SQIM

SQIM WINS THE 2023 ANDAM INNOVATION AWARD

We are thrilled to announce that SQIM and its unprecedented class of biofabricated materials – ephea™ – have been elected as WINNERS of the 2023 ANDAM Fashion Innovation Award.

Launched in 2017, the ANDAM Innovation Award is intended to support and encourage the technological innovations that contribute to transforming and reinventing today’s fashion industry. The prize comes with a reward of 100.000 €, allowing the winner to continue its research and development.

On Wednesday, April 19th, the ANDAM’s Experts Committee, composed of professionals from the fashion and technology industries, has decided to award SQIM for having created a disruptively innovative class of responsible materials, fully representing the currently needed paradigm shift placing nature and living beings at the center of production processes.

ephea™ represents an entirely new category of bio-fabricated materials, made with pure mycelium – the first of its kind to be cultivated on a pure basis, eliminating the use of contaminating compounds or additional supporting materials along the growth process, and guaranteeing full consistency in quality.

SQIM feels extremely proud to have won such major Award, demonstrating that by partnering with Nature through biofabrication-driven processes, it is possible to deliver truly responsible yet highly functional innovative products, that allow matching sustainability, technical performance, and aesthetics, as key ingredients to drive effective positive impact.

Balenciaga floor-length Coat, realised with ephea – Photo courtesy of Balenciaga.

Nathalie Dufour, Founder and General Manager of ANDAM prize commented:

“For the first time since its creation, I am delighted to have been able to raise the ANDAM Innovation Prize to 100,000 euros, as it is essential to highlight and support the technological innovations that will contribute to the transformation of the fashion industry.
This year’s selection showed how much biotechnology, recycling and traceability are central to innovation and scientific research. I congratulate our 2023 winner, SQIM, which proposes, through ephea and the use of mycelium, a new innovative material, that fully represents the current paradigm shift which consists of placing the living at the center of production processes

LEARN MORE BY DOWNLOADING THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE & TESTIMONY PDFs:

ABOUT ANDAM FASHION AWARD

Founded in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour and chaired by Guillaume Houzé, the annual ANDAM Fashion Awards offer, for the first year, a global financial support reaching 700.000€ and a dedicated mentorship to 5 companies chosen after a long and in depth process of selection.
Since 34 years, ANDAM brings together institutional and major private actors of the industry to develop strategies and transversal actions towards fashion talents.