Initiative for circular and Sustainable Fashion

Circular Design Challenge (CDC), an initiative by R Elan's 'Fashion For Earth', Lakmé Fashion Week and UN Environment- India's first and largest sustainability award in fashion partnered with Intellecap's Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) to launch a program 'Circular Changemakers' last year.

The initiative invited start-ups to participate and showcased innovations and solutions for a circular economy across the textile and apparel value chain. After a successful first edition, the program is set to return to Lakmé Fashion Week 2020. CAIF is an industry-led platform with the mission to strengthen capabilities and build the ecosystem needed to transition to a circular textile and apparel industry in India.

'Circular Changemakers' welcomes applications from start-ups across the country, a key criteria is increasing the use of alternative and sustainable inputs and minimizing wastes.

Entry for applications open now. Entries fitting these criteria and looking for investors and strategic partnerships can submit their applications at http://circulardesignchallenge.net/changemakers.php The last date to submit entries is September 15 2020.

From the pool of applications, up to 6 start-ups will be chosen to participate in a bootcamp by industry experts. The three-module bootcamp focuses on providing visibility to change-makers in the sustainable and circular fashion space, exposing them to important aspects of 'Capital Raising', 'Business & Financial Modelling' and 'Investor Pitch Development'.

Following the bootcamp, enterprises will pitch their value proposition and business model to an esteemed panel of investors on Sustainable Fashion Day at the upcoming edition of Lakmé Fashion Week. They will get the opportunity to receive investments and partnerships through their pitch to a group of potential strategic investors from reputed impact investment funds. Darshana Gajare, Lead Sustainable Fashion at IMG Reliance said, "Circular Design Challenge and Circular Changemakers is our commitment to provide a platform for upcoming brands and start-ups working tirelessly towards making fashion and textiles a cleaner business. With Sustainability at the forefront, now more than ever, we're looking forward to the upcoming edition with CAIF."

Vikas Bali, CEO, Intellecap said, "As a first of its kind investor readiness program designed to surface innovations in the sustainable fashion space, we were excited by the industry's response to the first edition of Circular Changemakers."