Custom-made clothes produced from decomposable mushroom roots, sustainable bio-textiles made from leftovers from food crop harvests, and a dissolvable thread are just some of the winners of the third EUR1m (US$1.24m) Global Change Award.
The initiative from the non-profit H&M Foundation, the charitable arm of global fashion retailer H&M, is aimed at spurring ideas to accelerate the shift from a linear to a circular fashion industry.
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And now a public vote has been launched to decide how to split this year’s total, with the results set to be revealed next week at a Grand Award Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.
“How we manage and consume resources will be crucial for the lives of present and future generations,” says Karl-Johan Persson, board member of the H&M Foundation and CEO of H&M.
“All industries need to re-think, innovate and challenge status quo. Creative innovations are key to make this shift, and I congratulate the Global Change Awards winners who all have the power to help reinvent the fashion industry, enabling products and resources to be cycled instead of just having one single life.”
The third round of Global Change Award received 2,600 entries from 151 countries up from last year’s 2,883 applications from 130 countries.
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By GlobalDataThe five most promising innovations were chosen by an international expert panel, including Vikram Widge, head of climate and carbon finance at the World Bank Group.
“This year’s Global Change Award winners are about disrupting business-as-usual to help transition us to a low-carbon and circular economy,” says Widge. “Whether it is fibres from organic waste or algae, or new approaches to recycling, the winners showcase potentially transformative approaches from sourcing to end-of-use management.”
The winners of the Global Change Award 2018 are:
- Crop-A-Porter: Making sustainable bio-textiles by using leftovers from food crop harvests such as flaxseeds, sugar cane and pineapples.
- Algae Apparel: Turning algae into bio-fibre and eco-friendly dye that is also good for the skin.
- Smart Stitch: A dissolvable thread that makes repairing and recycling a breeze.
- The Regenerator: Recirculating fashion into new textile fibre by separating cotton and polyester blends.
- Fungi Fashion: Custom-made clothes made from decomposable mushroom roots.
The winners get access to a one-year innovation accelerator provided by the H&M Foundation in collaboration with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Last year, carbon-binding nylon made from biomass and solar energy instead of oil, vegetal leather made from wine production waste, and an idea that turns cow manure into biodegradable textiles were some of the disruptive innovations that shared the EUR1m grant.
H&M Foundation selects sustainable winners for $1m grant
