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Press release 01.09.2022: Here are the winners of Encouragement for Action 2022!

Encouragement for Action was established in 2018 by Stockholm Fashion District as an encouragement award and an exhibition with the aim of encouraging sustainability and development in the fashion industry. For the fifth time, we now gather during an award ceremony to encourage sustainability efforts and innovation within Swedish fashion.

The prize ceremony was held at the beautiful premises of Nobis Hotel in Stockholm and in the company of honored guests, Stockholm Fashion District awarded one winner in each of the four categories of Encouragement for Action 2022.

We are proud to, through our daily work as well as through Encouragement for Action, be able to empower sustainable trade and inspire people to take more sustainable decisions. This by highlighting efforts and innovations in the fashion and textile industry. We are also very proud to get the chance to present this award and all the winners through an exhibition at the Swedish Institute in Marais, during Paris Fashion Week., says Helena Waker, CEO of Stockholm Fashion District.

This year’s award ceremony and talk focused on the theme of time and its relationship to fashion.

To change contemporary fashion, we need to understand its mechanisms. Most central is fashion’s relationship to time. During the last hundred years, society has moved faster and faster, which has also accelerated fashion. In order to transform the industry into a more sustainable industry, the relationship between society, fashion, and time must therefore be examined. The winners in Encouragement for Action have been chosen because they show the way forward in different ways, based on solid knowledge and experience about what is both good for the environment and demanded by consumers.“, says Philip Warkander, Assistant Professor at Swedish school of textiles and chairman of Encouragement for Action’s ethics council.


Photo: Anna Annerås, Siptex

Winner of Closing the Loop: Siptex
Motivation: An important principle for the circular economy is the materials and how we take care of the recycling process. Every year 4,3 million tons of textile waste are landfilled or incinerated in the EU. A link has been made in Sweden between the collection of textiles and high-quality recycling.

This year’s winner in the Closing the Loop category is the world´s first automatic large-scale textile sorting plant, which will change the possibilities for recycling at scale.


Photo: Magnus Fransson, Wargön Innovation

Winner of Fashion Innovation: Wargön Innovation
Motivation: The Fashion Innovation category is awarded annually to a company that has looked into the future and through innovation has contributed to a more sustainable fashion industry. The materials of the future are developed through innovations, often by small companies with big ambitions. To succeed in driving an idea to reality, large resources and successful development processes are required. This year’s winner in the Fashion Innovation category acts as a catalyst to contribute to the implementation of these sustainable ambitions.

With their expertise, technical equipment, and network, they give pioneers the confidence and resources to enable development and commercialization. The winner creates opportunities for companies to think bigger in a new environment, with new resources, and with the aim of enabling the production of sustainable materials of the future. This year’s winner is a multifunctional competence center with a focus on textile innovations – a company that contributes to the strengthening and development of Sweden’s innovative power, by contributing to the process of turning ideas into reality.


Photo: Malva Carlsson & Emma Rose Schuring, Houdini Sportswear

Winner of Fashion Retail Talks Sustainability: Houdini Sportswear
Motivation: This is a company that drives development forward and is part of changing consumption patterns in a highly sustainable way. Sharing knowledge on sustainable methodologies, technologies, and solutions with full traceability and transparency in their own value chain. The winner of this category constantly works with its collections, services, and production, with the aim to always be as sustainable as possible. While working on their long-term plan to become a regenerative force for society and the planet in 2066. Through continuous communication with the customer and a close connection to our nature, they show the way to a more sustainable choice.


Photo: Lars Wallin, Lars Wallin 

Winner of Sustainable Identity: Lars Wallin
Motivation: For the always maintained focus on well-tailored garments of high quality, and a clear mindset to create the longest possible lifespan for the garments. At the same time standing behind projects in the industry to enlighten and raise awareness among consumers about sustainable choices, and by involving fashion, art and drama, create a wider spread. Also, by starting a new initiative that helps the customer improve and renew existing garments and therefore creates the opportunity for a sustainable wardrobe – which makes a counter-movement to buy-and-throw consumption.

The winner of this category leads the way in the sustainability efforts of Swedish couture.

READ MORE
Read more about Encouragement for Action, the ethical council, and respective jury group here.

PRESS CONTACT
MODIN Communication, efa@modincommunication.com

PHOTOGRAPHER 
Rasmus Lindahl

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