Fashion District - MANUFACTURING FUTURES 2026

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MANUFACTURING FUTURES 2026: FASHION DISTRICT INNOVATION CHALLENGE

The Fashion District is delighted to announce the launch of Manufacturing Futures 2026: Fashion District Innovation Challenge Prize on 4th February 2026.

Our annual innovation challenges are designed to address pressing industry issues and support emerging innovations and SMEs. This year, we’re focusing on manufacturing and are seeking technological and sustainable solutions capable of tackling the complex challenges facing fashion manufacturing. This could include anything from:

Materials innovation
Digital innovation
Manufacturing processes
Waste management
Supply-chain and logistics
Transparency and traceability
Circular economy
End-of-use

We also seek to encourage tech solutions, including those from other sectors, that could be applied to fashion manufacturing and help create interdisciplinary connections between technologists and engineers, and fashion creatives and manufacturers.

This year’s judging panel includes: Adam Mansell, CEO, UKFT; Georgia Parker, Innovation Director, Fashion For Good; Lauren Bartley, Sustainability Innovation Manager, GANNI; Philly Grogan, Sustainability Manager, Nobody’s Child; and Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency, UAL: London College of Fashion.

Successful applicants will have the chance to win a package of prizes designed to develop their innovations, including a cash prize of £15,000 for the winner and £5,000 each for two runners-up; a year-long desk membership at The Trampery workspace in Fish Island Village; membership to UKFT with access to events, webinars, networking opportunities, and market insights; six hours of legal advice from Bates Wells; five advisory hours from Chelsea Franklin Studio; and a full day of branding and communications guidance from creative agency Westbrook.

Applications close at 10am on Wednesday 11th March 2026.

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Partners

WHAT'S ON OFFER Showcase your manufacturing solution to industry leaders and compete for a £15,000 cash prize...

CASH PRIZES:
This year, designers and fashion businesses will be competing to win a first place £15,000 cash prize to invest in their manufacturing innovation. There’s a further £5,000 to be awarded to each of our two runners up.

BUSINESS SUPPORT:
Take your concept to the next level with expert guidance designed to strengthen and future-proof your business. The prize winner will receive six hours of legal advice from Bates Wells, five advisory hours from Chelsea Franklin Studio and a full day of branding and communications support from creative agency Westbrook, offering practical insight, critical feedback and strategic direction as you develop your innovation.

WORKSPACE MEMBERSHIP:
The Manufacturing Futures 2024 winner will receive a full-time Desk Membership at London’s and Europe’s largest fashion campus, The Trampery Fish Island Village, for up to two members of their team. The membership includes access to on-site manufacturing facilities; meeting rooms and event space; an exciting and diverse fashion-focused events programme; networking opportunities with The Trampery’s creative community and beyond; local discounts and members offers.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS & EVENTS MEMBERSHIP:
The UK Fashion and Textile Association will be offering the winner and two runners up complimentary UKFT membership for a year, providing access to the largest and most inclusive network of fashion and textile companies in the UK. Winners will be supported through one-to-one business advice, free access to their annual programme of events and webinars, plus networking opportunities with their extensive pool of members.

INDUSTRY EXPOSURE & ACCESS TO NETWORKS:
Finalists will be invited to attend a one-day event in April where high-level industry professionals will act as ‘critical friends’ to support and challenge their business proposition, and provide constructive feedback; as well as two Development Days focussed around production and investment. Finalists will also be invited to join the celebratory Fashion District Innovation Awards & Investment Supper in June, attended by influential members of the fashion, tech and investment industry.

11 MARCH 2026

10 AM: Deadline to submit applications.

14 APRIL 2026

Critical Friends Day where industry professionals will critique the shortlisted business' proposition across different specialisms.

21 APRIL 2026

Production and Business Development day, in partnership with Techstyler and The Trampery. Industry experts will help finalists to evaluate and refine their technological solutions.

28 APRIL 2026

Investment Readiness Development Day with Guessworks. Shortlisted applicants will be given support with investment strategy and delivering their pitches ahead of the final presentation to the judging panel.

12 MAY 2026

Closed presentation event where shortlisted applicants will pitch to industry experts from Nobody's Child, Fashion For Good, GANNI, UKFT and FIA.

3 JUNE 2026

The winners will be announced at an Awards Evening for industry guests, supported by Spitalfields E1 and SXSW London.

Judges & Critical Friends

Adam Mansell

MANUFACTURING FUTURES JUDGE | Adam is the CEO of UKFT. Having joined the industry 25 years ago, he has worked across a wide number of trade bodies, representing all aspects of the fashion and textile supply chain. Additionally, Adam is Chair of the Future Fashion Factory, Board Member at the University of Leeds’ School of Design Industrial Advisory Board, and Vice President of Ginetex, the international care labelling organisation, as well as holding positions at CAPITB Trust, Textiles 2030 and the Institute for Positive Fashion.

Philly Grogan

MANUFACTURING FUTURES JUDGE | Philly heads up Sustainability at Nobody's Child, overseeing the London-based label's delivery on topics including circularity, supply chain, and preferred materials. Originally from a design background, a longstanding curiosity of the impact of materials directs her work and she finds great enjoyment developing solutions to mitigate the industry's environmental and social impact through innovative, alternative, and regenerative processes.

Lauren Bartley

MANUFACTURING FUTURES JUDGE | Lauren Bartley is Chief Sustainability Officer at contemporary fashion house, GANNI, where she leads the company’s global sustainability and innovation strategy, spanning climate, materials innovation, circularity and social impact. Since 2018, she has been instrumental in embedding sustainability into GANNI’s commercial, creative and operational decision-making, positioning the brand as a leader in responsible fashion.

Georgia Parker

MANUFACTURING FUTURES JUDGE | Georgia Parker leads the Validation Team at Fashion for Good, where her team oversees scouting, intelligence, and supply-chain-wide pilots. Their work is focused on addressing industry knowledge gaps and validating the performance and impact of innovations to ensure they are viable for global brands. Georgia and her team specialize in managing the complex, multi-stakeholder workstreams required to prove the potential of sustainable technologies.

Matthew Drinkwater

MANUFACTURING FUTURES JUDGE | Matthew is a world-renowned expert in emerging technologies and their application to the creative industries. A specialist in immersive technologies (XR/MR/AR/VR), he and his team are building pathways for a truly digitised world. Named as a ‘fashion-tech trailblazer’ by Draper’s and a ‘pioneer and a visionary’ by Wired, Matthew has delivered ground-breaking experiences and a stunning range of projects that have captured the imagination of both the fashion and technology industries.

Chelsea Franklin

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Formerly the Head of Advanced Concept Design at PANGAIA, Chelsea has over ten years of experience working at the intersection of technology, design and research. She has led multiple projects commercialising new technology into fashion and lifestyle products, exploring new materials, production methods and supply chain models.

Katarina Rimarcikova

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Katarina brings extensive experience across fashion design, product development and manufacturing innovation. She has worked internationally with brands, designers and EU-led innovation initiatives, specialising in sustainable materials, circular business models and responsible supply chains. Katarina operates as a creative and sustainability consultant, mentor and lecturer, and is Director of ALIGN, a creative studio focused on innovative and sustainable fashion solutions.

Carol Hilsum

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Carol has worked in senior growth roles for the last 20 years in leading companies in the fashion sector such as Topshop, Net-a-Porter, and Farfetch. With extensive experience in startups and early-stage growth, including leading the Dream Assembly accelerator and corporate ventures at Farfetch, including investment in 40+ companies and 3 acquisitions. She is also an investment advisor to leading fashion tech VCs such as TLF Ventures and Imaginary Ventures.

Lisa Chatterton

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Lisa is Business Manager at the Fashion Innovation Agency, London College of Fashion, UAL, where she oversees award-winning projects in fashion technology and digital innovation. With a background in senior merchandising roles at leading retailers including Topshop, she brings strong commercial insight into how emerging technologies can be applied to drive practical change within fashion businesses.

Clive Allen, Charlotte Dexter

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIENDS | Westbrook is a branding agency based in the north of England, binding strategy, creative, digital and content to deliver campaigns that connect brands with audiences. They are a select team that has been delivering brand, creative and strategy to ambitious brands across the UK for over 30 years. Their breadth of skills enables them to work with selected companies that rely on brand experience to connect with communities.

Oliver Scutt, Leela Fair, Nirav Patel

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIENDS | Bates Wells is a UK law firm using the law as a force for good. The first UK firm to certify as a B Corp, it advises purpose-driven organisations across a full range of legal services, combining commercial expertise with deep impact credentials. Through its Purpose & Impact practice, Bates Wells supports businesses and investors shaping positive social and environmental change.

Vikram Menon

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Vikram Menon is a Chartered Accountant and Director of Fashionex, with over 20 years’ experience supporting creative entrepreneurs in fashion and retail. As a fractional CFO to emerging brands, he provides strategic financial guidance across accounting, tax and cash flow, helping founders build financially sustainable businesses. Vikram also mentors designers through the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN initiative, Copenhagen Fashion Week’s NewTalent scheme and The Paul Smith Foundation, and lectures at Central Saint Martins.

Lauren Junestrand

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Lauren Junestrand is a sustainability expert and Innovation & Sustainability Network Manager at the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT). Based in the UK, she focuses on circular fashion, supply chain innovation, and second-hand consumption, holding a PhD from the London College of Fashion.

Sofia Strazzanti

MANUFACTURING FUTURES CRITICAL FRIEND | Sofia is an entrepreneur, board advisor and the founder of Future Fashion Assembly — the fashion industry’s first collaborative innovation platform. With two decades of experience across fashion, technology and sustainability, she specialises in turning bold ideas into scalable, commercial outcomes. She also serves as an advisor to British eyewear brand CURRY & PAXTON and mentors emerging founders across Europe.

Criteria, Eligibility & Terms and Conditions

JUDGING CRITERIA:

Each applicant and proposed manufacturing solution will be judged against 4 criterion:

Criterion 1: Solving an identified problem
An identified need and/or gap in the market
An innovative concept with a clear solution

Criterion 2: Size of the market
A USP that stands out from others currently in the market?
Is it a growing market and a future opportunity?

Criterion 3: Potential to scale
Addresses a specific and relevant industry issue
Strong plans for development and delivery

Criterion 4: Leadership and strength of team
Exceptional entrepreneurship
Relevant industry and/tech skill set within team or the individual

ELIGIBILITY:

To be eligible to apply you must have a tech-based solution, be a registered business, and either be operating in the UK or have plans to pilot/operate in the UK.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Click here to read the terms and conditions for Manufacturing Futures 2026. This competition is being promoted by Fashion District, University of the Arts London, 272 High Holborn, London WC1V 7EY.