26th July 2017, Amsterdam – The Plug and Play—Fashion for Good Accelerator announced the graduation of its inaugural batch of start-ups and unveiled the innovators that will join the programme’s second edition. 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 identifies innovative start-ups in sustainable fashion and supports them in scaling-up their technologies, methodologies and business models. As such, the partners aim to stimulate disruptive innovation, transform conventional production processes and thus enable the widespread adoption of sustainable and circular practices across the textile industry.
Over the past twelve weeks, the inaugural batch of start-ups was housed at Fashion for Good’s hub in Amsterdam, where they followed a robust curriculum including mentorship and training by Kering and C&A senior management, deal flow sessions with potential strategic partners and links to investors. Through this holistic programme, the Accelerator aims to ensure that the innovators’ solutions are market-ready. In addition, select start-ups are eligible to receive between $25,000 to $75,000 in funding to support the scale-up of their sustainable innovations. Marking their graduation, the first batch of start-ups presented their developed business models to an audience of investors and corporate partners at a Demo Day event held in Amsterdam last week.
Following this successful inaugural edition, a second batch of start-ups will join the Plug and Play—Fashion for Good Accelerator in September. From over 200 applicants and a shortlist of nineteen, ten start-ups from around the world – representing varied fields and backgrounds – have been awarded a place in the Accelerator: Carcel, Circular Systems, Colorifix, Ecofoot, Eon ID, LiteHide™ by LeatherTeq, Nature Coatings, Norman Hangers, We aRe SpinDye® and A Transparent Company. The Accelerator’s partners will work with these start-ups to improve the textile industry’s approach to water use, energy use, waste, chemical use and labour practices during the Accelerator’s second twelve-week programme.
Click to download official photographs
Click to view the Accelerator Programme overview video
Notes to Editors
Second Batch Start-ups
Carcel
Handmade by women in prison from 100% natural and locally sourced materials, Carcel aims to improve women’s lives via a sustainable business model. The brand’s first full collection is made from 100% baby alpaca and produced in a womens’ prison in Cusco, Peru.
Colorifix
Colorifix has developed a whole new way of dyeing fabrics. They use the power of biology to drive the process, avoiding the use of any hazardous chemicals whilst significantly reducing water, energy and waste.
Circular Systems
Circular Systems offers breakthrough technologies for high-value recycling, as well as vertical production of cost effective performance yarns and materials. Circular Systems allows ultimate resource efficiency with even the most complex waste streams, including spandex blends, coated/laminated fabrics and polyurethane.
EON.ID
EON.ID is the first global tagging system for textile recycling, a system for transforming old clothes into new garments in a similar way to paper recycling.
LiteHide by LeatherTeq
LiteHide™ by LeatherTeq is an economically beneficial patented process that eliminates salt pollution in the preservation of hides and in the associated supply chain. It allows indefinite storage of hides ready for any type of tanning, allowing brands to significantly reduce time to market.
Nature Coatings
Nature Coatings develops high-performing bio pigments and finishes for textiles. Their products are made from agricultural waste and are scalable, biodegradable, inexpensive and designed to reduce resource use at the mill level.
Normn Hangers
With a range of styles for both childrens’ and adults’ ready-to-wear, NORMN Hangers are made from 100% recycled paper and printed with vegetable ink which results in reductions in waste, CO2 and transportations costs compared to conventional hangers. Designed in a cradle-to-cradle mindset, they are also 100% recyclable and can be disposed of using existing paper recycling schemes.
We aRe SpinDye®
We aRe SpinDye® is an ingredient brand that offers a technically innovative colour system, via a clean and traceable colouring method for textiles. Already available in nearly 2,000 shades, We aRe SpinDye®’s benefits include an 85% reduction in water consumption, 70% reduction in chemicals and 30% reduction in both energy and CO2 compared to traditional coloring processes.
A Transparent Company
A Transparent Company is a platform that, in collaboration with Provenance, empowers brands to take steps toward greater transparency by tracing the origins and histories of products. With their Blockchain technology, you can easily gather and verify stories and origins, keep them connected to physical things and embed them anywhere online.
About Fashion for Good
Fashion for Good is the global initiative that is here to make all fashion good. Fashion for Good sparks and scales innovation by offering practical action in the form of support and funding, shares best practice and lessons learned in open-source roadmaps and fosters sector-wide collaboration for the entire apparel industry to change. Fashion for Good invites brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders to jointly transform the industry.
Fashion for Good was launched in 2017 with C&A Foundation as a founding partner, and is supported by partners Plug and Play, McDonough Innovation, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Impact Hub Amsterdam. The first brands to partner with Fashion for Good are C&A, Galeries Lafayette Group and Kering.
At the core of Fashion for Good is an innovation platform, which includes:
Fashion for Good is founded on the principle of collaboration and aims to create tools that are open-source, such as its Good Fashion Guide, which provides practical tips for brands wishing to embrace circular apparel principles. It operates from its first hub in Amsterdam, which also houses a Circular Apparel Community co-working space and a visitor-facing Launchpad Exhibition.
About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. We connect startups to corporations and invest in over 150 companies every year. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 22 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 180 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 365 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $6 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk.
About C&A
With nearly 2,000 stores in 21 countries worldwide and around 60,000 employees, C&A is a leading fashion retail business. C&A welcomes and provides millions of visitors each day with good quality fashion at affordable prices for their entire family. C&A is an enterprise of COFRA Holding AG with a presence in Europe, Brazil, Mexico and China. C&A is committed to leading an industry shift from the “take, make, waste” linear model to a circular one that allows us to keep resources in use for as long as possible. In cooperation with Fashion for Good, C&A developed the world’s first Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold garments. We are committed to supporting Fashion for Good in their efforts to scale technologies, processes and business models that have the potential to transform the industry. For more information, see www.canda.com.
About Galeries Lafayette
A leading city-centre retailer with proven fashion expertise, the Galeries Lafayette group is a family-run private group, with 120 years’ history in commerce and retail. A key player committed to creation and a major private employer in France with 14,000 employees, the Group is committed to setting the standard as a multi-channel, innovative, ethical and responsible retailer that puts the customer first and is actively engaged in promoting the French “Art of Living”. With retail sales of Euros 3.8 billion, the Group enjoys international recognition through its iconic brands: Galeries Lafayette, BHV MARAIS, RQZ – Royal Quartz Paris, Louis Pion, Guérin Joaillerie, InstantLuxe.com and BazarChic. More information on groupegalerieslafayette.com and on Twitter @Galeries_Laf.
About Kering
A global Luxury group, Kering develops an ensemble of luxury houses in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watches: Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, McQ, Stella McCartney, Tomas Maier, Boucheron, Dodo, Girard-Perregaux, Pomellato, Qeelin and Ulysse Nardin. Kering is also developing the Sport & Lifestyle brands Puma, Volcom and Cobra. By ‘empowering imagination’, Kering encourages its brands to reach their potential, in the most sustainable manner. The Group generated revenue of €12.385 billion in 2016 and had more than 40,000 employees at year end. The Kering share is listed on Euronext Paris (FR 0000121485, KER.PA, KER.FP).
About C&A Foundation
As the corporate foundation of global retailer C&A, we are here to transform the fashion industry. We give our partners financial support, expertise and networks so they can make the fashion industry work better for every person it touches. We do this because we believe that despite the vast and complex challenges we face, we can work together to make fashion a force for good. www.candafoundation.org
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Fashion for Good press contact
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