Focus Area

This year, the Kering Generation Award aims at identifying innovations that enable fashion to become more circular as a business – from raw materials and product designs to new business models – enhancing circularity in retail and the consumer consciousness. It builds on the “5Rs” of circular fashion: Re-design, Reuse, Recycle, Regenerate, and Recognition.

• Circular raw material Natural Material Innovation: Focusing on natural raw materials for fashion luxury produced with regenerative agricultural practices, in particular if they include heritage practices (leather, cotton, wool, cashmere, silk, linen, bamboo, etc.) Recyclable Material Innovation: Focusing on high-quality man-made materials with recycled contents using post-consumer waste feedstock (plastic, synthetic fibers, etc.) Alternative Material Innovation: Focusing on fashion biotech materials using fermentation, in vitro, carbon capture or plant-derived technologies that are proven to have a lower environmental impact and promising application to luxury fashion, in particular for replacing animal-based materials (leather, fur, down)
• Circular Product design Innovative eco-design techniques based on circularity principles with the “5Rs”, in choice of materials and processes, and ease of transformation of the product across its lifecycle, such as easy resizing, ease of repairing, etc. Solutions for addressing the end-of-life of a luxury product, including techniques for redesigning new products out of old products, dismantling and reusing high-value materials, etc. Traceability solutions embedded in the product enabling it to capture impact of its fabrication and follow its authenticity and ownership along its lifespan. 
• Circular Business Models Conscious Consumers: Solutions to improve consumer consciousness about sustainable fashion and encourage more circular behavior, such as using their products for longer with better care, repairs, reuse, and redesign to improve their product lifespan. Retail Operations: Solutions for renovating retail stores following the 5Rs: Using less energy, choice of materials, smart layout, etc.
  Innovative waste-management solutions from the manufacturing process through to retail operations. Digital Circular Economy:New digital platforms and business enablers focused on luxury products (second-hand, rentals) while encouraging fair consumption Business enablers to decrease returns: Virtual try-ons, sizing recommendations tools, etc.