The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions, and according to Fashion for Good, now requires an estimated US $30 billion annual investment to meet its 2030 SDG obligations.

H&M Foundation is a non-profit – functionally and financially independent from H&M Group but share the same industry connections. The Foundation asked us to help it leverage that unique position to achieve its core mission of jump-starting a sustainable transformation in fashion.

It’s a monumental challenge. Many have tried but the vastness of fashion’s supply chain, all parts of which need reform, has tended to dilute the reforming actions of individual brands.

Without coordinated, sector-wide focus – in materials, manufacturing and re-use – no tipping point is reached. Meanwhile, progress has been slow on changes that might involve dismantling low-cost operations across the developing world. Our solution was a clothing collection that wasn’t aimed at consumers, but at an industry.

We identified 10 startups globally – from Kenya to Estonia – with the greatest potential to bring sustainable revolution to fashion. Start-ups with breakthrough technology but that were all missing something, funds and backing to scale their investments.

Each innovation was turned into a virtual garment, showing both how the garment could look, the amount of money the start-up was seeking (the price) and the potential sustainability impact that innovation could have. The campaign was centered around a 3D avatar, wearing the collection designed by French fashion designer Pauline Chardin. The entire collection was packaged in a lookbook, which was available for download at the Billion Dollar Collection website, but also showcased in a Hero Film launched on YouTube.