BUS604: Innovation and Sustainability

Background

BF+DA (Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator), a Pratt Institute initiative, is both an accelerator and a coworking space and hub for fashion and design entrepreneurs. BF+DA offers a wide range of production services and technologies and work spaces in its 21,000-square-foot location. It promotes better integration of local manufacturing and emphasizes and provides access to ethical sourcing, labor, and production techniques in the supply chain. Its services include business mentorship, sustainable strategies consulting, materials sourcing, small-run apparel production, no-minimum computerized knitting services, and digital fabrication services. Close to 30 emerging design businesses (not limited to Pratt students) are selected to work at the accelerator. The production facilities can accommodate small to midsize operations with productions of small batches as well as more established businesses with orders of 500 or more. Each year, BF+DA also serves more than 70 apparel production clients, 300 digital fabrication clients, and 5,000 event, tour, and educational program attendees.

In Essence

As a coworking space, BF+DA fosters the exchange of knowledge between its members and network. The space further helps accelerate business by providing intense mentorship tailored to a designer's specific needs. Mentors work one-on-one with the companies, connecting them to a network of industry experts, legal advi- sers, investors, and strategic advisers who understand supply chains, local resourcing, and life cycles assessment. BF+DA is active in organizing public events for the greater community on subjects pertaining to fashion and technology. It curates educational programs and events that explore the future of production, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and technology, engaging leaders and change agents across industries and communities of practice in the co-creation of new knowledge and critical ideas. BF+DA's accelerator program (the Venture Fellow program) supports founders of fashion, accessories, home, and technology companies grow their business through an ecosystem of labs, including the Production Lab (p.LAB), Sustainability Lab (s.LAB), and Fashion + Technology Lab (t.LAB). p.LAB is a fabrication lab; it provides full digital fabrication services, including laser cutters, 3-D printers, and a lab for textile innovation that boasts a textile printer, knitting machines, and an extensive samples library. S.Lab provides practical mentorship to develop sustainable practices in the life cycle of products and services. t.LAB is a research and development center for advancing the manufacturing of responsible smart garments and functional textiles.

Impact

BF+DA drives industrial innovation by providing a full range of specialized tools, services, and mentorship focused on the fashion and design industry. It provides the space and resources for designers to experiment and explore the possibilities of working with new techniques and textiles that can be produced locally, thereby supporting more sustainable business. Access to the latest technology at reduced shared costs helps drive innovation, as does the crossover and exchanges among designers in the shared studio space. BF+DA's goal is to drive industrial innovation and help businesses accelerate through access to mentors and a business co- mmunity. It is able to assist these businesses to scale through its fully equipped production services, complete with the machinery required to produce enough units needed to enter the market. In the first two years of the Venture Fellow program, BF+DA contributed to the creation of more than 50 new jobs.

In Practice

Project in Focus

Kirrin Finch, a conscientious clothing company founded by the Brooklyn-based couple Laura Moffat and Kelly Sanders Moffat, is answering the growing demand for gender-defying fashion with menswear-inspired apparel designed to fit a range of women's bodies. Business growth has been constant, enabled by the services of BF+DA, which provided mentorship and assistance in creating effective marketing campaigns aimed at their target audience (the LGBTQ community) and securing production in New York City.