As London Climate Action Week concludes, internationally acclaimed Nepalese-born British designer Sanyukta Shrestha has placed Circular Luxury at the centre of the global climate agenda.
Speaking as a featured panelist alongside global leaders, climate advocates, and parliamentarians at the launch of the Zero Waste Hub—a key milestone on the "Road to Antalya COP31"—Shrestha delivered a powerful message on fashion's waste crisis. The event followed straight after the high-profile unveiling of The King of Sustainability portrait of HM King Charles III, which was crafted entirely from discarded waste. Embodying her message, Shrestha wore an exquisite piece hand-spun and hand-woven by indigenous women artisans in rural Nepal. The design fuses a 1,000-year-old Newari craft tradition with circular material science, utilising organic bamboo, cotton, and upcycled agricultural waste.
Sanyukta and global climate leaders celebrating The King of Sustainability portrait of HM King Charles III. Photo Credit: Photographer Jonatan Gomez (LCAW)
London Fashion Week designer and sustainable luxury pioneer Sanyukta Shrestha has captivated global fashion vanguards, cultural advocates, and policymakers by placing ancestral craftsmanship and high-tech circular textiles at the absolute center of London Climate Action Week (LCAW).
Speaking at the official high-profile launch of the Zero Waste Hub at Hill House—a crucial milestone on the global "Road to Antalya COP31"—Shrestha drew upon her celebrated 25-year-plus career to deliver a powerful, restorative roadmap bridging heritage craft with modern material science. The prestigious launch featured the exclusive unveiling of The King of Sustainability portrait of HM King Charles III, made entirely from repurposed waste.
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Sanyukta and global climate leaders celebrating The King of Sustainability portrait of HM King Charles III. Photo Credit: Photographer Jonatan Gomez (LCAW)
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Sanyukta's iconic "Waste to Wonder" couture (the 30 years of Newspaper dress), preserved at the Fashion Museum since 2012 as a work of art. Photo Credit: Sanyukta Shrestha, White Gallery London
Taking the stage, Shrestha addressed the global textile waste crisis with fierce clarity, using an apt analogy to urge the fashion system to confront the root cause of its overproduction epidemic:
"The fashion industry is producing over 100 billion garments every single year, yet less than 1% of it is recycled. We currently have enough clothing on this planet to clothe the next six generations. We cannot solve this crisis by simply trying to fix the kitchen tap while the main issue is on the main supply pipe," Shrestha stated during the high-level panel.
mbodying her design philosophy, Shrestha graced the event in a stunning preview of her SS25 Vajrayana ensemble - a masterclass in zero-waste ancestral wisdom. The architectural black-and-ivory silhouette was hand-spun and hand-woven from organic bamboo and organic cotton, featuring bespoke monogram prints applied using traditional hand-block techniques by women artisans in rural Nepal.
Fusing heritage luxury with cutting-edge material science, the structural design featured an embedded corset crafted from raw organic cotton and apple-leather. The avant-garde look was completed with a handcrafted handbag made from India's mango-leather (agro-waste), finished with a brass Vajra handle hand-carved by smiths in Kathmandu. The look seamlessly preserved a 1,000-year-old Newari craft while setting a new standard for high-fashion biodiversity, circular economics, and spiritual heritage.
"Indigenous communities have always been the original guardians of nature, heritage, and craft," Shrestha reflected. "We have endured 90 years of plastic pollution that has completely disrupted our relationship with the Earth. But we don't have to look back thousands of years for the answer, only 100 years ago, our global ecosystem was fully circular. We must look to the wisdom of our ancestors, who understood that true circularity is born from harmony, not destruction."
Shrestha’s profound dedication to rewriting the rules of luxury is famously preserved in the permanent collection of the prestigious Fashion Museum Bath. Fourteen years ago, when "sustainability" was a virtually unknown concept on the UK fashion calendar, Shrestha was already leading the vanguard. She made history by creating a "waste to wonder" couture gown entirely handcrafted from 30-year-old newspapers found under her floorboard. By transforming literal refuse into a museum-worthy masterpiece, she ignited a vital, ongoing industry conversation, proving that waste is not trash, but a catalyst for boundless luxury and artistic wonder.
Concurring with Fashion Hub LCAW convener Malini Mehra (CEO of GLOBE International), Shrestha stood in solidarity with fellow esteemed industry leaders: Geoff van Sonsbeeck (CEO of B Corp fashion certified brand Baukjen), Amanda Johnston (CDO of The Sustainable Angle), Merve Kardaş Mısırlı (Founder of Turkish fashion brand Normaillot), and Shailja Dubé (IPF lead at the British Fashion Council).
Uniting their diverse expertise across industry accountability, ethical design, and policy advocacy, the panel presented a clear path forward, demonstrating that when innovation, ancestry, and empathy converge, a genuinely restorative future for global fashion is entirely within reach.
