Kering is bringing the Kering Generation Award to Japan

This initiative is a milestone of Kering’s Sustainability Strategy blueprint, and dates back to 2018 when the Kering Generation Award was first founded in China, in partnership with Plug and Play China. Based on the success of the three Chinese editions, the Group has decided to duplicate the initiative in Japan to identify local startups that have a positive social and environmental impact, altogether with the goal of accelerating the transformation of the fashion and beauty industries.

3 laureates will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in Japan in the spring of 2025. The winning startups will receive a mentorship from the Kering teams, networking assistance, and a trip to Europe to meet with the people spearheading innovation in the arena of fashion and beauty. The first among the awarded trio will also receive a prize of 10 million yen.

The theme of this first Japanese edition of the Kering Generation Award is "Sustainable Fashion and Beauty". It is particularly aimed at startups working on the main life cycle of a product, from alternative raw materials all the way to a commitment to consumers, with manufacturing and distribution along the way.

Applications will open on March 5 on the dedicated website. After an initial presentation and critical examination phase, 10 startups will be selected. The nominees will then benefit from an intensive support program at the end of which a panel of experts will select 3 finalists, who will be presented at the Kering Generation Award ceremony in the spring of 2025.


You can find the application form to submit a candidacy on the website of CIC Institute

Submit your application

The jury of the Kering Generation Award is made up of experts from the world of fashion, luxury goods, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and innovation. The inhouse panel members from Kering are Raffaella Cornaggia, CEO of Kering Beauty; Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer of Kering; and Thierry Marty, President North & South-East Asia Pacific at Kering. The external members of the jury will be announced soon.

“Expanding the Kering Generation Award to Japan is an exciting next step in our mission to support visionary startups focused on climate and nature smart solutions” states Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer of Kering. “We need breakthrough solutions to address many of the luxury, fashion and beauty industry’s biggest sustainability challenges and Kering is convinced that promoting the region’s promising young entrepreneurs at the intersection of fashion & beauty, new technology and innovation will help unlock sustainability transformation.”

CIC Institute is honoured to be involved in the planning and organization of the first ever Kering Generation Award in Japan. We have been focusing on start-up support programs and community building, particularly in the Energy and Environment field. This initiative with Kering is a great opportunity to share our values on start-up support in the same area. We also hope that this program hosted by Kering, a global luxury brand with many luxury brands, would further accelerate innovation creation in Japan.” says Tak Umezawa, Chairman at CIC Japan.