Another Tomorrow Signs Creative Head; Canopy Expands Database
New leaders, more money for resale and a database of next-gen solutions: this week in sustainability.
EXEC CHANGEUPS
Another Tomorrow has signed on a new creative director: Elizabeth Giardina.
The Brooklyn-based fashion veteran has served in various design roles over the past two decades helping to expand American fashion legacies, including the likes of Proenza Schouler (former vice president of design), Derek Lam (former VP of design for Derek Lam 10 Crosby), and Halston (former head designer for six years).
Prior to joining Another Tomorrow, Giardina most recently worked at Proenza Schouler, initially as vice president of design and then as vice president of design for White Label, a division she created to further disseminate the brand across verticals at the advanced contemporary price point.
As a relative namesake in the sustainability space, Another Tomorrow is a newer brand already helping to change the narrative on American fashion. The ready-to-wear label, founded by former finance executive Vanessa Barboni Hallik in 2020, is a B Corp focused on crafting conscious luxury made to last. The label has also played an integral role in spearheading innovation, including a guest judging role in the Microfiber Innovation Challenge and being a supporting signatory to the “Fashion Act,” in an open letter generated by the reuse sector.
Meanwhile, biotech company Modern Meadow appointed Ann Lee-Jeffs as its new senior director of corporate sustainability. With track records at Teva Pharmaceutical Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, Lee-Jeffs will help advance the company’s Bio-Alloy and Bio-Farm technologies. Most recently, the company produced an alternative leather (dubbed Bio-Tex) for Everlane.
RECURATE AMPS UP
On Wednesday, branded resale player Recurate announced $14 million in Series A funding to power a new suite of resale services and integrations for its notable brand partners.
This funding round was led by Jump Capital, and includes Gradient Ventures, XRC Labs and Victress Capital. The new investment brings Recurate’s total funding to more than $17.5 million.
Cofounded by two industry veterans — Adam Siegel and Wilson Griffin — the company powers branded resale experiences for more than 40 brands, including Steve Madden (Re-Booted), Frye (The Frye Exchange) and Mara Hoffman (Full Circle Marketplace). By year end, the company anticipates more than doubling this headcount. Connected products (or digital identity integrations) will be a unifying part of the financing as will data analytics, advanced merchandising and image-based product recognition to reduce friction in listing.
EXPANSIVE ECO-OPTIONS
On Tuesday, environmental nonprofit Canopy released its largest database ever for recycled and next-gen paper and packaging solutions.
Aptly named the “EcoPaper Database (EPD),” the listing includes more than 1,100 paper and paper packaging options available to help businesses reduce their impact on ancient and endangered forests. Given the murkiness around textile labeling and the prevalence of misleading eco claims hunted by the FTC, the database is designed to steer fashion companies in the right direction as far as product and textile labeling. The new and improved database even includes a sorting feature to make users aware of PFAs or “forever chemicals” (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) lingering in products.
Businesses like Reformation, Huge Boss, LVMH, Ugg, Hunter Boots, Grove Collaborative and Another Tomorrow are among the signatories for the Pack4Good initiative from CanopyStyle (Canopy’s fashion division).