Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good. © Presstigieux

Fashion for Good is expanding to South Asia with the launch of a dedicated regional innovation programme. Leading up to the expansion, scheduled for later this year, the organisation is now calling for innovative start-ups from across South Asia with disruptive sustainability solutions applicable to the fashion supply chain. Selected innovators will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions as part of Fashion for Good’s Innovation Day to be held at the Mercedes Benz Sri Lanka Fashion Week on 24 November.

These innovators will also gain priority access to the Fashion for Good programme, which enables access to a network of global partners, such as founding partner C&A Foundation, and corporate partners C&A, adidas, Kering and PVH Corp. to name a few, as well as to funding, mentoring and bespoke coaching, providing innovators with the tools needed to grow.

Scaling promising innovations

South Asia is a global leader in manufacturing and one of the largest consumer markets for fashion. The rapidly growing region presents significant opportunities to create value and impact both socially and environmentally from a transition towards a circular economy. With a rich heritage in textiles manufacturing and production, Fashion for Good is seeking to spark and scale promising innovations from this region that have the potential to disrupt the current fashion supply chain worldwide. Of particular interest will be the unique perspective of home-grown innovators focusing in key areas including raw materials, dyeing and finishing, manufacturing, retail, end-of-use and transparency and traceability.

“We are pleased to see Fashion for Good expanding to Asia, together we will continue to work on promoting and growing the sustainable technologies originating from the Fashion for Good Innovation Platform. We are looking forward to working with these technologies to fuel the next set of growth in manufacturing for us with the aim of growing with drastically less environmental impact,” said Abhishek Bandal, Head of Sustainability, Arvind.

Working closely with partners

Fashion for Good is already active in Asia, having partnered with Hong Kong based tech incubator The Mills Fabrica and are continuously expanding their activities with local manufacturers, such as the recently announced affiliate innovation partner, Indian based textiles manufacturer Arvind. This week Fashion for Good established a partnership with the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF), an initiative of the innovation platform Intellecap, who provide support in their local activities and expanding their partner and innovator network.

Fashion for Good Amsterdam Hub. © Presstigieux

“Working closely with these local partners enables us to promote the transition of the fashion industry toward more sustainable, circular practices as well as the betterment of social and environmental issues,” explained Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good.

Catalysing collaborative pilots

Fashion for Good is actively working on scaling innovations in the region, by catalysing collaborative pilots, which address areas such as making organic cotton traceable and solutions for the treatment of wastewater from the apparel manufacturing process. A physical and local presence facilitates a deeper focus on innovators and allows for swifter implementation of pilot programmes with partner brands and manufacturers, including targeted connections to our corporate partner and investor ecosystem.

Leading up to the programme launch Fashion for Good is hosting an Innovation Day in conjunction with MBFW, selecting 10 of the top innovators to showcase their solutions in a series of pitches, concluding with an engaging discussion with industry leaders. The Innovation Day brings together key stakeholders from the region, features discussion forums with panel participants from the regional investor, brand and manufacturer network.

“Fashion for Good has enabled us to build a global network where we work on sustainable innovation in an open source approach. We believe that deepening the connection to incredible Innovators in Asia will unlock more opportunities to collaboratively shape a positive impact on the industry, consumers, and ultimately the planet,” said James Carnes, VP Global Brand Strategy, adidas.

www.fashionforgood.com