Zalando x Graduate Fashion Foundation Circularity Masterclass Shortlisted Winners Announced
Graduate Fashion Foundation and Zalando are excited to announce the shortlisted winners of the Circularity Masterclass competition, a design challenge for second and third year fashion students across Europe and the UK.
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 Europe 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.
“With the Circularity Masterclass, we aim to spark students’ interest and provide them with the practical strategies to integrate circularity into their design thinking from day one. Each year, we are incredibly inspired by the creative and innovative approaches these students across Europe bring to the table - proving that sustainability and high-level design can go hand-in-hand.”
The shortlisted winners will present their submissions to an industry judging panel in June 2026 during Graduate Fashion Week in London, where one overall winner will be selected. The overall winner will receive one-to-one mentorship from a circular fashion designer in their city.
The shortlisted winners are:
Nicole Fedrowicz, Amsterdam Fashion Academy
Samantha Bronock, Leeds Arts University
Nicole Ray Kochergin, IED Barcelona
Gustav Wichmann Thiesgaard, Scandinavian Academy of Fashion Design
Vega Brooks, Manchester Fashion Institute
Dominikus Ehrenberger, Business and Law School Berlin
Mami Hosaka, Istituto Marangoni Milan
Boguslawa Gaworek, Academy of Fine Arts Warsaw
Anni Chen, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Lucas Fisher, Norwich University
Katie Rickett, Northumbria University
Taelor-Mae McNally, De Montfort University
Naomi Robinson, University of Lancashire
“Throughout the Circularity Masterclass programme, I discovered how challenging it is to stay truly sustainable — almost every decision requires taking a more complex, slower path instead of the easiest, cheapest or fastest one. What I’ve learned is that there is much more to improve in certain systems and that going deeper into these questions is both necessary and motivating. I’m really excited to come to London and talk about our projects and to hear feedback, new ideas, and different approaches that can help me keep growing within circular fashion.”
Industry judges from around Europe and the UK participated in the judging panels to select the shortlisted winners.
They include:
Rachel Singer, Circular Economy Advisor, ReLondon
Clara Chu, Designer
Marilyn Martinez, Circularity Expert
Sarah Robins, Textiles Specialist, WRAP
Tega Akinola, Designer
Chanel Trapman, Founder of Mumster Agency
Cecilia Sörensen, Designer
Nikolaj Storm, Designer
Lydia Bolton, Designer
Kristen Nuttal, Consultant
Rachel Jefferson, Designer
Sarah Keller, Circular Berlin
Alicja Jordan, Senior Circularity Manager, Zalando
Lara Gesche, Principal Social Impact, Zalando
Markus Breitsameter, Team Lead, Design & Textile Private Label, Zalando
“We’ve been so impressed by the creativity and circular innovation displayed by the students around Europe and the UK taking on the Circularity Masterclass competition. Their submissions have been diverse and thought-provoking — fashion’s circular future is looking very bright with this level of talent coming through the pipeline. We can’t wait to bring the shortlisted students to London in June to showcase their work and find our overall competition winner.”
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.
