This Kenyan company won a major fashion award for making fabric from nettles

Organic fibers made from nettles has bagged a Kenyan company one of the world’s top sustainable fashion prizes.

Green Nettle Textile was this year awarded almost $170,000 as part of the $1.1 million Global Change Award, a fashion innovation challenge initiated by H&M Foundation in collaboration with management consulting firm Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Described by some as the Nobel Prize for sustainable fashion, the award seeks to disrupt the fashion industry by choosing early stage ideas and incubating them towards the goal of an environmentally-conscious, circular fashion instead of a wasteful, linear model.

This year, the competition received 6,640 entries from 182 countries, with a tremendous increase in entrances from emerging markets. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa were among the top 10 nations that submitted entries for the award.

Green Nettle won the award along with four other firms that made expanding children’s clothes (United Kingdom), a biodegradable vegan leather (Peru), a digital system that helps make garments recyclable from sketch to scrap (Germany) besides a toxic-free membrane for outdoor wear (Switzerland). Besides financial support, the winners will also get access to a mentorship program that will take them to markets including Sweden, Hong Kong, and the United States.READ MORE

Source: https://qz.com/