U.K. textile- and fashion-related SMEs awarded $1.5 million to pursue projects

London – Ten U.K. companies, several with ties to the textiles industry, have received more than $1.5 million in support of their efforts to produce innovative, sustainable products.

The funds were given by the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT), which is led by the University of Arts London in partnership with some of the country’s leading universities as part of the AHRC Creative Industries Clusters Program, funded by the U.K. Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Of more than 80 applicants, 13 were short-listed and provided one-on-one mentoring, business workshops and training. The 10 winners are Ananas Anam, the company behind Piñatex, the natural fiber made from pineapple leaf fiber; Doppelhaus, a maker of sustainable nonwoven materials from European wool; Tengri, a lifestyle brand that uses yak fibers; Tibor, a creator of luxury interior fabrics; Anna Glover, a design studio specializing in wallcoverings and fashion; fashion brand AWAYTOMARS; Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, a craft blue jean maker; Chip[s] Board, which creates bioplastics from food waste; leather accessories brand Elvis & Kresse; and Segura, a global supply chain company.

The projects, all focused on a specific R&D challenge, launched this spring and will run for 12 to 18 months, depending on the complexity involved.

“Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economy and critical to the creative sector in particular, making up over 95% of creative businesses in the U.K.,” said Jane Harris, BFTT program director. “This initiative is intended to creatively and technically address the challenge of maintaining growth in the crucial early years of business, whilst also providing support for much needed innovation and sustainable growth, especially in these challenging and rapidly changing times.”

The awarded projects cover a range of areas, including biomaterial development to non-woven textiles, a global design crowdsourcing platform, sustainable surface finishing processes, on-shoring of sustainable manufacturing and novel digital solutions to increase transparency and improve sustainability in the sector.