H&M Foundation announces Global Change Award 2026 finalists

The H&M Foundation has announced its top 20 finalists for the 2026 Global Change Award (GCA).

Selected from 450 ideas submitted from 81 countries across six continents, the innovations from the 20 early-stage finalists are set to be reviewed by the GCA Expert Panel together with the H&M Foundation team.

From the 20 finalists, the panel and team will then recommend ten finalists to the H&M Foundation Board, which will be announced to the public in June 2026. The ten winners will go on to join the GCA Changemakers programme and be given a €200,000 grant, next to mentorship and access to a global network created to help take their ideas from concept to impact.

The Global Change Award was developed to accelerate innovation aimed at helping the textile industry halve its greenhouse gas emissions every decade until 2050, while contributing to a socially inclusive and environmentally positive future. By focusing on early-stage innovators, the programme seeks to support ideas that can drive systemic change across the textile value chain.

The selected finalists for this year’s award reflect the scale and complexity of fashion’s climate challenge, spanning innovations in raw materials, manufacturing and consumption. Among the selected projects are carbon-negative dye technologies that convert atmospheric CO2 into bio-based colourants, seaweed-derived stretch fibres designed to replace fossil-based elastane, and AI-powered digital twins that allow manufacturers to identify inefficiencies and reduce energy use in real time.

Other finalists are exploring machine-learning systems to improve quality control in garment factories, while community-led initiatives are rebuilding local repair networks to extend garment lifespans and support circular practices. Together, the 20 finalists highlight that decarbonising fashion will require both technological innovation and cultural change, addressing emissions at source while reshaping how clothing is produced, used and valued.

“This year’s top 20 list shows that innovation in fashion is becoming more applied and more connected to industrial reality,” said Beatrice Oldenburg, Project Manager, H&M Foundation, in a statement. “We’re seeing solutions that address digitisation, recycling of blended textiles, bio-based alternatives, and energy reduction, all areas that require both technical depth and system-level thinking. Early-stage ideas like these need backing and the right support to move from concept into real-world implementation. That’s exactly what the Global Change Award is designed to provide.”

The 20 finalists of the Global Change Award 2026 are:

Curbon by Joe Wahba & Alan Zhang (US),

EntroMetri by Mohammed Ali, Iusiph Eiubovi and Steve Evans (UK),

ThreadBridge by Md Ridwan Hossain (Bangladesh),

ALU by Donatela Bellone (US),

Menders Without Border by Bhaavya Goenka, Filippo Ricci, and Orsola De Castro (India),

AIPER by Ailton Pereira (Brazil),

AgroLyocell (Canvaloop) by Shreyans Kokra and Dhruv Gupta (India),

ArtSilk by Anna Rising and Benjamin Schmuck (Sweden),

Dawn Technologies (Avantium) by Peter Mangnus (Netherlands),

DiamondCool™ by Shadi Houshyar (Australia),

EnzymeThreads by Alfonso Gautieri and Emilio Parisini (Italy),

Fiberly by Bénédicte Quinta (France),

KelTex by Laetus Baberwa and Emeliana Said (Tanzania),

Living Carbon Capture Dye Systems by Kavuma Henry (Uganda),

MicroHues by Suchitha Raghunathan and Anjana Badrinarayanan (India),

Colour Earth by Aurelie Fontan, Meredith Wood, and Christopher Ferguson (UK),

RheaCycle™ by Arzu Sandicki and Mert Topcu (US),

Tera Mira by Jeanne Begon-Lours and Lucy Dain-Williams (UK),

Arxy Fashion OS by Meng Ji (Luxembourg),

MycoRenew by Tomasz Mierzwa and Katarzyna Turnau (Poland).

The Global Change Award, initiated in 2015 by non-profit H&M Foundation, was created to support the fashion industry’s shift from a linear to a circular economy.