Not only is Tom Ford sexy, a great designer and a beautiful film maker…he is now working on *saving the planet!
*…or more precisely fixing the thin film plastic issue 😉
Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize powered by 52HZ
At No Kill Mag, we love online shopping but hate the plastic bags that our favorite fashion finds arrive in. Every year we use over 300 billion polybags and single-use, resealable sandwich and storage bags. Thin-Film Plastic is in everything, and it’s everywhere, ending up and sitting in our landfills and never going away. But what if there was an alternative packaging?
And we’re not talking about reusable fabric bags or paper packages. We need an eco-friendly, biodegradable replacement to the polybags many fashion brands use. Well, Tom Ford recognized this problem and has partnered with 52HZ to solve it. They want to get others involved and aware too, and at No Kill Mag, we are beyond excited to give you the full rundown on how.
Tom Ford. Deep in thought? Or channeling THIS SONG?
Looking at the issue of Thin Film Plastic, they’ve created the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize powered by 52HZ, a two-year contest with a prize of 1.2 Millon. The first part of the contest is broken into two rounds over two years. After those two years, up to 10 competition winners and other high-performing teams are provided with 200,000 and resources and support for another three years to further the development of their ideas. The judges will select three prize winners who will share in a prize pool of $1 Million in investment capital. The finalists will finalize their products and move into the final stretch of the competition. Anyone is welcome to apply, and teams are more than welcome.
Tom Ford and 52HZ have invited industry professionals to judge on different categories for this contest. This list includes Tom Ford himself, designer Stella McCartney, actor Don Cheadle from Iron Man, and activists and experts like Livia Firth, Susan Rockefeller, and Melati Wijsen.
There is also a range of judges for different categories of evaluation. We love the dedication and commitment to creating real change with the help and knowledge of environmental and technical experts. The scientific and technical judges ensure that winning solutions meet clear environmental standards at both production and end-of-life.
We can’t wait for 2026 to see what happens in this contest, who will win, and how they’re going to solve the thin-film plastic problem. Interested in submitting to the prize, want to know more, or know someone who could solve the thin-film plastic problem?
You can actually attend an informational webinar on Wednesday, June 9th at 8:00 AM PT, 3:00 PM GMT. If you can’t make it to Wednesday’s meeting, there’s another one Tuesday, July 13th, and both will be recorded.
You can register for the webinars here or go to https://plasticprize.org/ to read more, check out all the judges, or submit an application before October 24, 2021! We are excited to see where this competition goes and what that will mean for fashion and packaging moving forward!
–Julie Klein
