The prestigious Global Change Award has revealed its top 20 finalists for 2025, showcasing groundbreaking innovations to transform the fashion industry. These pioneering ideas selected from 476 submissions spanning 69 countries across six continents seek to decarbonize fashion while ensuring sustainability for both people and the planet.
Organized annually, the Global Change Award recognizes bold, early-stage innovations that challenge conventional industry norms and present scalable solutions. This year’s finalists have been categorized into four key themes: Sustainable Materials & Processes, Responsible Production, Mindful Consumption, and Wildcards. Each finalist is addressing critical issues in fashion’s environmental footprint, from energy efficiency to material circularity.
Breakthrough Innovations in Responsible Production
The Responsible Production category highlights initiatives enhancing energy efficiency, waste management, and sustainable traceability.
- Thermal Cyclones (UK): Developing next-generation heat pumps to replace gas and oil steam boilers, potentially reducing energy consumption by over 75%.
- DecoRpet (China): Innovating PET recycling methods at lower temperatures for greater energy efficiency.
- FiberFlow (Germany): Advancing mechanical separation technology for blended textiles, aiding material recovery.
- Pulpatronics (UK): Creating metal-free, chipless RFID paper tags that are recyclable and reduce environmental impact.
Advancing Sustainable Materials & Processes
This category showcases innovations in alternative materials, low-energy textile treatments, and eco-friendly production methods.
- Brilliant Dyes (UK): Introducing biodegradable, non-toxic dyes derived from cyanobacteria.
- Decarbonization Lab (Bangladesh): Researching low-emission dyeing, finishing, and material treatment techniques.
- Nordic Blue (Denmark): Pioneering enzymatic denim dyeing for a more sustainable fashion sector.
- CircularFabrics (Germany): Developing NYLOOP® technology to recover nylon from textile waste.
- Pneedles (Nigeria): Transforming plastic waste into buttons for the fashion industry.
- Renasens (Sweden): Employing waterless technology to recycle blended textile waste.
- Reselo (Sweden): Converting forest waste into 100% bio-based rubber.
- RubyLab (Spain): Addressing textile landfill waste by recycling stretch fabrics into new polyamide textiles.
- Sequinova (UK): Crafting biodegradable sequins to reduce microplastic pollution.
- Tera Mira (UK): Developing a seaweed-based elastane alternative to combat plastic pollution.
- A Blunt Story (India): Producing plastic-free shoe soles from agricultural waste.
Transforming Mindful Consumption
Innovations in this category focus on circular business models and sustainable garment lifecycle extensions.
- Loom (UK): Facilitating upcycling through a tech-powered platform connecting designers with consumers.
- NaCRe (Switzerland): Breaking down protein materials like silk and wool into valuable amino acids.
- The Revival Circularity Lab (Ghana): A community-driven initiative upcycling textile waste in Ghana’s Kantamanto Market.
Wildcards: Game-Changing Innovations
The Wildcards category features unexpected solutions poised to accelerate industry-wide transformation.
- Electric Skin (USA): Creating bio-powered textiles that generate electricity from humidity.
- SiSource (India): A digital registry bridging the textile, agriculture, and food value chains with environmental tracking.
The 20 finalists will now undergo further evaluation by the Expert Panel, which will provide guidance in selecting the final 10 winners. The winners of the Global Change Award 2025 will be announced in May, highlighting the next wave of sustainable innovations in fashion.
For more details on the innovations and changemakers behind them, visit Global Change Award’s official website: https://hmfoundation.com/gca/
