eBay Australia launches $200k Circular Fashion Fund

Entries are now open for eBay’s recently announced Circular Fashion fund. The initiative will offer $200,000 AUD in funding for Australian start-ups specialising in circular fashion solutions.

A panel of high profile fashion, academia, logistics, and sustainability industry figures will come together to judge applications. The panel includes KITX Founder Kit Willow, Australian Fashion Council Danielle Kent, Sendle Founder & CEO James Chin Moody, Liandra Founder and Creative Director, Liandra Gaykamangu, Director of UTS and TAFE NSW’s Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion & Textiles Dr Lisa Lake, The Growth Activists CEO Rosanna Iacono and Head of Fashion eBay Australia, Brooke Eichhorn.

A shortlist of six finalists will be invited to pitch to the judges and he winner will receive a $100,000 grant with two runners-up each awarded a $50,000 grant.

The winners of the grants will not only receive financial support but also a six-week program of mentorship, workshops for marketing, and networking opportunities.

eBay Australia’s Head of Fashion, Brooke Eichhorn, said: “We understand that eBay can play a role in circular fashion by using our scale and expertise for good. We are committing support to small businesses to drive positive change through innovation in the fashion industry. We are proud to announce this year we’ve become patrons of the Australian Fashion Council and are launching the Circular Fashion Fund. These initiatives will help revolutionise how fashion is created, consumed and recycled, making sustainable fashion practices more accessible for everyone.”

As addressed in Power Retail’s 2023 Sustainability Spotlight, the clothing industry in Australia manufactures and imports over 1.4 billion units of new clothing into the country every year, and the majority of consumers at 63 percent are not impressed by the sustainability practices of any retailers. The eBay Australia Circular Fashion Fund aims to support sustainable fashion practices by funding emerging technologies and forward-thinking solutions from innovative start-ups that can help change customer behaviours within the fashion industry and advance the circular economy.

Earlier this year, The Australian Fashion Council announced Seamless, the national clothing stewardship scheme which is plan to transform how clothing is made, used, reused, and recycled in Australia to create clothing circularity by 2030. Supported by foundation members BIG W, David Jones, Lorna Jane, Rip Curl, R.M. Williams and THE ICONIC, Seamless aims to have 60 percent of industry sign up in order to divert 120,000 tonnes of end-of-life clothing from landfill by 2027.

“To transition to a circular economy by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050,  the Australian fashion industry needs to fundamentally transform how clothing is designed, produced, consumed and disposed of,”  The Australian Fashion Council CEO, Leila Naja Hibri, said. “For decades, eBay has been leading the charge in recommerce, driving the circular economy through its resale marketplace, in particular for fashion. eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund not only compliments but helps accelerate the roadmap for Seamless, the national clothing stewardship scheme, bringing us closer to our goal of achieving clothing circularity in Australia by 2030.”

Applications close on Friday 10 November 2023.