Fashion for Good – a global platform for innovation that helps support start-ups – has announced the 12 companies featuring on its 2023 innovation programme.
The dozen firms will participate in a nine-month scheme, which includes bespoke support to validate their technologies in preparation for implementation across the fashion value chain.
Green Retail World features the innovators, below.
Virent: The US-based company uses its patented ‘BioForming’ technology to create fuels and chemicals from a wide range of naturally occurring, renewable resources. It can convert bio-based carbohydrate feedstocks into products molecularly identical to those made from petroleum.
Zymochem: Another US business. This company offers bio-based materials powered by proprietary carbon conserving microbes that convert renewable feedstocks into high-value materials while radically minimising CO2 loss during the production phase.
Polybion: A Spanish organisation, Polybion is growing premium, next-generation materials designed with nature and manufactured with biology. Its first product, Celium, is a premium alternative to animal-based leather and petroleum-derived synthetics.
Saltyco: Based in the UK, this business connects the regeneration of damaged wetlands to the production of healthier materials for the fashion industry. Its BioPuff textile is a warm, lightweight and biodegradable insulation material made from one of the best plants for wetland regeneration.
Lamoral Coating: Hailing from the Netherlands, Lamoral commercialises a high-performance, bio-based, fluor-free coating to replace today’s PFAS coatings and improve current C-0 offerings. The aim is to create a durable water repellent that protects garments and their users from the elements.
Cleankore: Another company coming from the US, CleanKore’s patented technology promises to modify the denim dye range to eliminate potassium permanganate spray, lower the carbon footprint and improve sustainability throughout the supply chain without increasing cost.
Responsible: A Northern Ireland-based business describing itself as a circularity platform and specialising in re-commerce. Read more about the business in Green Retail World’s feature interview with chief marketing officer, Ciaran Jordan.
Jordan said: “We are excited to be part of this global initiative and look forward to working with Fashion for Good and other industry leaders. Only through collaborations like this can we scale innovative solutions across the whole fashion value chain.”
Protein Evolution: This business was founded by a team of scientists and engineers in the US, who use a combination of biology and chemistry to transform waste into high-value products. The company’s goal is to unlock the potential of waste to be a valuable resource, in a bid to help the materials industry transition to a lower-carbon, more circular economy.
Qunigdao Amino Material Technology (Re:lastane): This Chinese company’s Re:lastane product focuses on the separation and recycling of polyester and polyester-blended fabrics. The patent pending “Relastane” polyester recycling system can separate polyester fibres from cotton, nylon, spandex, and other blended fibres.
Depoly: Swiss business that has developed recycling technology to convert unsorted, dirty end-of-life plastics and fibres into virgin-grade raw materials. It focuses on items that cannot typically be recycled due to complex blends, dyes, contaminants, etc.
Ioncell: Finnish firm Ioncell develops tech to transform cellulosic bio-materials into new, high-performance textile fibres in a sustainable way. It says the tech can improve the quality when textile waste is recycled into new fibres, therefore supporting a circular economy in the clothing and textile industry.
Satma CE: This Indian business has created a web-based software that uses blockchain optionally to offer traceability across the waste-to-worth supply chain, including collection, segregation, recycling, and processing.
Fashion for Good aims to support start-ups on their journey to scale via project management, access to funding and expertise, and collaborations with brands and manufacturers.
The programmes are supported by a number of corporate partners, including Adidas, Burberry, Inditex, Kering, Patagonia, Stella McCartney, and Zalando.
Katrin Ley, managing director at Fashion for Good, said: “We are inspired by the significant impact opportunities their technologies enable.
“With an emphasis on driving implementation, we provide them with the best support to expedite their exposure and growth into the market.”
[Image credit: Fashion for Good]
