Three Start-Up Companies Won The First Sustainable Innovation Award Set By France'S Kai Yun Group In China.

Last December, the French boutique group Kering (Kai Yun group), in collaboration with technology innovation accelerator and Plug and Play, set up a K Generation Award Sustainable Innovation Award for start-ups in Greater China. Yu Yan was invited to be a member of the industry advisory board of the award. Under the leadership of Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer of the Kai Yun group and head of international agency affairs, from December 2018 to August 2019, many Chinese start-ups actively participated in the selection and submitted a sustainable innovation plan. After 50 levels of screening and field visits by the organizers and industry advisory committees, eventually, the first batch of start-ups went through the audit.

During the Shanghai fashion week in October 11th, the K Generation Award sustainable innovation award was officially announced, and three start-ups eventually won the competition, namely, happy elephant sustainable technology, Shanghai Heyuan environmental technology and flying pomegranate technology.

　　 Above: group of senior executives of Kai Yun group and K Generation Award three award-winning start-ups.

From left to right: Xu Jieping, Plug and Play China executive director and chief executive officer; K Generation award-winning enterprises (Heyuan environment, flying technology, music and sustainable technology); Fran ois-Henri Pinault, Kai Yun Group Chairman, CEO; Cai Jinqing, Kai Yun group president of Greater China; Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Executive Officer and chief executive officer of international organization.

Among them, the music and image technology has won the first prize, and won the unanimous praise of the judges, winning 100 thousand euros prize. Liu Yuanyuan, co-founder of music and sustainable technology, believes that the most important sticking point for the sustainable development of the fashion industry is the cultivation and dyeing of yarn raw materials. The two parts are the places where carbon emissions and emissions are most. These are the most urgent needs to change now. The project of music and sustainable technology is from the beginning of planting to printing and dyeing, and then to the planting end, so as to achieve the utilization of the closed loop of natural resources.

The technology of music and sustainable technology can extract natural dyes from organic waste through recycling dirty system, and promote sustainable resource and environmental protection of natural resources. The content of the sustainable business includes: 1. ecological dyestuff production 2. ecological printing and dyeing solution (green printing and dyeing technology, 100% pollution recycling technology, printing and dyeing waste green treatment technology) 3. agricultural resources re technology. (ECO dyestuff) refers to the dyeing process and the dyestuffs that meet the ecological requirements of the printing and dyeing products.

Shanghai Heyuan environmental technology is an environmental protection enterprise which proposed "printing and dyeing pollution short process reuse". It has innovative dyeing process water treatment technology. There are benchmark projects in more than 10 printing and dyeing areas in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, with over 10 cases covering various printing and dyeing categories.

With the help of AI technology, the technology of flying pomegranate links the upstream and downstream industries of garment industry. Relying on the strong production capacity of cloud factory, it provides small and fast production, high quality C2F fast reverse supply chain service for clothing business operators, and allows small batch production to avoid over production.

Mr. Fran C ois-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of Kai Yun group, the award winner, said: for the global luxury industry, China used to be an important raw material supply and production market. In the past 10-15 years, the Chinese market has also contributed 35% of the world's most important luxury consumer market to luxury goods. If China solves the problem of green development and sustainable development from both ends of the fashion industry, the problem of sustainable development in the world can be easily solved. If China's determination is very firm, the rest of the world will follow.

He said: "the luxury industry and sustainable development are all one, and the future of sustainable development can not be without China's participation." (There is no luxury without sustainability, and there is no sustainability sustainability is)

　　 Mr. Pinault also said that although the luxury industry does not have the greatest impact on green environmental protection, but at the top of the fashion industry in Pyramid, Kai Yun group needs to set an example and invest more resources to support sustainable innovation.

When consumers are asked what is the biggest obstacle to buy sustainable fashion products? 26% of the participants said that the biggest obstacle to their purchase of sustainable fashion products was that they did not believe that the brand could speak and act together, 21% did not know where to buy, and 19% did not know what sustainable fashion was.

Mr. Pinault said the research data is very interesting, so it is necessary for us to keep in touch with consumers and let them realize that luxury goods are not only scarce raw materials, crafts or creativity, but also green and sustainable. We believe that sustainability is part of the high quality of luxury goods.

Taking his luxury brand GUCCI as an example, he explained that in the past 10-20 years, the average age of consumers of the brand 60% is not more than 35 years old. These young consumers not only have very high requirements for products, but also pay more and more attention to sustainability. On the one hand, they choose products that are more creative. On the other hand, they need to know what is behind the product and how to produce it.

Will sustainability of the fashion industry affect product pricing? Mr. Pinault believes that sustainability should not be an indicator of corporate profits, nor should product prices change.

In the past, many enterprises thought that if the sustainable operation was increased in the traditional operation, the cost would rise sharply. But we believe that sustainability means innovative and subversive rules, rather than trying to add new rules to existing rules. If the idea of sustainable development is integrated from the source to early design and creativity, a more sustainable business model will be found, and also a great opportunity.

According to Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer and head of International Organization Affairs of Kai Yun group, the three enterprises that won the sustainable innovation award of K Generation Award will enjoy the following rights:

Targeted introduction of industry leaders and financing opportunities for award-winning enterprises.

Meet and accept guidance from members of Kai Yun group and other industry experts.

Us and European Tour: visit Kai Yun group's Paris headquarters and Kai Yun's brand headquarters, Amsterdam Fashion For Good center; visit Plug and Play at the technology center headquarters of California Silicon Valley.

Access the internal network of cloud and Plug and Play

As the pioneer of global sustainable development, Kai Yun group has achieved good results in its first "Five Year Plan" in 2012 -2017. Beginning in 2017, the group entered the second "Five Year Plan", including two key objectives: first, from 2017-2025, we achieved a 40% reduction in carbon footprint. Second, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. To achieve these two key goals, there are three pillars: care, cooperation and innovation.

K Generation award award represents one of the three pillars of innovation. In exchange with the media, Mr. Pinault admitted that so far, the group has just achieved a 20% reduction in the carbon footprint. In order to continue to cut 25%, the ultimate goal set by the practice group will continue to invest a lot in Europe, America and China to find innovative enterprises in the supply chain.

In May, Kai Yun group launched the most comprehensive "animal welfare guidelines" for luxury and fashion industries. In June, in order to celebrate World Environment Day, Kai Yun group announced that its environmental profit and loss account (EP&L) should be added to the new interactive digital platform. In August, Kai Yun Group Co signed the "fashion industry environmental protection agreement" by 32 well-known fashion and textile enterprises. It will reduce the impact of the whole industry on the environment from three areas, namely, preventing global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the ocean.