Fashion Frontier Challenge

We have set out to do everything in our power to create fashion that is more inclusive. Stitch by stitch, person by person, innovation by innovation. We’re determined to push boundaries – so we know that some of the best ideas won’t always be our own.

Launched in 2018, the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge is an annual program to discover and accelerate the work of the world’s most innovative and impactful fashion startups. Through mentoring and financial support, we want to help the best ideas break through.

Now in its fourth year, the challenge supports Tommy Hilfiger’s commitments towards inclusion, diversity, and acknowledging the gap in equity and equal opportunities. Individuals from historically underrepresented communities, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), people with disabilities and women, were strongly encouraged to apply.

Our industry will only move forward with new, fresh ideas that challenge how we think, build and create.

Mr Tommy Hilfiger

Over a multi-step process, hundreds of international applicants were narrowed down to five finalists, who were invited to develop their business concepts with the support of dedicated Tommy Hilfiger mentors and external subject matter experts. With training from an experienced pitch coach, finalists will present their businesses at the global Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge final event on February 9 2023.

A jury panel – including Mr. Tommy Hilfiger – will select two winners to receive the prize fund of €200,000. The winners also receive a year-long mentorship with Tommy Hilfiger and INSEAD experts, as well as a place in a prestigious INSEAD program. An additional €15,000 will be awarded to the finalist who wins the “Audience Favorite Vote.”

Meet the fourth edition finalists:

• CARE+WEAR: An innovative healthwear company based in New York that bridges the gap between fashion and function by creating adaptive and accessible clothing, recovery bras, patient gowns, scrubs and more to help every person feel more human while in the hospital.
• IDA Sports: A British company designing footwear and soccer cleats specifically for female athletes to enhance their performance, comfort and safety.
• Koalaa: A British initiative engineering comfortable, affordable, soft upper limb prosthetics made like clothes for people of all ages, while offering a community of peer-to-peer support.
• Tactus: A Dutch-American tech brand developing and producing smart clothing that translates music into vibrations for the Deaf community, making music more inclusive to those with hearing difficulties.
• Moner Bondhu: A startup founded in Bangladesh that provides accessible and affordable mental health and wellbeing services through professional counselling, workshops and training to all, especially garment factory workers, women and youth.

Past winners include:

• Selina Wamucii: a mobile platform connecting smallholder farmers in Africa to global distributors.
• doctHERs: which digitally connects Pakistan’s female doctors with the factory workers who need them.
• Auf Augenhoehe: a fashion label developing styles for people affected by dwarfism.
• Apon Wellbeing: a Bangladesh scale-up that improves the life of factory workers through affordable health insurance.
• A Beautiful Mess: a Dutch makers space that assists refugees to realize social and economic independence.
• UZURI K&Y: a Rwandan shoe brand that recycles car tires in sub-Sahara Africa whilst equipping young people with skills and economic independence.
• Lalaland: an artificial intelligence (AI) platform based in the Netherlands that generates diverse AI models for fashion e-commerce brands.
• Clothes to Good: a social enterprise based in South Africa with the mission to empower people with disabilities and alleviate poverty through textile recycling.