from the group of students that presented, and we can’t wait to see how they evolve and explore circular fashion design throughout their careers.”
About the Circularity Masterclass
The Zalando x GFF Circularity Masterclass empowers fashion design students across Europe and the UK to embrace circular design thinking. Its ambition is to inspire the next generation of designers to create products and concepts that fit into a circular economy.
The five lesson programme was open to 30 GFF member universities in the UK and 10 partner universities around Europe who had exclusive access to the online platform and competition.
Students were asked to design three outfits or accessories that demonstrated circularity principles and considerations, including end-of-life processes, raw materials, dyes, and finishings, and more.
The competition received more than 100 entries from students around the EU and the UK. In a survey to all students that submitted a competition entry, 97% said they found the programme engaging and informative, while 96% of students said the course has inspired them to continue exploring circular fashion design in the future.
Following a successful programme run in 2026, the Circularity Masterclass is expanding its participating cohort to 15 partner universities and all UK GFF member universities in 2026/27. Once again, fashion design students will submit a competition entry and one winning student from each university will win a trip to London for Graduate Fashion Week 2027, where they will present their submissions and an overall winner will be crowned by a panel of industry judges.
