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Sustainability & Recycling

Bezos Earth Fund Commits US$ 34 Million To Next-Generation Textile Materials

• By  Textile Excellence
• May 31, 2026

The Bezos Earth Fund has awarded US$ 34 million in four research grants to develop sustainable, plastic-free textile fibres, including cotton and silk, for the fashion industry.

The grants focus on “reinventing the fabrics” our clothes are made of, since the materials and manufacturing behind them are responsible for 80% of the industry’s climate footprint, spanning greenhouse gas emissions, water use and pollution, and landfilled waste.

“When I started asking questions about how clothes are actually made, I couldn’t stop. The science happening right now is incredible,” said Lauren Sánches Bezos, the fund’s vice-chair. “These teams are growing fibre from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in colour, and creating silk-like fibres from compost. That’s not just good for the planet. That’s the future of fashion.”

What will Bezos Earth Fund’s fashion grants focus on?

Bezos Earth Fund’s new grants will centre on the R&D of materials that look and feel like conventional rayon, silk and cotton, but with superior cost, performance and environmental attributes.

Columbia University & Fashion Institute Of Technology: The largest sum goes to Columbia University, which will receive US$ 11.5 million to develop a high-quality textile fibre by feeding bacteria on agricultural waste, in collaboration with the Fashion Institute of Technology. This material will be strong, flexible, breathable and biodegradable, would require almost no land, and will not contribute to microplastic pollution.

Clemson University & University of Georgia: Clemson University will benefit from US$ 11 million to use gene-editing and synthetic biology to develop and test new cotton varieties with built-in colour, enhance performance, and improve resilience. The project will be conducted with the University of Georgia, and will result in cotton that can rival synthetic alternatives with a lower climate impact.

University of California: Another US$ 10 million is being awarded to the University of California, Berkeley, which is working with scientists from Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology to develop a high-performance, biodegradable alternative to spider silk, without relying on silkworms, spiders, or plastic.

The Cotton Foundation: Finally, the Bezos Earth Fund is investing US$ 1.5 million in The Cotton Foundation to support the restoration of the world’s most diverse, publicly accessible cotton seedbank, which scientists and farmers can use to develop and grow improved varieties of the material.

As the fund points out, designers need beautiful, high-performing materials, retailers need consistent quality at viable prices, and manufacturers need materials that can be incorporated into existing equipment and infrastructure. Investing in the science and engineering of climate-friendly materials can, therefore, drive performance up and premiums down.

“This investment from the Bezos Earth Fund comes at a critical moment to protect one of agriculture’s most valuable genetic resources,” said Chad Brewer, executive director of The Cotton Foundation. “By strengthening the foundation of cotton genetics, we can advance more resilient, sustainable natural fibres, offering safe, scalable alternatives to synthetic materials.”

Clemson University professor Christopher Saski added: “This work fundamentally focuses on how we grow fibres that can be inherently better for the planet by moving colour, performance, and resilience upstream into the biology of cotton itself. This approach flips the traditional model that has been used for more than a century to build a future of sustainable fashion.”

“When I started asking questions about how clothes are actually made, I couldn’t stop. The science happening right now is incredible. These teams are growing fibre from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in colour, and creating silk-like fibres from compost. That’s not just good for the planet. That’s the future of fashion,” believes Lauren Sánches Bezos, Vice-Chair, Bezos Earth Fund.