From the Sector

eBay announced its inaugural Pre-Loved Fashion Week, in partnership with Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and British Fashion Council (BFC).

“Endless Runway” will feature pre-loved looks from CFDA members Ralph Lauren, Brandon Maxwell, Catherine Holstein of Khaite, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta of Eckhaus Latta, and the late Virgil Abloh of Off-White. The show on Sept. 5, a day before the Official New York Fashion Week Schedule kicks off, is followed by daily drops on eBay curating the best pre-loved fashion from top designers. The London edition will take place on Sept. 12.

Curated by fashion creative Wisdom Kaye and hosted by fashion writer Liana Satenstein in New York, the Endless Runway shows are accessible to U.S. and U.K.-based shoppers via eBay Live. The Endless Runway shows will make eBay’s wide selection of pre-owned designer clothing and accessories immediately shoppable, while tapping into the global demand for circular fashion.

Endless Runway will be the first entirely ‘pre-loved’ runway show at NYFW. eBay will continue to showcase its selection by releasing ‘Daily Edits’ every day of NYFW that feature pre-owned pieces from designers showing their new collections in New York.

For the second year running, Global Standard is taking consumers #BehindTheSeams this September, highlighting the sustainable and social qualities of GOTS-certified products – from runway fashion to hygiene products and so much more in between. Building on the success of last year, #BehindTheSeams 2024 has expanded to take over the entire month, Sept. 2-30, with more education on the people and practices making sustainable textiles, plus giveaways planned each day.

Throughout September, Global Standard introduces daily giveaways on Instagram, featuring partnerships with GOTS-certified brands such as Frugi, FC St. Pauli, LangerChen, Natracare, Mandala, Dedicated, and more. Additionally, a giveaway will be hosted on behindtheseams.eco, where visitors can learn about sustainability by answering daily questions while earning entries. The grand prize is a sustainable trip to Paris. This includes train travel, a two-night stay at the eco-friendly Eden Lodge Paris and a private fitting for a custom GOTS-certified jacket by John Preston, the only brand offering made-to-measure GOTS-certified fashion.

#BehindTheSeams is also spotlighting "organic in-conversion" farming and urging brands to support farmers during the critical transition period from conventional to organic. In this campaign, GOTS has partnered with the Organic Cotton Accelerator, an organisation dedicated to supporting farmers throughout the cotton supply chain as they make the shift to and sustain organic practices. Together, GOTS and OCA want to send a message that brands can bolster the organic cotton supply by investing in and buying organic in-conversion cotton.

AZL Aachen GmbH announces the launch of a new Joint Partner Project focusing on the further growth potential and technology developments for composite propellers in the field of air mobility and for composite rotors for small to medium-sized wind energy systems.

The nine-month consortial industry project will investigate current and future composite applications for propellers and rotors and their requirements, provide technological insights and develop new product concepts and evaluate them in terms of economic efficiency.

The project aims to address the growing demand for efficient, powerful and compact composite propellers and rotors for the growing markets of air mobility and decentralised power generation. Although the application, manufacturing and material technologies for propellers and rotors made of composite materials have proven to be technically mature, they have so far mainly been used in the high-performance sector for large propeller aircrafts and large wind turbines. Due to the increasing interest in efficient electric propulsion system in the field of air mobility, e.g. air taxis or parcel delivery drones, as well as for decentralised energy generation with the help of small/medium-sized wind energy systems, a rising demand for these components and their production volumes are expected.

AZL will bring together experts along the entire value chain in the project to analyse current and future product concepts. During the project, the participating companies will gain a comprehensive understanding of composite propeller and rotor technology. The project team will carry out a detailed screening of current and future technologies, investigate different materials and processes for the production of propellers and rotors and elaborate design options as well as analyse and evaluate them in terms of technological and cost-effective criteria.

Interested companies can join the project consortium until the Kick-Off on September 18th, 2024.

adidas Sportswear launches its latest sport meets style drop, the ADIDAS Z.N.E. collection, in a campaign which brings together next-gen faces, including Tate McRae, Jude Bellingham and Noah Lyles, to showcase how all can stay connected through a shared love of football, athletics, dance, music and more, across the globe. The all-new set of hoodies, sweatshirts, pants, tees and shorts take on color blocking details, whilst the black parallel stripes symbolize the lines that connect communities and fandoms to inspire all to unite through sport and culture.

Fronting the new capsule of fresh looks is a collective of adidas’ next-gen trailblazers: Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae, actress and martial artist Xochitl Gomez, leading KPOP group BABYMONSTER, US track star Noah Lyles, Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming and football icons Jude Bellingham, Alessia Russo and Paulo Dybala. With each representing a community from the world of sport or culture, the ADIDAS Z.N.E. collection was inspired by the lines in their field of play – from the track, to the stage and pitch.

Ontex Group NV, an international developer and producer of personal care products, announces the commercial launch of its newest baby pants, featuring its Dreamshield® 360º innovation. The Dreamshield® 360° technology - designed with a pee & poo back barrier and a 360 fit for all-around protection and comfort – is available in-stores in Germany. The launch will soon expand to other markets as production ramps up across Ontex plants.

Dreamshield® 360º pants have demonstrated great performance in multiple consumer panels versus competitor products. Consumers have expressed their preference for Dreamshield® 360º, particularly related to absorption capacity, absence of leaks, dryness and fit. In a recent French study, 65% of consumers considered absorption capacity in baby products to be extremely important, while 55% emphasized the need to keep skin dry, and 62% rated comfort as a crucial factor.

The new range of baby pants features triple leakage barriers and continues to use Ontex’s patented SeconDRY® technology, ensuring anti-leak fit and dryness.

Ontex saw strong growth in its baby pants sales last year and this trend continues in 2024. The rollout of the baby pant technology has started in Europe with room for expansion to other regions. The production follows the demand of retailers across Europe, who saw the results of Dreamshield® 360º in the German consumer panel¹ and see how their consumers shift to baby pants over traditional diapers, both in Europe and North America.

¹ Lab and panel test by independent Hytec lab in Germany, Q4 2023

RE&UP Recycling Technologies, an innovator in scalable recycling solutions for Next-Gen fibers, announces its recognition as one of the winners of the ITMF Start-up Award 2024. This accolade highlights RE&UP's commitment to advancing more sustainable practices in the textile industry through recycling technologies.

The ITMF Start-up Award, presented annually by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), aims to honor start-ups that showcase innovative and transformative ideas poised to make a impact on the textile sector. This year’s award ceremony will be held during the ITMF & IAF Conference 2024 from September 8-10 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, co-hosted by the Uzbek Textile & Apparel Industry Association (UZTS).

As one of the four winners of the ITMF Start-up Award 2024, along with Sci-Lume Labs, Sycoretec CAS, Syre Impact, RE&UP will have the opportunity to present its business model and technological advancements at the upcoming conference, where leaders from across the global textile value chain will gather. This platform will enable RE&UP to connect with established companies and explore collaborative opportunities to further integrate sustainable practices in textile manufacturing.

DyStar has published its Integrated Sustainability Report for FY2023/24. For the past 14 years, DyStar has formally reported on its sustainability performance in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. This report also adopts the Integrated Reporting <IR> framework, which outlines the company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices through the lens of six major capitals.

DyStar has demonstrated the effectiveness of its strategy in the latest report. For instance, their efforts in implementing energy-efficient initiatives across its operations have started to yield credible results. DyStar’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions totaled 42,084 tCO2e, representing a 67% decrease from 2011’s baseline year and a 26% decrease compared to FY2022. Scope 3 accounted for 8.2% of DyStar’s total emissions profile, with over 80% primarily stemming from the transportation of goods and services.

In terms of energy management, the Group has increased its use of renewable energy by 20%. Additionally, several energy conservation initiatives have been implemented as part of a concerted effort to reduce energy consumption globally.

Operationally, there have been several improvements to procedures aimed at boosting water efficiency and achieving cost savings at all manufacturing sites.

Wastewater discharge was reduced by 37%, improving the intensity level to 8.04 m³ per ton of production compared to 8.71 m³ per ton the previous year. This improvement is also partially due to some of their sites operating under a “Zero Liquid Discharge Scheme” mandated by local authorities.

Key highlights of FY2023 include:

• Participated at ITMA Milan, where DyStar introduced a new range of bio-based DyStar products, dyes and auxiliaries containing renewable feedstock, as well as the Eco-Advanced Indigo Dyeing process.
• Recognition by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), achieving second place on IPE’s Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI).
• Celebrating diversity and inclusivity through global campaigns.

Trützschler and the Indian company Gimatex have a long relationship that began in 2006. Gimatex has used Trützschler’s IDF in direct spinning and are now using it to turn textile waste into ring yarn.

Gimatex Industries Pvt. Ltd. operates fully integrated facilities with ginning, spinning, recycling, weaving and processing units in Hinganghat, within India’s cotton-growing region of Vidarbha. It also runs a fabric processing unit in Dholka, near Ahmedabad. Together, Trützschler and Gimatex are working in close collaboration with the shared aim of extending that long history far into the future.

Trützschler’s Integrated Draw Frame (IDF) technology is at the heart of this collaboration. Gimatex is using these solutions to produce high-quality yarn. In particular, IDF enables Gimatex to produce yarns from a wide variety of raw materials – from 100 percent cotton through to polyester, recycled fibers and blends of various different inputs.

Gimatex mainly uses Trützschler IDF to manufacture rotor yarns in a direct spinning process. Direct spinning means shortening the spinning process by eliminating draw frame passages. Fiber slivers are fed directly from the card into the integrated drafting passage. This direct spinning concept uses less electricity and less space than conventional draw frame passages, which helps Gimatex to cut costs while increasing output volumes – with no compromise in quality. Most often, IDF technology is used for rotor and vortex spinning. However, the team at Gimatex is now also one of the first spinning mills in India to develop a special IDF process for producing traditional and recycled ring yarn. This allows the company to leverage the same setup it uses for open-end yarn. The ring yarn produced in this unusual way is mostly coarser varieties and recycling blends for cotton / spandex (lycra) products, with Ne 10s and Ne 16s. The yarn goes through a blow room into a TC 15 card with IDF, before entering a Trützschler TD 10 draw frame, a speed frame and a ring frame.

The Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division of the Swiss Oerlikon Group is expanding its customer services and spare parts business in the area of machines and systems for the production of carpet yarns (BCF) and industrial yarns (IDY). To this end, the company concluded an agreement with the Truetzschler Group, based in Moenchengladbach, Germany, in August. Technology experts and service staff from Oerlikon Neumag are now the new contacts for customer services and the spare parts business for Truetzschler's BCF and IDY technologies installed in the market. The Moenchengladbach-based textile machinery manufacturer is withdrawing from this business segment in order to concentrate on the spinning, card clothing and nonwovens businesses in future.

Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions offers complete solutions for the manmade fiber industry. They range from extrusion and polycondensation plants to texturized yarn, and are accompanied by automation and digital solutions. The supply of all process steps from a single source ensures a harmonized technology that guarantees high quality of the yarns produced.

Based in Neumuenster, Germany, Oerlikon Neumag, a branch of Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG and a brand of the Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division, has been an established and broadly positioned international supplier with proven expertise in the field of BCF for decades. The division's sister company Oerlikon Barmag from Remscheid, Germany, contributes its expertise in the field of IDY systems.

adidas Originals and Edison Chen present the next chapter of their collaboration with the debut of an updated CLOT Gazelle in linen khaki and blue. The ongoing collaboration debuts its first global apparel range with the CLOT August Collection by Edison Chen.

As Edison Chen continues to build bridges between East and West, Chen brings together renowned Spanish football players, Vicky Lopez and Mapi Leon, and Tino El Pingüino, an influential rapper in the Latin music scene, to celebrate this new collection through a campaign that opens the door to their own imaginations. Coming together as one, each collaborator invites to experience a taste of their daily reality and the adventurous paths they tread along the way, igniting creativity and inviting consumers to step into new realms through the creative lens of Edison. With this campaign, Edison Chen was inspired to bring together fashion and cultural impact through the sport of football and music, all inspired by Chen’s extensive travels throughout Europe. The campaign embarks on a journey to create something new out of a classic with an untraditional execution for sportswear.

The CLOT Gazelle by Edison Chen arrives with premium nubuck details on a jute upper and an espadrille sole now adorned with blue stripes. The espadrille gives the shoe a luxurious touch while the khaki coloring achieves a playful, relaxing tone. Derived from the study of traditional Espadrille-making and inspired by classic Espadrille artisans, the stitching was applied to the final construction of the CLOT Gazelle, with special attention given to how the upper is assembled to the bottom. The cotton tape is all custom engineered for the shoe and beaded using an intricate process inspired by Eastern influence. Finally, the midsole is custom engineered for maximum support, highlighting the new construction process.