The Bezos Earth Fund announced plans to grant $34 million to support the development of next-generation sustainable fabrics, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the global fashion industry.

The Bezos Earth Fund was founded in 2020, with a $10 billion philanthropic commitment from Jeff Bezos, aimed at funding scientists, activists, NGOs and others driving solutions to fight climate change and protect nature. The fund has provided over 230 grants to date, allocating approximately $2 billion, and aims to fully disburse the $10 billion pledge by 2030.

According to the fund, materials and manufacturing account for roughly 80% of fashion’s environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, pollution, and waste. The new grants will focus on research and development of materials designed to match the performance and aesthetics of conventional fabrics such as rayon, silk, and cotton, while improving cost and environmental outcomes.

The fund made its first foray into its sustainable fashion program work in 2025 with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) x Bezos Earth Fund Next Thread Initiative, a $6.25 million grant with the CFDA to provide awards to independent fashion designers focused on sustainability and scholarships to students pursuing sustainable design.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund said:

“These teams are growing fiber from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in color and creating silk like fibers from compost. That’s not just good for the planet. That’s the future of fashion.”

The new grants include:

• Columbia University, in partnership with Fashion Institute of Technology, receiving $11.5 million to develop biodegradable textile fibers produced from bacteria fed on agricultural waste, designed to be strong, flexible, and breathable, while requiring minimal land use and avoiding microplastic pollution.
• University of California, Berkeley, awarded $10 million to develop high-performance biodegradable fibers inspired by spider silk, with research collaboration from Stanford University and California Institute of Technology.
• Clemson University, receiving $11 million to apply gene editing and synthetic biology to develop new cotton varieties with built-in color, improved performance, and greater resilience, in collaboration with University of Georgia.
• The Cotton Foundation, awarded $1.5 million to support restoration of a publicly accessible, non-GMO cotton seedbank to enable ongoing development of improved cotton varieties.

Dr. Chad Brewer, Executive Director, Cotton Foundation said;

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