Fashion District announces Innovation Challenge 2024 shortlist
For a shortlist, there’s a long and strong line-up of companies vying for this year’s ‘Innovation Challenge: Manufacturing Futures’ programme, organised by Fashion District.
The 10 start-ups and SMEs that have made it through to the final stage of selection include Arda Biomaterials (for turning spent grain into a leather-like material); Fab Materials (converting hard-to-recycle fashion waste into boards and composites); Fibe (creating new cellulosic materials from potato harvest waste); and Fiiba (scaling sustainable materials for the fashion industry from 100% agricultural waste).
Also on the list are Oxford Biopigments (creating plant-based dyes that are naturally lightfast and perform like synthetic dyes); Pact (creating leather-like material from collagen sourced from industrial by-products); Sequinova (creating plant based, biodegradable sequin materials); The Seam (developing a wardrobe care & repair service powered by intelligent tech); Truss (simplifying the resale process through instant access to actionable data); and Zori Tex (producing the latest technology-driven systems to optimise the sorting and availability of complex non-reusable textiles).
Operated by Fashion District at London College of Fashion, UAL, the hub for fashion innovation in East London, the winner will receive a £15,000 cash prize “to develop their sustainable manufacturing business… to make an impact on the fashion industry”. There will also be £5,000 prizes for the two runners-up.
The winning prize will also include ‘Desk’ membership for a year at The Trampery workspace in Fish Island Village; membership to UKFT providing access to their annual programme of events and webinars, networking opportunities via their extensive pool of members and supporters, and the latest market insights; and business membership for a year to Common Objective, accessing 30,000+ global connections, premium intelligence and training courses in sustainable fashion and manufacturing.
The runners up will also receive professional memberships to Common Objective and business development consultancy hours from Pangaia and the new Fashion District/The Trampery accelerator programme, Evo Fashion.
Helen Lax, founder of Fashion District, said: “It is incredible to be part of something that has the potential to change the way an industry works and make a real impact for future generations. The shortlist of brands in this iteration of Manufacturing Futures is spectacularly strong, and one can’t help but be amazed by the sheer talent and innovation held by the next gen of changemakers.”
Winners will be announced in July.
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