The grants will back projects at universities and research groups in the US, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of clothing production by developing alternatives to conventional rayon, silk and cotton.
The funding distribution covers four main initiatives:
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Textile fibres grown from bacteria
Columbia University, in partnership with the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), will receive $11.5m to create a textile fibre grown from bacteria fed on agricultural waste. This material is intended to be strong, flexible, and biodegradable, with potential to reduce microplastic pollution and minimise land use.
Plastic-free silk alternative
University of California, Berkeley has been allotted $10m for work on a biodegradable fibre, inspired by spider silk, which does not rely on animals or plastics. The project involves researchers from Stanford University and California Institute of Technology.
New cotton varieties
Clemson University will get $11m to engineer new cotton varieties through gene editing and synthetic biology, in collaboration with the University of Georgia. The resulting cotton aims to offer built-in colour and resilience while lowering environmental effects compared to current synthetic materials.
Non-GMO cotton seed
In addition, the Cotton Foundation will receive $1.5m to restore a wide-ranging, publicly accessible, non-GMO cotton seed bank. This resource will support ongoing improvement of cotton varieties for farmers and scientists worldwide.
The grants intend to address primary sources of environmental pressure in the apparel industry such as emissions, water use, and waste from material sourcing and manufacturing processes, which together account for approximately 80% of the sector’s environmental footprint.
Bezos Earth Fund president and CEO Tom Taylor commented: “At the Bezos Earth Fund we’re constantly looking for groundbreaking new solutions at the intersection of climate, nature, people, and communities to ensure we’re protecting and restoring the world we love. We believe sustainable fashion is part of that mission by making sustainable clothing choices easy, widely available, and ultimately better for the planet and for people.”
The Bezos Earth Fund, established in 2020 with a $10 billion pledge from Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos, allocates grants to address climate and nature challenges over the current decade.
In 2025, the Council of Fashion Designers of America Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund launched “The Next Thread Initiative,” a $6.25m partnership to drive sustainable innovation and education across the US fashion industry.
Insights from the Initiative will inform future Earth Fund investments in materials science, manufacturing innovation, and supply chain transformation, while reinforcing CFDA’s leadership in sustainability, education and creative advancement.
