Fashion Innovation Award

Tailoring is not only a keyword for fashion consumers, but also for fashion brands. Swiss luxury house Bally, for example, searches for disruptive technologies that are suitable to enable new capabilities, increase customer engagement, and boost operational efficiency in the fashion retail industry. This is where LTCC enters the stage with its customized scouting program, calling since 2019 for innovative startups and scaleups. The ones who fit the best will present themselves in front of Bally’s top management as well as external partners and the lucky winner gets to launch a pilot project with Bally.

Statistics

Since its launch, the project has garnered significant success and remains a cornerstone for Bally, demonstrating the brand's unwavering belief in its value.

1000+ Global startups assessed
200+ Startups and Scaleups contacted
20+ Startups connected to LTCC
7+ Award winners

Fashion Innovation Award sponsored by BALLY

In the past five years, Bally has already relied on innovative solutions for several aspects of its business. But the number of potential topics is almost endless! No matter what cutting-edge solutions are needed – we will identify the matching startups and scaleups!

The 2019 FIA edition took place in Lugano during the Fashion Innovation Week, one of the biggest FashionTech events in Europe. Sponsored by Google, Bally, Accenture Interactive, NextBit, CRIF, and Fondazione Agire, the event enjoys the endorsement of the Lugano City government.

Discover

DATE 4 - 2019

Fashion Innovation Award 2019 focused on mature FashionTech start-ups who apply artificial intelligence to enhance different parts of the Fashion value chain. Out of over 100 applicants from across the world, 34 start-ups made it to the long list and 12 finalists, coming from Switzerland, different EU countries and the Silicon Valley, were invited to pitch in front of the jury.

The winners were iCoolhunt (United Kingdom)/Nextatlas (Italy), SPOTT.ai (Belgium) and Yosh.AI (Poland).

The project unfolded as a hybrid online-offline event, adapting to COVID-19 travel restrictions and regulations. For the second-year edition, our esteemed partners included Netcomm Suisse, Fondazione Agire, Microsoft, Quantis, and Credit Suisse.

Discover

DATE 10 - 2020

For this year, the sole focus was on FashionTech start-ups that apply new technologies to enhance sustainability in different parts of the fashion value chain. Out of over 150 applicants from across the world, the high-level jury panel, comprised from professionals from major fashion brands, chose 16 finalists, coming from Finland, Germany, Italy, India, Israel, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, UK, US.

The winners were, Piñatex (United Kingdom), Flocus (Netherlands), Returnity (United States of America) and RePack (Finland).

The large-scale international competition was conducted in partnership with Accenture, Microsoft, UBS, and with Loomish, as the scouting partner. The initiative was endorsed by the Switzerland Innovation Park Ticino and took place in the beautiful Lugano.

Discover

DATE 11 - 2021

In the virtual fashion category, the scouting focused on seeking solutions in the areas of 3D fashion design, virtual apparel, NFT’s for virtual fashion, fashion avatars, fashion metaverse, gaming and more. In the augmented customer experience category, the search was directed towards technologies in the fields of virtual try-on, virtual stores, in-store customer journey virtualization, improved eCommerce experience and more. The winners were OppenFuture from China and Obsess from United States.

The fourth edition of the Fashion Innovation Award took place at IMD Business School in Lausanne. The jury was represented by Bally’s top management, as well as other executives from the LTCC partners: Accenture, Microsoft, Switzerland Innovation Park-Ticino, UBS, SUPSI, USI, and a selection of journalists.

Discover

DATE 11 - 2022

The competition aimed to find disruptive solutions that apply 3D design, VR and XR to increase customer experience and operational efficiency. The winner of this year’s edition was PixelPool from the Netherlands.

Hosted by EPFL – Switzerland Innovation Park Network West, in Lausanne, the fifth edition was composed by a panel of prominent personalities. The finalists had the chance to present their pitch in front of Bally’s top management, as well as other executives from Top Swiss fashion and luxury brands, such as Breitling, Hugo Boss, Richemont, Clinique La Praire, Timex – as well as LTCC members.

Discover

DATE 11 - 2023

The 2023 Fashion Innovation Award is designed to recognize startups that leverage the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative AI technologies to enhance both customer experience and supply chain efficiency for brands. The two companies Typeface and Syrup convinced an impressive jury, The winner of the first category, “Generative AI solutions for sales and marketing”, is Typeface from United States. The award was accepted by Salim Maherali, Chief Revenue Officer. For the “Artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions for the fashion supply chain” category, the american Syrup emerged as the winner, with their CEO & Co-Founder, James Theuerkauf receiving the prize.