The Institute of Cambridge University for Sustainability leadership has called out to fashion entrepreneurs and state-ups in England to apply for the ‘Innovators for Sustainable Fashion’, which is a free program.

It is a six week accelerator program which consumes about 2-3 hours per week. It has been curated to bring together a cohort of innovators to aid their sustainability solutions with various expert contributors across the United Nations, Cambridge University and experts from the fashion, investment and technology segments.

The university is targeting early-stage start-ups and entrepreneurs working with innovative sustainable fashion pertaining to areas of Material innovation and biotech such as fibre innovation, enzymology and molecular biology; Manufacturing and processing - supply chain transparency, blockchain technology, water and chemical use, waste reduction and energy efficiency; Packaging and delivery - innovation in packaging materials, shipping and logistics, and waste reduction; and People-centred solutions – to improve health and safety for people in the garment production, consumer education on sustainable consumption, and post-consumer solutions.

The applicants are required to be based in England and are expected to be available to attend the full six-week virtual program comprising online sessions held every Wednesday from the 9th to 14th of October.

The program will allow the entries to explore social-environmental challenges that face the fashion industry as well as learn from leading innovators steering the shift to the sustainable industry. They will also be able to develop their business pitches with business planning, marketing and storytelling insights.

The innovation contributors include Jessi Baker, the founder and chief executive of Provenance, Yudi Ding, founder of Hide Biotech, Ayca Field, co-founder of SoluBlue, Jim Ajioka, chief scientific officer at Colorifix, Hasna Kourda, co-founder of Save Your Wardrobe, and Sacha Newell, founder and chief executive of My Wardrobe HQ.

The course program will feature contributors such as Michael Stanley Jones, the co-secretary of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, which is a part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).