Leather-from-wine-waste, it's made-in-Italy first prize in the Global Change Award

A totally vegetable skin from wine-making waste. It's the green and made-in-Italy innovation that won the €300,000 first prize in the second edition of the Global Change Award, a contest launched by the H&M Foundation to accelerate the transition to a circular and waste-free approach in the fashion industry.

The prize of 1 million euros up for grabs è was divided among the five winners, awarded at City Hall in Stockholm, as decided by the public around the world through an online vote that took place from March 27 to April 2.

The prize è was divided as follows: 300,000 euros to Grape Leather, team of Rossella Longobardo, Italy; 250,000 euros to Solar Textiles, team of Miguel A. Modestino, United States/Switzerland; 150,000 euros to Content Thread, team of Anura Rathnayake, United States/UK; 150,000 euros to Denim-dyed Denim, team of Xungai Wang, Australia; 150,000 euros to Manure Couture, team of Jalila Essaidi, Netherlands.

"We are deeply pleased that such a prestigious foundation has recognized the value of our innovation and strongly believed in it. Our first goal will be to focus on moving from a pilot project to industrial-scale production of our fabric and to start a green, cruelty-free revolution within the leather goods industry, thus solving the current problems and over-exploitation,‖ says Rossella Longobardo, representative of the innovation team 'Grape Leather'.

"I congratulate all the winners. These innovations have the power to help reinvent the fashion industry, enabling products and raw materials to have more than one life. Winning the Global Change Award gives them a boost through funding, an incubator, access to the industry and a network that are probably not always easy to find," says Karl-Johan Persson, H&M Foundation board member and Ceo of H&M Hennes&Mauritz AB.

The April 5 awards ceremony marks the start of a year-long incubation and advisory program provided by the H&M Foundation, in collaboration with Accenture and Kth Real Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The program will help the winners develop their ideas, focusing on three main areas: circular economy, innovation and networking in the fashion industry.


"The consumer focus on more sustainable products requires reviewing and redesigning the entire fashion value chain. The Global Change Award è the first initiative of its kind in fashion linked to embryonic ideas and we are impressed by the level of creativity and disruptive innovation demonstrated by the five award winners", says Jill Standish, Senior Managing Director of Retail at Accenture.

"These amazing innovations can help build a sustainable future, and we look forward to kicking off the one-year incubation program with the winners", says Sigbritt Karlsson, president of the Kth.