H&M Foundation names Global Change Award winners

H&M Group’s non-profit H&M Foundation has named five winners of its Global Change Award 2022 and awarded 1 million euros to the early-stage innovators looking to transform the fashion industry.

The 2022 winning innovations hail from the UK, Sweden, India, China and the US and include a laundry solution that prolongs garments’ life, AI helping smallholder cotton farmers to increase yield and income, an invention realising the circular recycling of elastane and polyester blends, carbon-negative viscose made from CO2 emissions and regenerative agriculture making planet positive alternative to goose down.

H&M Foundation said they were overwhelmed with applications for the 2022 awards, which they added: “made it clear that there is no shortage of disruptive innovations out there”.

Global Change Award 2022 names winners

Karl-Johan Persson, board member of H&M Foundation and chairman of H&M Group, said in a statement: “The winners of the Global Change Award hold the key to the complex challenges we are facing and prove that it’s possible to reinvent fashion. Their game-changing innovations are really inspiring and can help transform the fashion industry into a planet positive one.”

The 2022 winners are: BioPuff by Saltyco, based in the UK, offers a planet positive alternative to goose down, crafted from plants that heal damaged land.

Biorestore, a laundry solution that restores old and worn garments to mint condition from Sweden.

CottonAce by Wadhwani AI is an Indian AI solution that reduces pesticide use, increases yield and raises incomes for smallholder cotton farmers.

Re:lastane from China, which has invented the first mild process to make elastane and polyester blended fabrics recyclable.

Rubi, a planet positive viscose and lyocell made from carbon emissions based in San Francisco in America.

Each of the five winners will share the 1 million euro grant and also get access to the one-year GCA Impact Accelerator programme provided by H&M Foundation in partnership with Accenture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and The Mills. The accelerator offers the winners coaching and support to help scale their ideas at speed through business, technology, investor and innovation readiness, and industry access.