The Revival, a community-led organization based in Kantamanto market and creating jobs, art and awareness with global textile waste has been selected as one of the 2025 winners of the Global Change Award by the H&M Foundation.
Each year, ten winners are selected for the Global Change Award for their bold and pioneering ideas, who are changemakers tackling some of fashion’s most urgent challenges: from reducing emissions and energy use, to enabling circularity and cleaner materials.
The Global Change Award looks for innovations across four areas in the textile industry such as Responsible production:-innovations in energy efficiency, waste management, traceability, on-demand and renewable energy, Sustainable materials and processes – ideas in low-energy materials, sustainable energy practices, new and recycled fibres and alternative wet processes, treatments and finishes; Mindful consumption – solutions that extend garment life cycles, enable circular business models, and reshape demand; Wildcards – unexpected, game-changing ideas that could accelerate industry-wide transformation.
In a quote cited on H&M Foundation website, Programme Director of H&M Foundation, Annie Lindmark’ said, “This year’s winners are not just solving problems; they’re rethinking the systems behind them. Their ideas reflect the kind of early-stage innovation we need to unlock system-level change, and remind us that transformation starts with brave, often uncertain steps“
The Revival is recognised for transforming unsellable garments into new products through repair, design and local artisan training, extending textile lifespans while supporting community livelihoods. What sets it apart for this pretigious selection include their ability to: Build circularity from the ground up through community ownership; Combine innovation, education, and employment, and finally Prototype reuse at scale for everything from apparel to construction materials
This year’s H&M Foundation‘s Global Change award selection was put together by Style House Files who proudly nominated several African innovators for this year’s for which 2 African initiatives (The Revival and Pneedles) made it to the top 20 with THE REVIVAL emerging as one of ten winners.
Each winner receives a €200,000 grant and joins the year long GCA Changemaker Programme, delivered by H&M Foundation with strategic partners Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The programme supports winners with innovation coaching, systems thinking tools and leadership development to help bring their ideas closer to real-world impact.