Fashion for Good welcomes 9 innovators for South Asia

The second batch joins Fashion for Good’s global selection of start-ups driving the industry’s transformation towards a more sustainable, circular system.

“We’re extremely pleased to welcome 9 new innovators into our second batch of the South Asia Programme. Now more than ever, it’s important to support and scale the innovations in one of the industry’s most crucial manufacturing regions that can provide vital solutions to help build back stronger, more sustainable and resilient,” said Katrin Ley, managing director – Fashion for Good.

Due to current circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, the selection day for the second batch of innovators was held virtually. A total of 19 innovators, who were shortlisted from over 100 start-ups, attended from across the globe to pitch their innovations with sustainable solutions focused on the South Asia region. Earlier this year, more than 50 innovators had participated in the Fashion for Good Innovation Challenge run in collaboration with Startup India, which concluded last month. Two of the final innovators, Biomize and PoshaQ, were selected from this group to join the Programme.

A jury of regional Fashion for Good partners together with an advisory council of global Fashion for Good partners selected the final 9 innovators, with who they will collaborate closely in the coming 9 months. With three innovators having female founders and cofounders, the new batch includes innovations in raw materials – specifically biopolymers, bamboo fibre and alternative leathers and foams, wet processing - namely anti-microbial finishes and microbial dyes, digital acceleration solutions in AI and image processing and virtual swatches, as well as end-of-use solutions, closing the loop and making plastic products more sustainable.

Starting today, the 9 innovators will benefit from Fashion for Good’s Programme, its corporate partners and a global network of like-minded organisations, providing support, to help scale their solutions. This second batch follows Batch 1, selected in January of this year, who, despite the disruption and delays due to the pandemic, have made significant progress with Fashion for Good partners, landing multiple, ongoing pilot projects. Progress from the first and second batches will be shared later this year at the Fashion for Good Innovation Fest.

With the addition of the new innovators to its Programme, Fashion for Good continues to scale promising innovations from and for the South Asian region, while establishing a solid presence and partnerships with manufacturers and retailers in the region.

The 9 selected innovators in the second batch of the South Asia Innovation Programme are: Bagrotec (Indonesia – Raw Materials) Bagrotec initiates and executes various sustainable bamboo processing projects for textile fibre production. Using a proprietary process, bamboo is mechanically processed before enzymes are applied to naturally produce organic bamboo fibre.

Biomize technology makes bamboo and agri-waste based granules that are alternatives to plastic, are certified home compostable, and can be drawn into textile fibres and fabrics that have fashion, medical and industrial applications.

KB Cols wants to change the landscape of dyeing in the fashion industry by focusing on harnessing the true potential of biotechnology. Through the exploration of various renewable resources, KB Cols extract natural colours that can be applied in textiles and other applications.

As a homegrown leader in Indian recycled plastic products, Lucro produces high quality, innovative and recycled plastic waste to remake products, ultimately seeking to close the loop and make plastic sustainable. Lucro caters to big industries including retail, FMCG and automotive, exporting their products to the US and Europe.

Nordshield provides anti-mould, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and insect repellency finishes based on natural resources (waste from the forestry industry), which are free from heavy metals. Easy to apply both during production and as a post-treatment, products retain the antimicrobial effect even at extremely high temperatures and after more than 60 washes.

Phabio offers bioplastic solutions made from bio-degradable polymers made from renewable biomass obtained from waste in the beer, dairy and sugar industries, as well as food waste and sea weeds. These bioplastics can also be made from agricultural waste, used plastic bottles and other containers using microorganisms.

Phool upcycles floral waste from temples and mosques in India with their ‘flowercycling’ technology to make a florafoam that is a 100 per cent biodegradable, compostable, high-performing and inflammable alternative to Styrofoam as well as a bio-leather called Fleather also made from the flower waste.

PoshaQ is a computer vision AI startup focused on product discovery and sales conversion within the fashion and retail sector. They provide retail and warehouse automation, data intelligence and cataloging, and quality control with image processing.

Swatchbook is a cloud platform revolutionising the exploration, visualisation and sharing of materials. The platform enables suppliers to upload their materials along with other metadata and pricing details for brands to further explore, discover and visualise materials, sharing them with other stakeholders for further use.

Fashion for Good is the global initiative that is here to make all fashion good. It’s a global platform for innovation, made possible through collaboration and community. With an open invitation to the entire apparel industry, Fashion for Good convenes brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, nonprofit organisations, innovators and funders united in their shared ambition.

At the core of Fashion for Good is the Innovation Platform. Headquartered in Amsterdam with a regional hub based in South Asia, launched earlier this year, the Fashion for Good Accelerator Programme gives promising start-up innovators the expertise and access to funding they need in order to grow. The Scaling Programme supports innovations that have passed the proof-of-concept phase, initiating pilot projects with partner organisations and guided by our dedicated team that offers bespoke support and access to expertise, customers and capital. The Good Fashion Fund catalyses access to finance to shift at scale to more sustainable production methods.

Fashion for Good also acts as a convener for change, with the world’s first interactive museum dedicated to sustainable fashion innovation. In their headquarters, Fashion for Good houses a Circular Apparel Community co-working space, creates open-source resources like its Good Fashion Guide that provides practical advice to implement cradle-to-cradle certified apparel as well as white papers and reports investigating industry practices and developments.

Fashion for Good’s programmes are supported by founding partner Laudes Foundation (formerly C&A Foundation), co-founder William McDonough and corporate partners Adidas, C&A, Chanel, Bestseller, Galeries Lafayette Group, Kering, Otto Group, PVH Corp., Stella McCartney, Target and Zalando and affiliate partners Arvind, Archroma, HSBC, Norrøna, Vivobarefoot and Welspun.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)