FASHION FOR GOOD in the news

A new report has been published by Fashion for Good and Accenture Strategy, exploring the financial viability of circular business models in the fashion industry.

The fashion industry can profit from moving to circular business models. That’s the clear message from a new report jointly penned by Fashion for Good and Accenture Strategy.

Textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is the latest company to join the global sustainability initiative Fashion for Good. With Arvind, a global leader in apparel manufacturing and trailblazer in advanced materials, the Fashion for Good Innovation Platform gains a well-experienced partner “committed to testing and implementing sustainable innovations” according to a press release published today.

We live in an age of unprecedented demand on our global resources. The fashion industry is one of the world’s largest polluter, just behind oil. Fashion for Good is a platform for sustainable fashion innovation. Its mission is to bring together the entire ecosystem to make fashion a force for good. Liz Gyekye, Deputy Editor at Bio Market Insights, catches up with Georgia Parker, innovation manager at Fashion for Good.

Do you get excited when hearing about breakthrough sustainability apparel innovations – such as fibers made from fruit waste or blockchain technology being used to track and trace the origin and content of your clothing? Do you sometimes wonder if these breakthroughs are too good to be true? Greg Stillman and Rogier van Mazijk work with visionary entrepreneurs and impact investors every day.

A strategic partnership has been established between industry innovation hub Fashion for Good and Switching Gear, a project set up by Circle Economy. The initiative has been started with the aim ​of accelerating re-commerce and rental business models within the apparel sector, and will collaborate with six brands to design and launch pilots of new business models by 2021.

To transform the fashion industry, global fashion retailer C&A together with its corporate foundation, the C&A Foundation, launched the Fashion for Good Centre in Amsterdam two years ago, with the aim of transforming the fashion industry, driving its transition to a circular economy and bringing industry players together to “reimagine how fashion is designed, made, used and reused”.

Green fashion has never been so hot a topic and the capital of the Netherlands is fast-proving why it should be every eco-fashionista’s next trip. But what is it that Amsterdam is doing that makes it stand out sustainably from the rest of the fashion capitals? Amira Arasteh looks at some key Dutch designers paving the way for slow fashion and why they think every step adds value to the journey.

A growing number of young brands are putting sustainability at the center of their business models. As part of WWD’s special Earth Day coverage, here are 12 emerging green designers.

Sustainability is a prevailing topic with fashion executives, but consumers need pragmatic advice — not statistics — to take action. In the ongoing battle to try to make consumers more sustainable, statistics are often the weapon of choice. But as for what will actually make shoppers change their everyday behavior and adopt more planet-saving habits, that on-the-ground strategy encompasses more varying directives.

The ethical pioneer and her head of innovation, Claire Bergkamp, discuss how to turn a commitment to the planet into a stylish, profitable proposition in Vogue’s Get Your Greens series.

For nearly 20 years Adidas AG has pursued an environmental and technological holy grail: a sneaker that can be recycled and reused in new shoes without any waste. It’s a feat of design and engineering that has proved elusive.

“For us at Supplycompass, it’s about bringing supply chains into the 21st century via vetted online marketplaces and the digitisation of design development, sourcing and production management methods. Once every player in a supply chain is working from the same platform, the interconnectivity and purchasing that happens throughout the system will allow brands much greater traceability and certainty on compliance and impact”

Awareness and information around sustainable practice and jobs are few and far between; reliable resources are limited; and learning to divorce personal ethics with professional practice can be a challenge. Here, Bergkamp shares her insight on how best to start a career in fashion’s growing sustainability sector.

In episode four of Impact Unpacked, Chloe and Helen dive into fashion, style, clothing – they chat about how fast or cheaply made fashion negatively impacts the environment, and explore the many creative initiatives being taken to provide style to consumers while being good for people, and the planet.

Amsterdam is not only home to Denham the Jeanmaker, Kings of Indigo and Kingpins, which begins Wednesday at Westergasfabriek. The Dutch city is also a trailblazer in sustainability, leading by example with initiatives to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles on its roads, to establish a circular economy through new business models and to take actions that will make it “climate proof” by 2020.

Amsterdam is establishing itself as the global capital of the burgeoning sustainable fashion industry. I’ll be checking out how the city is inspiring this welcome trend over the next couple of days, as I meet the innovators changing an industry that is one of the worst polluters.

The fashion industry is one of the largest polluters in the world. In an effort to look for more sustainable ways of working, the Amsterdam-based non-profit platform Fashion for Good aims to connect and inform all major players in the field, including consumers, through its impressive office, event space and museum. Fashion for Good’s Communications Manager, Anne-Ro Klevant Groen, explains why the pace must be stepped up to stamp out fast fashion.

At Good On You, we firmly believe in transparency. We think it is the first step towards accountability and making the fashion industry more ethical and sustainable. But how did we come to this current state where we know nothing (looking at you, Jon Snow) or at least very little about how our clothes are made?

Los amantes de la moda, la innovación y la sustentabilidad no pueden dejar visitar el museo Fashion for Good Experience en Ámsterdam. En octubre de 2018, en la capital holandesa se inauguró el primer museo dedicado a la innovación de la moda sustentable.

Geef mij maar Amsterdaaaam! Onze hoofdstad… of je er nu woont, er regelmatig komt of er nog nooit bent geweest: het mooie Mokum zit barstensvol leuke en inspirerende plekken. Misschien zelfs zóveel dat je door de bomen het bos niet meer ziet.  Luxeprobleem, anyone? Een goede reden om onze favoriete to-do’s eens voor je op een rijtje te zetten.

Today Fashion For Good announced their fifth batch of innovators who will be joining their Plug and Play Accelerator. The selected ten innovators will be partaking in a twelve-week programme that includes mentorship and business development opportunities with Fashion For Good’s corporate partners.

A handful of new initiatives, products and innovations continue the attack on fashion’s wasteful and environmentally and socially destructive practices from a variety of angles.

A new wave of companies looking to make fashion more sustainable has joined Fashion for Good’s Plug and Play Accelerator program, which provides them with a twelve-week curriculum including mentorship and business development opportunities from Fashion for Good’s corporate partners C&A, Adidas, Bestseller, Galeries Lafayette, Kering, Otto Group, PVH Corp, Stella McCartney, Target and Zalando.

AMSTERDAM – A fifth batch of innovators have joined the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator, as ten entrepreneurs were selected from hundreds of applicants.

They will undertake a twelve-week curriculum which includes mentorship and business development opportunities, with the aim of driving market validation and priming the technologies for implementation at scale.

Fashion for Good is the first of its kind. It’s a museum specifically showcasing sustainable fashion and a hub for educating yourself on the harmful impacts the industry creates. Whether you’re like me and are already well-versed in what the phrase ‘fashion for good’ can possibly mean or whether you’re completely new to it all and have spontaneously found yourself at the museum on a tourist trip, it’s now at the top of my recommendations list.

AMSTERDAM – The developers of a new tracing system say they are confident they will soon be able to fully trace organic cotton from the farm right through to the consumer. Pressure for greater transparency and sustainability in the fashion industry is intensifying, with consumers more aware than ever of the ethical and environmental impact of fashion, while governments are beginning to demand accountability from brands and retailers for their supply chains.

Consumer demand is driving fashion outlets to use more organic cotton, pushing the commodity to a global market of over $15 billion. Despite double-digit growth in production year over year, companies struggle to meet that demand, and the fragmented nature of the supply chain makes it difficult for manufacturers to know if the cotton they’re buying is actually organic—or just a knockoff.

Norwegian outdoor brand Norrøna has been announced as the latest company to join forces with Fashion for Good, as the sustainable fashion initiative continues to gain industry traction by working with an ever-growing pool of apparel sector organisations to support innovation.

AMSTERDAM – Sustainability initiative Fashion for Good (FFG) has announced the theme of its next capsule collection which will hone in on transparency within the industry. The ‘Naked’ collection – only the second of its kind to be held in FFG’s museum which opened in October – will comprise garments manufactured by six new partnering brands which purport to prioritise sustainability and circularity in their supply chains.

The Fashion for Good museum in Amsterdam is educating people about where their clothes come from and what types of sustainable options are out there.

Dutch consumers will get their first taste of Los Angeles transparent label, ReformationJeans, at the Fashion for Good Experience.

Beginning Feb. 1, Reformation will be one of six sustainable brands included in Fashion for Good’s new capsule collection focused on transparent brands, called “Naked.”

The Amsterdam-based interactive museum is the first dedicated to sustainable fashion innovation. The “carefully curated” selection of brands—Reformation, A.BCH, Allbirds, ASKET, la fille d’O and Swedish Stockings—will be featured in the museum’s contemporary retail space.

Paddestoelenleer, gescheurde panty’s, tweedehands spijkerbroeken en versleten sokken. De tentoonstelling van de Redress Design Award laat zien dat je alles mag gebruiken om een originele jurk te ontwerpen, zolang je maar niets verspilt.

An exhibit featuring pieces from the Redress Design Awards 2018 opened at Fashion for Good Experience in Amsterdam. The diverse array of collections were made entirely from waste, ranging from the usual suspects of dead stock textile and surplus materials from manufacturing, to more unusual contributors such as furniture offcuts and sofa fabrics. Finalists created unique pieces with zero-waste, utilising various up-cycling and reconstruction techniques to demonstrate the endless possibilities of sustainable fashion. The exhibition is open until 14th February and is free of entry.

Het in Los Angeles gevestigde modemerk Reformation zet voor het eerst voet aan de grond in Nederland. De collectie van Reformation is vanaf volgende maand te koop in een pop-up shop, namelijk in de Good Shop van Fashion for Good in Amsterdam. Dat bevestigt het innovatieplatform in een email aan FashionUnited.

Goed nieuws voor alle fans van het Amerikaanse merk Reformation: vanaf 1februari 2019 kun je het merk kopen in de Good Shop bij Fashion for Good in Amsterdam. Met een klantenlijst aan beroemdheden als Rihanna, Leandra Medine en Taylor Swift en ruim 1 miljoen volgers op Instagram vindt het hippe merk uit Los Angeles eindelijk zijn weg naar Amsterdam. Naast de Instagramfähige jurken is er nog een andere reden om het merk hoog op je lijstje van favorieten te zetten: alle kleding wordt op een duurzame manier vervaardigd.

Según el informe Theme & Museum Index de TEA / AECOM de 2017, un total de 107.976.000 de personas visitaron alguno de los 20 museos más populares del mundo. Un crecimiento interanual de un 0,22% y una cifra total que demuestra una realidad: estas instituciones culturales están más de moda que nunca.

Bestseller, the intentional fashion company with more than 20 brands in its portfolio including Vero Moda and Jack and Jones, has announced that it is partnering with innovative platform Fashion for Good to help bring “game-changing” circular innovation to supply chains.

AMSTERDAM – International fashion house Bestseller has entered a strategic partnership with Dutch initiative Fashion for Good (FFG) as the pair look to drive the mass fashion market’s adoption of sustainable, circular technologies.

Fashion for Good, die in Amsterdam ansässige Plattform für nachhaltige Mode, gab heute bekannt, dass sie sich mit dem dänischen Modekonzern Bestseller zusammenschließt.

A staggering 85% of apparel ends up in landfill in America alone – a trend that needs to quickly go out of fashion. Initiatives like Fashion for Good are working to reshape the industry. A collaborative – global community – of fashion’s biggest hitters and most promising startups, it supports both advance their ambitions to become icons of sustainability and style. And international family-owned fashion firm BESTSELLER is now teaming up with FFG to change what’s on the peg and reduce waste.

Clare Press, the Editor-At-Large of Vogue Australia for sustainable fashion, has officially and successfully launched her book “Rise & Resist, How to Change the World” in Europe at the Fashion For Good in Amsterdam, the first Museum of sustainable fashion in the world.

The Otto Group has signed up to the Fashion for Good Innovation Platform, and with others, will now become part of the Dutch-based NGO’s selection process for new innovators and start-ups that focus on sustainability in the textile and clothing sectors.

Amsterdam-based sustainable fashion platform Fashion for Good announced today that it has welcomed German e-commerce giant Otto Group and its companies Otto and Bonprix as its partners.

Five more startups have been selected to join Fashion for Good’s scaling program, which provides companies looking to make fashion more sustainable with a boost to scale up their businesses. These are the newcomers:

Am Thema Nachhaltigkeit kommt in der Mode niemand mehr vorbei. Doch zwischen Lippenbekenntnissen und erhobenem Zeigefinger geht die Lust an der Mode oft verloren. Das will eine Ausstellung in Amsterdam ändern.

From pedal-powered vehicles to solar-panelled bike paths, the Dutch are known for their sustainable and innovative approach to the everyday, so it’s no surprise that the world’s first sustainable fashion museum has found its home in the capital city of Amsterdam.

The Dutch have done it again! Created an interactive gaming and shopping experience that teaches you about sustainable fashion at the same time.

The very first museum of sustainable fashion in the world opened its doors last week in Amsterdam – and has definitely been making a “Splash” ever since, just like the name of its main theme for the next three months. It’s called Fashion For Good and it stands for a unique experience that stimulates visitors to reflect, become aware and engage. We believe that not a single visitor will leave without being affected by what they have witnessed – and will definitely be inspired and moved to make a difference.

As of October 5th a new, truly unique experience has opened in Amsterdam. Designed to inspire, inform and equip, it’s the brainchild of Fashion for Good, the collective committed to seeing the fashion industry shift towards sustainability around the world.

Fashion For Good is an interactive museum that aims to teach visitors about innovations in the fashion and textiles industry, designed by US-based studio Local Projects.

Fashion for Good, the Dutch organization dedicated to circular fashion, has opened what it is billing as “the first interactive museum for sustainable fashion innovation.”

AMSTERDAM – The doors have opened on a new museum which informs and inspires end consumers about the latest thinking in sustainable fashion. The new Fashion for Good experience in Amsterdam is an immersive, interactive museum fitted with smart technology which aims to “change the hearts and minds of the visitors by telling stories behind the clothes [they] wear.”

The tech-driven museum experience presents a sustainable vision of the fashion industry that is designed to shift mindsets and buying habits. Visitors can take a ‘personalised digital journey with an RFID- bracelet’ and delve into the history of fashion, as well as discover more about how they can play a big part in accelerating it towards a sustainable future.

Amsterdam kan een nieuw museum aan haar lijst toevoegen, en wel een museum over circulaire mode. Het Fashion for Good Experience is nu geopend, en focust zich volledig op duurzaamheid binnen de mode-industrie.

Amsterdam is een te gek interactief museum rijker: Fashion for Good. Het huist op de onderste etages van het gelijknamige, ambitieuze wereldwijde hoofdkwartier voor duurzame mode aan het Rokin. Doel? Bouwen aan een groeiende beweging van ‘good fashion-lovers’.

AMSTERDAM – The Fashion for Good Experience has opened its doors to the public as a new chapter begins for the Netherlands-based sustainable fashion hub.

Amsterdam — Fashion for Good, the global initiative for sustainable fashion, has opened the doors of its museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, today. The space aims to show visitors how clothes are made and help them to discover innovations shaping a more sustainable future for fashion. FashionUnited visited the museum ahead of its launch and spoke to the organization about the initiative.

Fashion for Good has announced an official partnership with Stella McCartney, the leading global luxury lifestyle brand. A physical creation of a new collaboration between Stella McCartney and Fashion for Good will be on show at the Fashion for Good Experience from October 5. An interactive technology-driven museum, it features a dress that was designed by Stella McCartney and which has been dyed by Colorifix, using engineered microorganisms.

Weten waar je kleding vandaan komt is een trend die we steeds vaker zien. Alles mag sustainable of conscious zijn. Verschillende merken volgen en we worden ons steeds bewuster van waar onze kleding vandaan komt. Niet gek dus dat Fashion for Good met iets nieuws komt. Op 5 oktober wordt in Amsterdam namelijk de Fashion for Good Experience geopend: een museum dat stilstaat bij duurzame mode-innovatie. De impact die bezoekers van de Experience kunnen hebben op de mode-industrie staat hierbij centraal. In totaal zijn er meer dan vijftig interactieve exposities te bezoeken.

Fashion for Good and ZDHC have announced a joint venture which is seeking innovators in the field of textile chemistry to pioneer technologies to make the industry safer. Companies that apply will run for selection into the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator and get the opportunity to participate in December’s Friends of ZDHC event in Amsterdam.

There are many startups that intend to transform the fashion industry. These unconventional fashion tech startups work towards bringing a circular economy in the fashion industry. And, Fashion for Good – Plug and Play Accelerator Programme aims at bringing them together.

Amsterdam can add a new museum to its list, a museum about circular fashion. Soon the Fashion for Good Experience will be opened that focuses entirely on sustainability within the fashion industry.

Fashion for Good, the global sustainability initiative based in Amsterdam, has finally shared details of its new technology-forward museum for sustainable and circular fashion innovations

Sustainability is one of the ‘it’ words in the fashion industry, but for some of the retailers, brands and other parties it is still unclear how you make sustainable products. Fashion for Good now launches toolkits that explain how cradle to cradle products, products that can be reused or recycled, can be made.

Global apparel company, the PVH Corp., is one of those, announcing today it has joined forces with Fashion for Good, a global initiative that offers collaborative and cross-sector programmes – including a startup accelerator and Scaling programme – created to achieve this. PVH Corp’s brands include Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, so it is well-placed to make a real impact.

Fashion for Good is here to make all fashion good. They believe that no single organisation can transform an industry on its own. This is why the startup has been busy building a global coalition of brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders who have a genuine ambition to make all fashion good. The industry-wide collaboration includes partners like Target, Zalando, adidas, Kering, C&A and now PVH Corp.

VOLTAGE Content Director Heather Mierzejewski interviews the Amsterdam-based, international-focused platform for innovation that focuses on innovators and helping them grow through connection to their corporate partners.

The clothing and textile industry will go through a period of transformation over the next decade, during which it will develop new materials and eliminate the chemicals that are both having a detrimental effect on the world’s eco-system.

A new report on textile chemistry commissioned by Fashion for Good evaluates the role of potentially hazardous chemicals used in fashion supply chains and identifies five key areas where innovation could help to reduce their impact on the environment.

Fashion for Good, one of the sustainable initiatives of the C & A Foundation expands the Scaling Program. Three new companies have joined the program; Ambercycle, Bext360 and Tyton Biosciences.

The Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), Circle Economy and Fashion for Good have announced that they will form a partnership to evolve the current AMFI MA Fashion Enterprise Creation (MA FEC), launched in 2016, into the world’s first master’s degree focused on circular fashion entrepreneurship.

Fashion for Good works to find and accelerate innovative technologies and business models that have the greatest potential to support a circular apparel industry. The global initiative runs the annual programme together with Plug and Play – the world’s largest accelerator – as well as corporate partners, including adidas, C&A, Galeries Lafayette, Kering, Target and Zalando.

The Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator has revealed the names of the 15 startups selected to participate in its third edition, which kicks off today. Over the next twelve weeks, this new generation of innovators — whose future-fit products and technologies include everything from biodegradable glitter to seaweed-based fabric — will follow a robust curriculum including mentorship from Accelerator partners adidas, C&A, Galeries Lafayette, Kering, Target and Zalando, with the aim of transforming the fashion industry for good.

Eight of the 15 start-ups aim to use renewable raw materials to improve the sustainability of fashion supply chains. Algiknit produces a textile fiber made from kelp that is dyed with natural pigments. BioGlitz produces biodegradable glitter made from eucalyptus tree extract, while Flocus uses kapok fibers to produce yarns, fillings and fabrics. Frumat creates vegan leather from apples. Mango Materials produces biopolyester; Orange Fiber manufacturers fabrics from byproducts of the citrus industry; and Paptic produces renewable packaging materials made from wood fibers. Provenance Biofabrics produces a leather equivalent by engineering the self-assembly of collagen molecules

In 2017, Fashion for Good launched as a global initiative to reimagine how fashion is designed, made, worn and reused. With an innovation hub in Amsterdam, a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley and a worldwide network of collaborators and changemakers, it aims to demonstrate a better way for the fashion industry to work; a way in which companies, communities and the planet can flourish.

Fashion For Good launched as a global initiative last year to answer this pretty big question.

The non-profit based in Amsterdam not only supports ethical companies working in fashion’s supply chain but is also working on a series of exhibitions and events aimed at shifting consumer consciousness away from disposable fashion.

Fashion for Good x Adidas – Fashion for good is an organisation that works on a simple 5 phase principle of the five Goods; Good Materials, Good Economy, Good Energy, Good Water and Good Lives. This partnership with Adidas will mean that both businesses succeed through each other’s successes. This partnership sees fashion for good cementing its place in the industry as a global initiative to make all fashion good.

2018 is set to become the year sustainable fashion goes mainstream, as more and more fashion retailers, companies and initiatives join forces to make a positive change. Fashion for Good, the global platform for sustainable fashion, has partnered with sportswear leader Adidas to accelerate and scale sustainable innovation in the fashion industry.

Fashion for Good™ is an organisation that enables the widespread adoption of good fashion practices with ‘The Five Goods’: Good Materials, Good Economy, Good Energy, Good Water and Good Lives. With their #GoodFashionResolution Instagram initiative they invited their global community to help collectively brainstorm ways to be more mindful about the clothes you buy, wear and throw away in 2018 – by making a #GoodFashionResolution and sharing it on your Instagram along with the campaign hashtag to spread the word.

On 9 January Fashion for Good, announced that it will partner with e-tailer Zalando. The partnership is designed with the aim of stimulating sustainable innovation in the fashion industry.

The movement pushing for a sustainable fashion industry continues to gather momentum. That is thanks to leading advocates like Fashion for Good, an international initiative which promotes a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach, to delivering change. Fashion for Good does this via a variety of platforms, including its startup accelerator and Scaling programme.

In addition, we may see more progressive incumbents take advantage of startups’ innovations to drive their own sustainability efforts. Fashion for Good is promoting startups in this area. It is collaborating with incubators and other apparel companies to provide funding and operational expertise for developing innovations that promote sustainable practices.

Following the launch of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s industry report last week, which called for the collective implementation of more sustainable strategies to introduce a circular economy, the Fashion for Good end-of-year event proved a fertile space for industry leaders to discuss disruptive innovation and scalability.

Fashion for Good has announced it is set to host Long Live Denim!, an event that will enable brands to gather and discuss the progress made by the two-year long Alliance for Responsible Denim (ARD) project, which has recently passed its half way point.

Fashion for Good, founded in partnership with C&A Foundation, is an open invitation for the whole textile industry to collaborate in “bringing good to fashion”.

The problem with the idea of sustainable fashion, is that right now it’s only possible for small and emerging brands.

The inaugural batch of the Plug and Play—Fashion for Good Accelerator programme has graduated. A collaboration between Fashion for Good (with C&A Foundation as founding partner), Plug and Play, and corporate partners Kering, Galeries Lafayette Group and C&A, the accelerator programme identifies innovative start-ups in sustainable fashion.

LiteHide by LeatherTeq, Carcel and EON.ID made the final cut for the program’s second edition.

Fashion for Good is a new global initiative that through innovation and practical action, is convening brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders to reimagine how fashion is designed, made, worn, and reused.

With climate change on everyone’s mind, the sense of urgency to change the fashion industry for the better is building. That’s why the recent launch of global initiative Fashion for Good – located in the heart of Amsterdam – and its accelerator programme for startups in the fashion industry couldn’t have come at a better time.

Global fashion retailer C&A, together with its C&A Foundation, is looking to transform the fashion industry.

With an initial grant by founding partner C&A Foundation and an open invitation to the entire apparel industry to join, Fashion for Good convenes brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders united in one shared ambition.

Your future wardrobe may be made from bananas, pineapples, flax, and mushrooms, and dyed with organic dyes from microorganisms.

An iconic Gucci bag is coveted by many who follow fashion trends. But a compostable purse made of mushrooms and dyed using regenerative microorganisms? That’s an unusual look.

The first promotion of “Plug and Play-Fashion for Good” has just been put into orbit. And with it the brand new declination, dedicated to innovative fashion in sustainable development, the accelerator of general-purpose start-up Plug and Play.

How fast is fast enough when it comes to clothes and gratification? How much do you really need that dress or bag or platform sandal?

Fashion has been labelled the second most polluting industry after oil. But this does not have to be the case. A new initiative, Fashion for Good, is accelerating change towards a more circular industry, one in which even fast fashion can be sustainable.

Just weeks after the launch of McDonough Innovation’s Fashion for Good innovation and practical action lab in Amsterdam, the 12 startups selected to participate in the Plug and Play — Fashion for Good accelerator have been announced.

Plug and Play hopes that its new accelerator, called Plug and Play-Fashion for Good, will solve some of these issues by connecting textile startups with large retailers. The program, a partnership between Plug and Play, Fashion for Good, a global initiative founded by C&A Foundation, and luxury conglomerate Kering, whose brands include Gucci and Alexander McQueen, launched last week in Amsterdam.

Sustainable textile start-ups focused on everything from mushroom leather to nanotechnology tracers are among the first cohort for Plug and Play and Fashion for Good’s new accelerator programme in partnership with Kering.

AMSTERDAM –  Nanotechnology introduced into cotton gins that can later be scanned and identified to improve the traceability of cotton fibre; the use of microorganisms to replace conventional methods of textile dye production; and new filtration technology using light for cleaning water in textile supply chains are just some of the start-ups awarded a place in the ‘Plug and Play – Fashion for Good’ accelerator to support the scale-up of their textile innovations.

Aiming to fast-track sustainable innovation within the luxury and apparel industries, Fashion For Good, Plug and Play and Kering, a company known for its ensemble of luxury houses in fashion, have come together to give startups the opportunity to be part of an innovation accelerator.

The new group promotes lowering environmental impact of apparel production.

If even Kering, the French luxury group that includes brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, is investing in ethical and green startups, there is no doubt about it: the future of fashion is in sustainability.

C&A will launch the first ever t-shirt certified to the Cradle to Cradle Gold standard in June 2017. The plain, 100 per cent organic cotton t-shirts have been produced in conjunction with Indian suppliers Prathiba Syntex and Cotton Blossom.

As a holistic and inclusive open-source initiative, Fashion for Good invites the global fashion industry to reimagine how fashion is designed, made, worn and reused.

The joint-industry “open-source” initiative aims to transition apparel culture toward a Cradle to Cradle inspired circular model.

C&A Foundation, with Fashion for Good, made an industry-wide call for collaboration to transform the apparel industry at a gathering of innovators, sustainability and fashion thought leaders today in Amsterdam.

Global fashion retailer C&A’s charitable arm, C&A Foundation has launched a global initiative aimed at helping brands, retailers and manufacturers find more innovative and sustainable ways of producing fashion.

Fashion for Good is a worldwide laboratory of innovation and practical action based in Amsterdam. Fashion for Good was created with an initial grant from founding partner C&A Foundation,

Global fashion retailer C&A together with its corporate foundation, the C&A Foundation, wants to transform the fashion industry and drive its transition to a circular economy.