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, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders united in their shared ambition.

At the core of Fashion for Good is an innovation platform. Based at their Amsterdam headquarters and recently expanding the programme to South Asia, their global Fashion for Good Accelerator Programme gives promising start-up innovators the expertise and access to funding they need in order to grow. Their Scaling Programme supports innovations that have passed the proof-of-concept phase, initiating pilot projects with partner organisations and guided by a dedicated team that offers bespoke support and access to expertise, customers and capital. Their 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, Norrøna and Welspun.

Fashion for Good’s South Asia Innovation Programme officially starts with the selection of nine new innovators. With innovations in raw materials, wastewater management, dyeing solutions, textile waste solutions, blockchain, AI and machine learning innovations, the first batch of regional start-ups join a global selection of start-ups at the cutting-edge who are driving the industry’s transformation towards a circular system. Fashion for Good’s Managing Director Katrin Ley opened the Fashion for Good South Asia Innovation Programme recently. Regional launch partners, Aamir Akhtar, CEO of Arvind Mills, Lakshmi Poti, Programme Manager Sustainable Raw Materials at Laudes Foundation (formerly C&A Foundation) and Dipali Goenka, Joint Managing Director of Welspun Ltd., were amongst the jury members who selected the innovators to join the programme.

Fashion for Good’s South Asia Innovation Programme started with the selection of nine new innovators. With innovations in raw materials, wastewater management, dyeing solutions, textile waste solutions, blockchain, AI and machine learning innovations, the first batch of regional start-ups join a global selection of start-ups at the cutting-edge who are driving the industry’s transformation towards a circular system. Fashion for Good’s Managing Director Katrin Ley opened the Fashion for Good South Asia Innovation Programme yesterday. Regional launch partners, Aamir Akhtar, CEO of Arvind Mills, Lakshmi Poti, Programme Manager Sustainable Raw Materials at Laudes Foundation (formerly C&A Foundation) and Dipali Goenka, Joint Managing Director of Welspun Ltd., were amongst the jury members who selected the innovators to join the programme.

The selected innovators in the first ever South Asia Innovation Programme batch are: Alt Mat, Block Texx, Descatuk, Indra, Infinichains, JSP, PurFi, Sasmira and Textile Genesis.

“We are staunch ambassadors of industry-wide collaboration. With the launch of our regional Programme in South Asia we strengthen our network and position us to better serve local manufacturers, key supply chain actors, brands and innovators. By connecting them to our global network and leading players in the fashion ecosystem, we help the innovators’ solutions and technologies reach scale,” said Katrin Ley, Managing Director – Fashion for Good.

Sixteen innovators from across the region attended the launch of the Fashion for Good South Asia Innovation Programme to pitch their innovations for the opportunity to join the Programme. The jury, consisting of members of the Fashion for Good Advisory Council including: Managing Director India at adidas, Neelandra Singh; Director Sourcing at C&A Bart de Meirsman and Director of Corporate Responsibility South Asia at PVH Corp., Tejas Sampat; as well as regional launch partners: Programme Manager Sustainable Raw Materials Lakshmi Poti of Laudes Foundation (formerly C&A Foundation); Joint Managing Director, Dipali Goenka of Welspun Ltd.; CEO Aamir Akhtar of Arvind Ltd. and Managing Director of Fashion for Good, Katrin Ley selected the final nine innovators from the group who will participate in the Programme.

“The Fashion for Good South Asia Innovation Programme brings together the most promising innovators whose technologies are set to transform the industry with manufacturers, like us, on the ground. The platform provides a pool of incredible talent that we can tap into and implement in our own on-going efforts to move our supply chain towards circularity, and we are pleased to support the Programme and lead the way in sustainability,” said Dipali Goenka, Joint Managing Director – Welspun.

Over the next four months, the nine innovators, will receive mentoring, bespoke coaching and support from Fashion for Good and its Corporate Partners, as well as access to a global network of partners and like-minded organisations, providing these innovators with the tools they need to grow. With the addition of the new innovators to its Programme, Fashion for Good is seeking to scale these promising innovations from and for this region with a particular focus in raw materials, wastewater management, dyeing solutions, textile waste solutions, blockchain, AI and machine learning innovations. Launch Partners Arvind and Welspun will provide support for these innovators in the form of local and manufacturing expertise and the possibility to partner on pilot projects to test the viability of their innovations in real-world, manufacturing processes.

In addition to the selection of the innovators, several keynote speakers from across the industry were invited to share their insights and guidance during the launch of the Innovation Programme. Nicole Rycroft, Founder and Executive Director of global sustainable sourcing organisation Canopy provided her perspectives on impact. Bob Assenberg, Director of Good Fashion Fund, which was initiated by Fashion for Good to drive the financing of innovative, industry solutions in India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, addressed the audience on the topic of investment.

 “South Asia is a critically important region for the global fashion industry, and indeed, one of the priority geographies for Laudes Foundation.  We are thrilled to be able to support this group of creative and ambitious innovators who are each contributing to making fashion a force for good,” said Leslie Johnston, Executive Director – Laudes Foundation (formerly C&A Foundation).

The nine selected innovators in the first ever South Asia Innovation Programme batch are:

ALTMAT – AltMat (previously Canva Fibre Labs) uses a mixture of mechanical, chemical and enzymatic process to produce industrial fit fibre and yarn made of agri-waste such as hemp and banana waste sourced directly from farmers and hemp producers.

BLOCKTEXX – BlockTexx turns textile waste into a resource, stimulates the production of new products and meets consumers demands to reduce the environmental impact of our everyday clothing.

DESCATUK – Descatuk has developed a process of fibre extraction and yarn creation from grass to produce a fabric that has a similar look to linen but a lighter touch. Grown in the highlands of India, the wild grass needs neither water nor pesticides. Descatuk also has a positive impact on livelihoods by providing fair job opportunities for locals.

INDRA – Indra has developed affordable, fully automated wastewater management treatment and packaged re-cycling solutions. The process is capable of a variety of water treatment through novel innovations in electro-coagulation, electro-chemical oxidation, two-phase solids separation, disinfection, distillation and pollutant monitoring hardware.

INFINICHAINS – InfiniChains is a leading end-to-end track and trace solution using blockchain, AI and Cloud Computing to help brands and manufacturers to digitise sustainability practices. Through real-time data, efficiency and storytelling, they bridge the fragmented gaps between the different sustainability systems of farmers, manufacturers and brands.

JSP ENVIRO – JSP Enviro treats common effluents with Microbial fuel cells technology. The technology treats effluent water that can be reused, simultaneously producing energy thereby reducing the need for external energy, making it a self-sustainable waste-water treatment.

PURFI – PurFi rejuvenates pre-consumer textile waste back to virgin quality fibres virgin quality products from corporate waste streams to create a closed loop solution. The technology can process cotton, PET, cotton/poly blends as well as separate out elastane.

SASMIRA – Sasmira has a wide range of innovations and one of them is a supercritical CO2 dyeing technology. This cost-effective technique is waterless and does not use any chemicals. The remains of the dye are collected for reuse and carbon dioxide used in the process is recirculated back into the system.

TEXTILE GENESIS – TextileGenesis is a blockchain traceability system specifically created for the apparel sector that focuses on sustainable fibres such as wood-based fibres, organic cotton and organic wool.  Consumers can scan the barcode with their mobile device to see the various steps that were taken to create the product.