From the Sector

• EMMA SCALCON is the winner of the first edition of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION AWARD, an international competition for communication in sustainable fashion.

The award was established in October 2020 by Connecting Cultures and C.L.A.S.S. with the aim of creating new visual imagery and innovative communication models in sustainable fashion. Stylists, photographers, designers, illustrators, artists and other creatives, invited to rethink how to communicate the new generation of values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system, joined the open and international call.

The name of the winner of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition was announced during a webinar on March 30th at 4pm led by Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub; Anna Detheridge, President of Connecting  Cultures; Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London; and Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts.

Born in Padua, Italy, 22 years old, and a student in her second year in Textile & Fashion Design at IAAD - Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design, Emma Scalcon won the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition with her project TAKE A WALK ON THE GREEN SIDE, designing communications crafted with strong and impactful images and simple but detailed wording intended for younger consumers to inform them about sustainable fashion issues.

Scalcon ranked first among the finalists selected by a high profile jury composed of:
·   Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
·   Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
·   Rita Airaghi, Director, Gianfranco Ferré Foundation
·   Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Jeanine Ballone, Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
·   Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
·   Chiara Luisi, Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Sustainable Strategies, Council of Fashion Designers of America  
·   Dio Kurazawa, Socio fondatore, The Bear Scouts
·   Renata Molho, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
·   Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London
·   Stefania Ricci, Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Emma Scalcon was awarded the €3,000 prize, made possible by the Main Sponsor ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei and by the other sponsors of the project: ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei - a latest generation fabric collection that promotes responsible innovation with advanced high-tech performance, C.L.A.S.S., and the Greek smart cotton SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos.
 
“It is time to be pioneers in communication and for this we have supported the Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award,” commented Takaaki Kondo, global marketing department manager for ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, the Main Sponsor of the award. ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei is a high quality stretch fibre with an innovative range of intelligent functions to satisfy every modern wardrobe need for sports, underwear, and fashion. “We believe that together with responsible innovation, communication is the key to bring sustainability to the next level: to inspire, educate, inform and allow both professionals and consumers to make the right choices.”

“The competition is an opportunity to rethink how to communicate the new and different values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system,” explained Anna Detheridge. “I am quite impressed with the results of the competition — the diversity of forms that we received show both an interesting change in sensibility and a practical approach to communicating these values. There is less visual rhetoric and reliance on compelling images and more investment in basic information and a greater variety of narratives.

It is a great pleasure to see the energies from a wealth of young creatives, small businesses, and designers from all over the world with cross-disciplinary interests and a diversity of talents who are ushering in a new culture of design. My heartiest congratulations go to Emma Scalcon".

“I completely agree with Anna's comments on the quality of the work submitted by participants in the competition and together we have renewed our intention to continue IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION into 2021 with a new edition of the award,” stated Giusy Bettoni. “After this initial experience, we find ourselves even more motivated to explore some of the themes that emerged during the selection process, in particular those regarding the ethics of intellectual and cultural property, a topical issue in an industry like fashion. For this reason, we are already working together on organizing a webinar on this topic with outside specialists, including legal experts.”

 21 Grams, the group comprised of Veronica De Nigris, Serena Paone e Immacolata Esposito, won a special contest open to the public among the finalists selected by the jury, receiving the most votes from Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S.’s corporate Instagram profile. The media partner for the initiative is Renoon, the leading search tool and data hub for sustainable fashion, a rising start-up of the year, aggregating +190 brands offering sustainable options to consumers. 

• Nach rund 45 Jahren am Standort in der Spengergasse in Wien ist das OETI (Institut fuer Oekologie, Technik und Innovation GmbH) nun umgezogen!
• In knapp vier-jähriger intensiver Planungs- und Bauzeit wurde ein Niedrigenergie-Neubau, der CO2 neutral betrieben wird, errichtet.

Ab 15.03.2021: Klimafreundlicher, vollwertiger Laborstandort innerhalb der TESTEX Gruppe

Das „OETI – Institut fuer Oekologie, Technik und Innovation GmbH“ wurde vor fast 55 Jahren gegründet und ist ein Prüfinstitut für Textilien, persönliche Schutzausrüstungen und Fußbodentechnik mit Hauptsitz in Wien und 13 weiteren Niederlassungen weltweit. Darüber hinaus ist das OETI Gründungsmitglied der Internationalen OEKO-TEX® - Gemeinschaft. Die Internationale Gemeinschaft für Forschung und Prüfung auf dem Gebiet der Textil- und Lederökologie bietet unabhängige Zertifizierungen und Produktlabels. Seit 1992 ermöglicht OEKO-TEX® Unternehmen entlang der textilen und Leder-Kette und allen Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern, verantwortungsvolle Entscheidungen für gesundheitlich unbedenkliche, umweltfreundliche und fair hergestellte Produkte zu treffen.

Passend zu diesem Nachhaltigkeitsfokus, war es dem OETI und seiner Muttergesellschaft, der Schweizer TESTEX AG, ein Anliegen das neue OETI-Hauptquartier in Niedrigenergiebauweise zu errichten und CO2-neutral zu betreiben. Um diese Ziele zu erreichen, wurden höchste Wärmedämmung und energietechnische Optimierung eingesetzt, während die CO2-neutrale Stromversorgung aus der hauseigenen Photovoltaikanlage und durch heimische erneuerbare Energie gespeist wird.

Das neue Hauptquartier bietet bis zu 75 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern auf 2.500m2 Platz und beeindruckt mit hellen und technisch bestens ausgestatteten Büroflächen. Auch die Laborbereiche, das analytisch/chemische Labor und das mechanische Labor, wurden nach den neusten Methoden und Techniken konzipiert. Damit wird das OETI, neben seiner Schweizer Muttergesellschaft TESTEX AG, zum zweiten vollwertigen Laborstandort innerhalb der gesamten, globalen TESTEX Gruppe.

Details zu Planung und Bau

Aufgrund des guten Geschäftserfolges entscheidet sich das OETI im Jahr 2017 den Hauptsitz in Wien auszubauen und erwirbt noch im selben Jahr ein Grundstück für den Bau eines eigenen Geschäftsgebäudes in Liesing, dem 23. Wiener Gemeindebezirk. Der Neubau soll dem innovativen Geist des Prüfinstitutes gerecht werden. Deshalb schreibt das OETI einen Wettbewerb aus und entscheidet sich aus zahlreichen Bewerbern für das österreichische Architekturbüro „Forum Architekten“. „Forum Architekten“ ist bekannt für seine kreativen Lösungsfindungen und hat bereits unterschiedlichste Gebäude vom Flughafenterminal, bis hin zum Hörsaal und privaten Wohnbauten entworfen.
Nach intensiver Planungsphase startet das Projekt im Oktober 2019 in die Bauphase. Um trotz anhaltender Pandemie den Zeitplan für den Einzug Mitte März 2021 halten zu können, arbeiten zeitweise rund 70 Handwerker auf der Baustelle.

• C.L.A.S.S. launches the Manifesto for Responsible Fashion and kicks off the CALL TO ACTION of C.L.A.S.S. ICON 2021
• What does it mean to be a “game changer” in green fashion?
• What are the false myths of eco-fashion and what are the guidelines for innovating while safeguarding the planet? And how do you tell the story behind a sustainable fashion collection?

An annual competition to reward a visionary creative who combines design, responsible innovation and communication, capable of raising contemporary consumer awareness of the new values of sustainable fashion. This is the Call to Action launched to find the C.L.A.S.S. ICON 2021 by Giusy Bettoni of C.L.A.S.S. in the Smart Voices panel "C.L.A.S.S. ICON: Award and Manifesto for Responsible Fashion", moderated by the green journalist Diana de Marsanich, and starring, on the 10th February, the fashion designer Gilberto Calzolari, recipient of the international award for creative visionaries in the world of fashion C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award 2020, and Federico Poletti, Marketing and Communication Director of WHITE SHOW.

C.L.A.S.S. Manifesto  

During the Smart Voice, the C.L.A.S.S. Manifesto for Responsible Fashion, the 2021 edition of the C.L.A.S.S. ICON competition and the Sustainability Formula were presented.

C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award is an international award for visionary creatives in the fashion world who are able to convey the values of sustainability not only to fashion professionals, but also to the wider public: consumers. "We created C.L.A.S.S. ICON to reward visionary designers who create their collections by combining design, innovation and responsibility and who are able to communicate the values behind their garments authentically and effectively to consumers. It's time for storymaking and storytelling to align, otherwise it's just greenwashing" says Giusy Bettoni.

From 15th of February to 15th of April it will be possible to apply by sending an email to classicon@classecohub.org, with a description and objectives of the brand, the sustainability values adopted and the strategy, the designer's profile, a photo-video story of the latest collection, and any previous awards won (all info on http://www.classecohub.org).

During the panel, designer Gilberto Calzolari, the first winner of the first C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award, shared his vision for responsible fashion and his current projects. "My brand is a laboratory of experimentation. I create fashion to open conversations and change the way people behave and think. My creativity, from the choice of fabrics and processes to the image I decide to communicate, are the weapons at my disposal. Since the beginning, I have been really excited to team up with C.L.A.S.S. in order to share a common and challenging journey, with the perspective to be part of a constantly growing network activating mutual support. I have always thought at my collections as a call to action for a better future and now more than ever my mission as C.L.A.S.S. ICON is to make people understand that commitment and sustainability can and must go hand in hand with beauty and elegance. The adage 'kalòs kai agathòs' is one of the classical teachings that should never be forgotten: aesthetics, in my opinion, is inseparable from ethics. That's why I don't just target professionals, but also the end consumer, fashionistas and beyond" says Gilberto.

"For the first edition of C.L.A.S.S. ICON in 2020 Gilberto was decreed as our chosen one, and the path together was sanctioned at that moment: the sharing of values and visions is an indissoluble bond that keeps us united over time. Like Gilberto, each ICON will be part of a community where together with C.L.A.S.S. will try to make a real smart fashion and above all create an important voice," says Giusy Bettoni.

In support of the C.L.A.S.S. ICON award, C.L.A.S.S. presented its Manifesto for Responsible Fashion, which summarises the values that C.L.A.S.S. has been researching, communicating and developing since 2007: the role of the ethical company and its transparent production, the importance of traceable and healthy products, with total respect for people and the environment. A commitment to a circular economy with a positive impact that also means safeguarding the seas, the ocean, the use of water, energy and resources.

"A Manifesto for fashion with the lowest possible impact on the planet and on people and animals’ health thanks to responsible innovation, perfectly up to the challenges of contemporary lifestyle. This is why I created the Sustainability Formula, which only exists when there is design, responsible innovation and we are able to track and measure the impact of products and processes and communicate the new values in an appropriate way. In a word, when there is knowledge" concludes Giusy Bettoni.
 
F = D x I x S x C
F= Fashion
D=Design
S=Sustainability
C=Communication

The RUDOLF GROUP is an uncontested agent of positive change especially when it comes to pioneering technologies that help transforming the textile and fashion industries. A shining example of conscious leadership played by the RUDOLF GROUP over the past decades is the invention and introduction of fluorine-free Durable Water Repellency (DWR) for textile and apparel. Since 2003, the RUCO-DRY product line has gradually convinced the industry that water-resistance can be achieved through the study and replica of natural models. “Biomimicry and the study of lotus leaves and bird’s feathers were instrumental in developing the very first fluorine-free DWR’s” says Dr. Gunther Duschek, Managing Director at RUDOLF GROUP.

Fifteen years later, RUDOLF GROUP does it again and takes a significant leapfrog. It pushes the boundaries of R&D well beyond fluorine-free, embraces nature and introduces water repellent performance entirely based on natural components. “We are launching two brand new, distinctive product propositions entirely manufactured from natural sources that do not compete with human and/or animal nutrition” continues Dr. Duschek.

RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR is an absolute breakthrough and the first Durable Water Repellent (DWR) agent based on plant-derived processing wastes. In fact, RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR is made of natural waste that accumulates as by-product during the processing of cereal grains in the food industry. The leftover material that would otherwise be disposed of is refined to create a powerful water and stain repellent textile finish.

“By turning natural waste into DWR we have optimized the biologic character of RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR where the active component is made of more than 90% bio carbon” states Dr. Dirk Sielemann, R&D Director at RUDOLF GROUP. He continues: “Although most of the product is composed by recycled biomass, RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR meets the performance and durability of conventional water repellent textile finishes”.

RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE is an equally outstanding product innovation where DWR is entirely based on a carefully selected mix of natural plant extracts. The well-balanced mix of plant-based ingredients combines excellent water and stain repellent effects with breathability and a natural handfeel. 

Unlike other 100% renewable raw materials, those used in the making of RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE are chemically and genetically non-modified and are not used as food, feed or fuel. Furthermore, all of the plant extracts that compose RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE are subject to a strict conservation and sustainability framework. “That’s why the supply of RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE is likely to remain limited to the creation and marketing of performance outdoor and sports apparel programs embedding state-of-the-art sustainable technology” concludes Dr. Duschek.

Both RUCO®-DRY BIO CGR and RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE are marketed through the BIO-LOGIC trademark, registered by RUDOLF GROUP.

Sicomin’s latest marine collaboration with Sonntag Fins sees its industry leading GreenPoxy® 33 bio-based epoxy resin used for custom carbon fibre windsurf fins - combining speed, fatigue performance and sustainability for some of the fastest sailors afloat.

Targeted at windsurf slalom sailors, racers and speed sailors, each Sonntag fin is a custom made product, tailored specifically to the user based on a discussion about riding style, physical size and weight, as well as how the rider likes to load the fin whilst sailing.  This attention to detail and bespoke manufacturing places a huge importance on the performance and consistency of the raw materials used, with all new materials having to be validated in production, on the test rig in the lab, and on the water by the team riders.

With this in mind, Sonntag Fins approached Time Out Composite, Sicomin’s German distributor,  looking for a new resin system that could reduce cycle times and improve manufacturing output.  Bio-based systems were discussed, but the first product used by Sonntag was Sicomin’s SR1280 laminating system which delivered immediate results, enabling shorter cure cycles, and exceeding all of the previous mechanical test targets.

In 2020, Sonntag and Time Out Composite revisited the topic of a more sustainable epoxy resin system. It was the perfect time for Sonntag Fins, with their new unique bright green UV resistant outer finish, to go green on the inside too with Sicomin’s GreenPoxy® 33 resin.

Test fins were produced with the new material performing well in production trials. Pure resin samples were also tested and post-cured at 140 ̊C, with the new GreenPoxy® 33 samples showing significantly higher elongation at maximum resistance, meaning the cured epoxy was less brittle and susceptible to damage should a customer’s fin meet a rock. With mechanical properties improved, Sonntag switched production to GreenPoxy® 33 in August 2020.

Sonntag fins are manufactured in CNC machined aluminium moulds using GreenPoxy® 33 and a bespoke lay-up of woven, stitched biaxial and heat-set unidirectional carbon fibre fabrics in four steps:
• The first step in the moulding process is the application of Sonntag’s unique green in-mould coating.
• Next, the individual fabric plies, cut using precisely machined templates, are placed into the mould and then wet-out with the low viscosity epoxy. With the laminate stack complete, the mould is closed and loaded into a heated press for around 2 hours to consolidate and cure the fin.
• After curing, the demoulded fins are tempered in an oven at 140 ̊C, then only a light sanding is required to create the final surface roughness for optimum flow characteristics in the water.
• Finally, the fins are cut to the required length and the base adapter is molded to the epoxy-carbon blade in a specific mould.
With each fin being optimized for its rider, it is critical that each piece produced will bend and twist in exactly the way it has been designed to do so, providing the rider with exactly the feel and feedback they want for their board and fin. Each Sonntag fin is tested on a unique CNC controlled servo and stepper motor driven test bench that Joerg has developed, building a database of test results that not only ensures the products perform as designed but also validating the consistency of the manufacturing process and raw materials.
“We produce high-performance windsurfing fins that need to accommodate significant loads during sailing. Fins need to combine flexibility with extremely high torsion stiffness that places high interlaminar shear forces on the resin, especially in our softer fins.” commented Joerg Sonntag, MD, Sonntag Fins. “A key requirement for us is a resin that maintains its mechanical properties for many years, and this is where the Sicomin systems deliver”

The collaboration between Tonello and denim designer Piero Turk gave birth to a sustainable denim collection, result of a combination of the latest responsible technologies, and created with the most eco-friendly fabrics selected by The Kingpins Show.

“When it comes to working on new developments, we always start from new ideas and the constant research that starts from a concept that becomes reality, by increasingly raising the bar of sustainability,” said Alice Tonello, R&D and Marketing Director of Tonello.

18 exclusive and contemporary denim pieces, result of the premium experience of Piero Turk, and Tonello with its new brand-new finishing process: The Laundry (R )Evolution.

This is a radically new conception thought to simplify and optimize the entire garment finishing process.

It involves only 2 technologies in the entire finishing cycle, reducing waste and optimizing resources: LaserBlaze, and The All-in-One-System. Finally we use Metro, our software that processes real data, in real time to check all laundry consumption, optimizing processing times and improving performance.

The All-in-One System performs all washing operations by integrating 4 sustainable technologies into a single machine: ECOfree 2, which uses ozone in both the water and air; NoStone® for authentic and pumice-free stone-wash effects; UP, for washing processes with at least 50% less water; Core, a nebulizing system improving performance and reducing water consumption.

As a result of The Laundry (R )Evolution, Tonello developed two innovative and patent-pending processes: OBleach and Wake.

OBleach is the new Tonello process, which, by using only ozone, “returns to the future” with an authentic, sustainable and cool Bleach. Without chemicals.
This is possible thanks to a combination of the technologies part of our All-In-One System.
In short, the real Bleach without Bleach has finally arrived. And this in the year of the total ban of permanganate too.

Wake is the first totally natural dyeing system that uses only plants and biodegradable vegetable waste like flowers, berries and roots, without harmful chemicals additives.

The capsule collection will be displayed at KINGPINS24 on October 27th during the seminar held by Alice Tonello and Piero Turk.

• Trust the vibes, energy doesn’t lie!

Advanced design and sustainability, innovation, aesthetics and quality, made of “ethical” laces and tights of very high quality standards and a careful look at fashion. Iluna Group, strengthened by this heritage, with a smart approach, carefully selected materials, know-how on processes and particular attention to the ecosystem, is a leader in its sector

With the FW 21-22 collection, Iluna Group focuses on design excellence aimed at perfection driven by this particular historical moment, in which preferring quality over quantity has become necessary: offering ever higher standards of quality is combined with the choice of reducing minimum waste in a way of working that becomes more thoughtful, studied, focused and less hectic.

The range of sustainable products expands by adding to the GRS certified Green Label, the BIOLINE, made with raw materials such as the precious ROICA™ V550 premium stretch fiber which belongs to ROICA Eco-Smart ™ family produced by Asahi Kasei able to combine elasticity and comfort and other benefits in terms of circular economy related to the health of materials, as demonstrated by the Gold Level Material Health Certificate by the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute, and by the world's first biodegradable polyamide 6.6 yarn AMNI SOUL ECO®, fibers that degrade completely in the environment under anaerobic conditions.

The exceptional natural dyes proposed are made with vegetable dyes extracted from various plants, with a color chart that now has 14 shades, all with solidity within the OEKO TEX® Standard 100 and all GOTS certified. No chemical product is used for the dyes, including the softening finish, for which an equally natural product is used.

All the products of the Iluna Group collections can be made in a recycled or organic variant.

Iluna Group participates to Milano Unica and digitally at all sector fairs, a new way of communicating that together with the use of social media - accompanied by the launch last year of the official website and e-commerce with all the collections and the ilunamasks.com site dedicated to the sale of the exclusive Iluna masks - it can be transformed from a necessity to a great resource and an opportunity to enhance a 360° sustainable attitude. Iluna, even before the pandemic, has always considered the sustainable aspect a priority in its work and now, in the light of this new landscape, the many years of experience gained benefits the company by pushing it to place itself more and more as a precursor of sustainable innovation.

The constant commitment to responsible solutions makes Iluna Group the only lace manufacturer to use - since 2017 - transformed stretch in the entire range of its elastic laces. Iluna Group excellence is based 100% on responsible innovation, guaranteed by the most important certifications. The creation of smart lace, strictly Made in Italy, is also Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified. Today Iluna is a reference point for international markets and boasts products with OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification.

• ECOSENSOR™’s new references combine high-performance and innovation to empower people with the possibility to live life naturally both for mind and body.
• The new range is woven from certified ingredients, a completely traceable production process and highly certified suppliers               

"A New Eco high-tech force of Nature", a bold claim, a daring attitude and true facts. ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei has concentrated all its key values into a Nature-driven and high-tech fabric collection that respects the environment and human being.

Sustainability, active climate control, exquisite touch and extreme performance co-habit the textiles: the collection is made of wovens and knits where the main technology is represented by GRS - Global Recycle Standard certified polyamide and polyesters, sometime combined with ROICA™ recycled stretch yarns and dyed and finished with Oekotex Standard 100 certified processes and/or by BlueSign® partners’ companies.

But there is much more than it meets the eye.

Behind the new collection is a great story of sustainability.

"Our international team strives to innovate with a human-based approach to research and develop solutions that meet high-performance standards as well as the transparency and traceability of both the ingredients and the supply chain", says Mr. Hashimoto, Senior Managing Director of Asahi Kasei Advance, the global materials innovator and manufacturer.

Indeed, the company has set the high bar all its suppliers and partners must match. Such criteria include: thoroughly transparency and traceability of both materials and production, corporate responsibility at all levels and a strategic commitment granted by influential certifications such as GRS - Global Recycle Standard for recycled ingredients and processes, as well as Bluesign® and OekoTex Standard 100 certifications, which focus on environmentally-friendly impact of the dyeing and finishing processes.

The human, environmentally-friendly and cutting-edge imprint of ECOSENSOR™ ultimate collection reflects a vision for a more responsible way of fabric manufacturing.

A new force of nature, because story telling truly must match the story making.

• There is an urban legend that hemp canvas was used to make the very first pair of Levi’s jeans.
• While this is a myth that originated in the counterculture of the 1960s, hemp is without doubt the fibre of the moment for the denim industry.

At the second Kingpins24 virtual denim show that was broadcast from New York on June 23rd and 24th, the sustainable benefits of hemp fibre were referenced by many Monforts customers who are now including it in their collections, including AGI Denim, Artistic Milliners, Black Peony, Calik, Cone Denim, Naveena Denim Mills (NDM) and Orta.

“Hemp is an easy to grow fibre which requires no irrigation, no fertilizers, no herbicides and no chemicals,” says Allan Little, Director of Product Development for Cone Denim, which has recently launched its Sweet Leaf collection featuring the fibre. “Significantly, it also uses fifty per cent or even less water than cotton in cultivation.”

It can also bring some new aesthetics to denim too, he adds.

“Hemp has a unique colour and adds a different cast to our indigo, the drape and texture of the fabrics is different and it even adds  a bit of a unique hand, so combined with its sustainable credentials we are proud to be bringing the Sweet Leaf collection to the market.”

US supply chain

Cone is currently sourcing its hemp from France, but with much of its manufacturing now in Mexico – and with the introduction of the US Farm Bill in 2018 which has legalised the growing of legal hemp – is exploring the possibility of investing in the US supply chain.

“With US hemp we’re really at the R&D phase,” Little emphasises. “It’s a unique crop, so coming up with the right stalk to provide the right fibre is challenging. We’ve experimented with different types of seed and various methods of decortication.”

Decortication, he explains, is the mechanical removal of the outside layer of the hemp stalk to useable fibre on the inside. A second process, cottonization, is necessary to make the fibre suitable for spinning, because compared to cotton, hemp is longer, stiffer, and less flexible.

100% success

At the end of 2019, Naveena (NDM), headquartered in Karachi, introduced fabrics featuring up to 51% hemp content in blends with Tencel and recycled polyester and this year has developed the first 100% hemp denims.

“The response to the fabrics we showed last year was incredible and we were looking forward to the response to this latest development – which everyone was asking for – at the Kingpins show in Amsterdam, which unfortunately was unable to go ahead,” says NDM’s Director of Marketing Rashid Iqbal. “We produced initial samples in an undyed state because we were not sure how the wet spun yarn would react in the dyeing, but I’m happy to say we have had success in this respect and are now able to provide one hundred per cent indigo dyed hemp denim.”

Environmental benefits

“Differentiation is the key in the highly-competitive denim industry and we have assisted our customers with trials and optimised processing parameters for a range of different fibres, including hemp, both at our Advanced Technology Centre in Germany and at their own mills around the world,” says Hans Wroblowski, Monforts Head of Denim. “Given the environmental benefits of hemp, and the liberalisation of its cultivation in many parts of the world, the interest in it now comes as no surprise. We have the technologies and know-how to help our customers to fully maximise their hemp denims at all post-weaving stages of production.”

Monforts has a dominant position in the field of denim finishing with its well proven Montex stenters. It has been enjoying further recent success with its Eco Line concept based on two key technology advances – the Eco Applicator and the Thermo Stretch.

The latest Monforts innovation for denim is the CYD yarn dyeing system. This technology is based on the effective and established dyeing process for denim fabrics that is now being applied for yarn dyeing.

The CYD system also integrates new functions and processes into the weaving preparation processes – spinning, direct beaming, warping and assembly beaming, followed by sizing and dyeing – to increase quality, flexibility, economic viability and productivity. A full CYD line is now available for trials at the company’s Advanced Technology Centre.

Protective masks for Europe
With FleeceforEurope and Lindenpartner, Düsseldorf-based Kloepfel Group purchasing consultancy and Berlin-based industrial consultancy Bechinger & Heymann Holding plan to manufacture and distribute up to 50 million protection class FFP1 through FFP3 respiratory masks a month exclusively for the European market from the beginning of fall. And the primary focus will be on quality.
With protective masks – including those used in operating rooms – this quality is provided above all by  virus-absorbing nonwovens. And these will be manufactured by ‘FleeceforEurope’ using an Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown system.
But masks effectively protecting against infections can only be guaranteed with the right quality. A crucial factor in this is the inside of the mask. Because the nonwoven used in protection class FFP1 through FFP3 respiratory masks plays a decisive role.
Here, the meltblown technology from Oerlikon Nonwoven will be deployed. In a special, patented process, the fibers laid into a nonwoven fabric during manufacture are subsequently electrostatically-charged, before the material is further processed downstream.

European market for protective masks with a promising future
Those responsible at Oerlikon Nonwoven and FleeceforEurope, which will primarily focus on producing high-end nonwovens, and Lindenpartner, which will manufacture and distribute the protective masks, are certain of one thing: the market for protective masks has a very promising long-term future in Europe.
What has been commonplace in Asia for many years now will also become normal in Europe. People will be increasingly wearing face masks when venturing out, in order to better protect themselves against health risks such as the current pandemic and also against increasing environmental pollution in the form of  fine particles and exhaust fumes in the future. A

Medical face masks from a vending machine
Mask producer Lindenpartner has already secured supplies of nonwovens and will be producing face masks for the European healthcare sector over the coming weeks. To fight the coronavirus pandemic, Lindenpartner is planning to install 100 self-service face mask vending machines in Germany over the next four weeks, positioning them in publicly-accessible places such as shopping centers and airports, for example.