H&M Foundation offers €1m grant to fashion innovators

The H&M Foundation is offering its second €1m grant to five innovators with industry-changing ideas that will help facilitate the shift from a "linear to a circular" fashion economy, with the aim of protecting the planet and living conditions.

Applicants have until 31 October to submit their claims for a share of the Global Change Award, while a public vote at www.globalchangeaward.com will decide how the money is split between the five winners.

The first award was made last year and among the winners were clothing made from citrus by-products, microbes that digest waste polyester and an online marketplace for textile leftovers. Around 2,700 applications were received from 112 countries.

"After seeing so many fantastic innovations from around the world with the potential to transform the fashion industry, we have been very eager to open up the next round of the Global Change Award. I am also honored to welcome some new members to the expert panel like Dame Ellen MacArthur, who besides making solo sailor history in 2005, has immense knowledge about the transition to a circular economy,” says Karl-Johan Persson, board member of the H&M Foundation and CEO of H&M.

Making the fashion industry circular covers many different facets (not just recycling as is commonly thought). To encourage ideas from a broader scope the Global Change Award 2016 has three categories: Circular Business Models covering ideas on how to reuse, repair, share, digitalize or extend the life of products; Circular Materials looking for ideas on new fibres, recycling techniques, leather substitutes etc; and Circular Processes which aims to find new methods around chemicals, water and dyeing, as well as 3D printing, demand-driven manufacturing etc.

“By bringing together innovators to develop positive solutions, the Global Change Award is a great example of the approach needed to create change, and help shift the fashion industry towards a restorative and regenerative circular economy. I am excited to join the expert panel to help find the next five innovations that can be truly game-changing,” said Dame Ellen MacArthur, who is also founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Other members of the expert panel for Global Change Award 2016 include Amber Valletta, Ellis Rubinstein, Rebecca Earley, Franca Sozzani, David Roberts (new), Lewis Perkins (new), Vikram Widge (new) and Johan Kuylenstierna (new). Besides the grant, the winners also gain access to a one year Innovation Accelerator organised by the H&M Foundation, in partnership with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Applications are open now at www.globalchangeaward.com The public online vote will begin in March 2017, while the award ceremony will take place in Stockholm in April 2017.