Dhana Inc - Boldest Social Impact Award
Photo: Emil Abirascid, Founder and Editor in Chief of Startupbusiness, BOLD Awards’ CEO Epi Ludvik, Shamini Dhana, CEO and Founder, Dhana Inc. and Stefania Quaini, MD of Angels4Women
DHANA INC. HONORED AS BOLDEST SOCIAL IMPACT COMPANY
“Collectively We Will Democratize Fashion” - This was the call to action by Dhana Inc.’s Founder and CEO, Shamini Dhana, recipient of the special award, Boldest Social Impact Company at the recent BOLD IV Awards held in Venice, Italy.
Dhana Inc., a fashion technology company transforming global textile waste into value was also one of the fashion tech finalists with its D/Sphere platform for fashion brands to empower their users to accelerate upcycling using digital tools toward mass customization while driving environmental and social impact.
“What was once thought of as upcycled fashion and performed by cultures all over the world is now considered circular fashion and more importantly with digital tools ordinary people can be part of the climate solution by taking action to consciously co-create with fashion brands – thereby democratizing fashion”
explained Shamini Dhana.
“We believe there is value to fashion brands and their customers when a garment can be designed out of waste and pollution by extending the life of used clothing through upcycling techniques; reusing materials that still have meaning; repurposing deadstock and recreating fashion into unique customized pieces that tell the story of creativity and connection to people and planet.”
The international BOLD Awards recognizes top companies, projects, and individuals powering breakthroughs around the world in crowdsourcing, open innovation, and technology sectors plus celebrates the innovators who create them. Over 800 submissions were reduced to 120 nominees by a round of public voting, and judges’ assessments then arrived at 2023’s BOLD Awards IV winners in 30 categories.
BOLD Awards’ CEO Epi Ludvik provided insight into the judges’ perspectives on how they chose the company with the Boldest Social Impact:
“What we saw in Dhana Inc. was a commitment to new fashion using existing, finished materials and clothing by implementing a zero-waste circular economy approach combined with a creative and conscious fashion mindset.”
The fashion industry is moving towards a mindset of innovation, circularity, sustainability, slow fashion vs fast fashion, personalization, creativity, and zero-waste. The trend of upcycling clothing and materials into personalized fashion is on the rise and what is needed is a digital tool to accelerate the process toward mass customization. Dhana’s D/Sphere technology platform uses digital tools to accelerate upcycling. This is what Dhana refers to as Reuse, Repurpose to ReCreate Fashion using existing fabric and circulating materials. Today, the D/Sphere platform is available online and Dhana Inc. is working to build a consortium of fashion brand pioneers who want access to this innovative technology in a two-year pilot project. This is currently an open invitation to progressive and futuristic fashion brands who understand the role of technology in catalyzing change; soliciting all stakeholders to be brand partners in the value creation process in a piece of garment.
The objectives of the D/Sphere B2B2C strategy are to provide the following solutions:
An opportunity to recreate new fashion using existing, finished materials and clothing without chemicals or water consumption;
An opportunity to provide a new way of creative expression by the designer who is the everyday customer, using the medium of fashion;
A solution to tackle a major global challenge which is pre- and post-consumer fashion and textile waste;
A solution to include all stakeholders to contribute to the reduction in carbon emissions, water, and energy consumption
An opportunity for manufacturers, fashion brands, and retailers to enlist in zero-waste designs as a solution to new revenue streams.
The other benefits of this innovation will also provide methods of trend prediction, sustainability elements, and the facilitation of disassembly, and refurbishment as
well as deep learning for high accuracy. A zero-waste design tool for mass customization in the fashion industry utilizing second-life materials, targeted to fashion stakeholders will reduce environmental costs; increase revenues through new upcycled fashion; produce less textile waste during the design-cut-sew process and provide a real design solution for the end customer to participate in circular fashion. In terms of an overall impact on the fashion industry, this technology will generate a new mindset toward circular fashion as it will extend the life of a garment as long as possible through upcycling fashion while achieving zero-waste designs and thereby reducing the amount of textile waste that goes to the landfill.
Companies who are interested in addressing climate change and reduction in their environmental footprint, in particular, the fashion industry will be interested in this innovation which ultimately provides solutions for generating zero-waste designs. The market needs this innovation as it provides a viable solution to the 70% of global textile waste in the $3 trillion Fashion & Apparel industry produces which ends up in landfill or incinerators. By reducing the amount of waste in the design process itself, which is one of the circularity principles developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, fashion design can be developed and produced in a more sustainable way. This type of systems thinking is currently being explored around the world by governments, industries, and the private sector. This innovation can potentially revolutionize the way we look at designing fashion and lead to positive impacts in addressing global climate change.