Fashion blogger Susie Bubble displays a creation by the YES award-winning designers.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The winning duo will be offered both business support and international mentorship, aside from the prize's monetary component. The works of all six designers created exclusively for the awards, will be put for sale on Yoox's website for a limited time.

"It's all about building awareness, from designers and retailers to consumers. As a consumer, essentially, you cannot ignore how what you wear is made," Lau says.

"It (eco-friendly fashion) is still at an infant stage. In retrospect, the industry, since evolving from the age of haute couture to the widely accessible ready-to-wear, hasn't had any big revolutions in the past few decades. It might be a force to push fashion forward," says the fashion guru with a signature top-knot hairstyle.

But De Castro, who is credited with raising the profile of eco-friendly design in the United Kingdom, says style is being married to sustainability both in Europe and Asia.

"One of the challenges for eco-fashion is that it has to be more fashionable than fashion, so that people are going to love it even more-not only because it causes little trouble to the world but is actually beautiful," she says.