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Innovation startup Bloom Labs has won the Global Fashion Agenda’s first-ever Trailblazer Programme award, created this year to help accelerate innovation in the fashion industry.
Bloom Labs claims to be able to recycle protein-based fibres such as wool and silk into polyester-like materials, and will receive an equity investment of up to $200,000 (specifics will be determined after the Global Fashion Summit this week), as well as commercial and operational support to help with scaling. The award, announced at the Global Fashion Summit (GFS) today, is a collaboration between the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and PDS Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of PDS Limited, which announced earlier this year it would provide the investment and the commercial and operational support for scaling to the winning innovator.
Over 100 applications came in and the jury — a mix of investors, brand representatives and independent experts — narrowed the pool down to eight finalists, all of which will feature in an exhibit at the GFS this week. Bloom Labs drew excitement from the jury because of its unique technology to transform existing waste into new fibres, and because it saw real potential to scale, which could accelerate a shift to circularity in the fashion industry.
“We know that the industry cannot grow at the current pace,” says Federica Marchionni, Global Fashion Agenda CEO. “There is a clear demand for raw materials that allow brands to reduce their reliance on virgin materials, but meeting that demand means supply and scalability [are] key. Bloom Labs’s ability to harness pre-existing waste streams and infrastructures to develop their next-gen fibre solution is crucial.”
A number of textile-to-textile recycling technologies have come onto the scene in recent years, all with different specialties and at different stages of testing or commercialisation. Bloom Labs’s unique proposition is to recycle protein-based fibres — wool, cashmere, down and silk — as well as down from bedding manufacturers and, eventually, from the poultry industry into new fibres. Extra-durable natural fibres are the current offering; the hope is to eventually produce a polyester substitute, which would be significant, considering polyester is fashion’s most widely used material but is made from petroleum and sheds microplastics at every stage of the life cycle.
“Our ultimate, long-term goal is to create a polyester replacement and use proteins to displace petro-based polyester — which we believe we can do in the near future,” says Simardev Gulati, CEO and co-founder of Bloom Labs. “At Bloom, we believe it’s possible to provide fibres that are akin to the most desirable and durable fibres in the world, with no feedstock risk, and be a long-term sustainable cost-competitive solution to the industry.”
While wool and cashmere recycling exists today, Gulati says the quality is low and Bloom’s process offers a way to retain the integrity of the fibre. “A surprisingly growing number of mills and brands have privately said they prefer not to use recycled wool or cashmere because of the noticeable decrease in quality and unsubstantiated workload and price,” he says.
Bloom Labs doesn’t work with synthetic blends or post-consumer textile waste at the moment, though Gulati says they hope to with additional research. Their current production is pilot scale, and are “actively onboarding brands and mills to create partnerships throughout the value chain”, he says. They plan to announce partnerships later this year.
He says the financial support and visibility that comes with the Trailblazer award is significant; the mentoring and operational support is just as meaningful. “The support from PDS Ventures and their Positive Materials platform, giving us access to a vast global supply chain and strategic partners, will be crucial for refining our processes and taking sustainable innovation to the next level.”
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