Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY), a global leader in materials science and digital identification solutions, has been named among the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026.
The prestigious accolade from Fast Company recognizes Avery Dennison’s ground breaking Optica™ portfolio, which is transforming supply chain visibility and sustainability across the global apparel industry.
Fast Company’s editorial team selects the World’s Most Innovative Companies through a rigorous evaluation process, reviewing thousands of submissions based on innovation, impact, timeliness and relevance. The annual ranking covers 58 industries and sectors, from energy to digital advertising, highlighting organizations that are moving the world forward through transformative innovation.
Delia Glover, VP of Product, Apparel Solutions at Avery Dennison, says: “This recognition validates our belief that every garment has a story to tell, and with our technology, we’re effectively stitching digital intelligence into the fabric of fashion. Connecting the physical and digital illuminates the supply chain, providing our clients with the product accuracy they need to operate with confidence.”
Transforming fashion’s supply chain crisis
Avery Dennison’s Optica solutions for the apparel industry address a critical challenge: opaque supply chains leading to waste, inefficiency, distrust and lost revenue. The task is heightened further as consumers demand ever more information about the clothes they buy. A recent survey, cited in Avery Dennison’s RFID for Circularity report, found 71% of global respondents care about brands being transparent regarding the materials they use and the manufacturing practices behind their products.
The same report highlights how item-level identification is emerging as a key requirement to scale circular business models such as resale, re-purposing and recycling. According to the RFID for Circularity report, RFID-enabled sorting systems have demonstrated potential to significantly reduce manual garment scanning hours — by up to 99% in certain implementations — while achieving identification accuracy rates of up to 99%, depending on deployment conditions. This capability is becoming increasingly critical as brands prepare for various legislation including the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements, currently set to come into effect from 2028-2029.
Glover adds: “We believe that being recognized by Fast Company is testament to how we enable manufacturers, brands and retailers to operate more sustainably, efficiently and transparently than ever before. By providing item-level visibility from source to store and beyond, Optica addresses challenges spanning operational inefficiency and shrink to disconnected systems and circular economy requirements. This is key to empowering the fashion industry to move from reactive problem-solving to proactive opportunity creation.”
Real-world impact at scale
The Optica solutions portfolio for apparel features trigger sensors such as RFID-enabled intelligent labels, QR code technology, the atma.io connected product cloud and a multitude of use case specific hardware. This provides brands and retailers with real-time visibility, from raw materials to finished goods. With 4,500 factory clients already using Optica apparel solutions, the platform is reshaping how global supply chains operate by helping reduce waste and inefficiencies while boosting revenue.
Impact is demonstrated through partnerships with major retailers like JD Sports, which operates 4,850 stores across 36 countries. JD Sports tracks over 3.3 million items spanning 37,000 products on the atma.io platform, achieving clear, real-time visibility from factory to store while preparing for upcoming DPP legislation.
To learn more about Avery Dennison’s Optica solutions, click here.
