From the Sector

• conceptual and commercial garments presented at exhibition in London

After two years of research Mistra Future Fashion is honoured to present, in collaboration with Centre for Circular Design at University of the Arts London and Filippa K, an exhibition pushing the limits of ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ fashion. Started in 2017, the industry-embedded project Circular Design Speeds takes a unique systemic approach, showcasing what could be accomplished using existing value chains as well as what the future of sustainable fashion holds. Ground-breaking textile research from University of the Arts London is questioning normative use and design of garments in creating prototypes to be worn across a spectrum of 24 hours to 50 years. By implementing research into existing value chains, Filippa K have produced a coat that is 100% recycled and recyclable, as well as a concept dress that is 100% bio-based and biodegradable. The research results and garments will be presented at the launch event at the University of the Arts London, on November 23rd and open to public on the 24th and 25th of November.

On Friday November 23rd the exhibition Disrupting Patterns: Designing for Circular Speeds opens up at University of the Arts London. The exhibition is the results of a two-year research project called Circular Design Speeds aiming at pushing the limits of ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ fashion by testing new concepts for sustainable design in an industry setting. On display are exploratory prototypes, as well as commercial garments produced by industry partner Filippa K using existing value chains. In addition, research results on innovative materials, consumer acceptance, composting studies and Life Cycle Assessments are presented. The aim of this project is to implement research results in a real fashion industry context, focusing on speed of use and maximising fabric value retention in products.

The Service Shirt developed by Professor Rebecca Earley is designed to last for over 50 years. The concept garment explores the multiple complexities, challenges and opportunities associated with design for circular business models in extended use contexts. The Service Shirt was designed as a ‘deliberate extreme’ to have a total lifecycle of 50 years. This lifecycle includes in-house and external remanufacturing processes, as well as various use cycles – often moving between single ownership and rental and sharing contexts. It becomes the lining for a jacket and then crafted in to fashion accessories, before finally being chemically regenerated in the year 2068.

On the opposite side of the spectrum the Fast-Forward concept, developed by Prof Kay Politowicz and Dr Kate Goldsworthy, explores alternative modes of production and use for a sustainable ‘fast-fashion’ application. Advantages with regards to climate impact are enabled through lighter material choices, nonwoven fabric production, no launder, clear routes to recovery and redistributed manufacturing systems. A sliding scale of ‘speed’ from ultra-fast forward through to a more widely accepted length of use, with adaptations to production processes and end of life, is presented. The prototypes are made from a new bio-based nonwoven material co-developed with Dr Hjalmar Granberg at RISE Research Institute of Sweden & University of the Arts London. The composition of the paper is a mix of cellulose pulp and bio-based PLA fibre, making the garment 100% biodegradable or recyclable in existing paper recycling systems.

Working closely with industry partner Filippa K made commercial testing possible. By implementing research into existing value chains, Filippa K was able to produce a coat that is 100% recycled and recyclable, as well as a concept dress that is 100% bio-based and biodegradable. The garments are a part of Filippa K’s Front Runner series and will be available in selected stores on November 26th. With a focus on products’ length of use and maximizing fabric value retention, Filippa K are dedicated to becoming fully circular by 2030.

“Being part of the fashion industry comes with many challenges, especially when considering the fact that we are the second most polluting industry after oil. Our industry needs to change and we believe adapting to circular models, like nature’s ecosystem, is one important solution. We want to be able to offer beautiful clothing and to make business within the planetary boundaries.”
- Elin Larsson, Sustainability Director, Filippa K

To validate the design research presented, a Life Cycle Assessment was performed on the prototypes. Mistra Future Fashion affiliated Dr. Greg Peters, Chalmers University of Technology, together with additional LCA Researchers at RISE, conclude that the production of fibres and fabrics are the main processes impacting the environment during the garment life cycles. Therefore, to extend the lifetime of existing garments and design for re-use, as done in the Service Shirt, is indeed the superior alternative compared to a reference garment.

“Compared with garments of the same mass, the extended life garments represent a large improvement in environmental performance over the reference garments, outperforming the reference garments in all effect categories. This superiority is primarily a consequence of avoiding garment production via reprinting and reassembly of the initial garment to extend its useful life.”
- Dr Greg Peters, LCA Researcher at Chalmers University of Technology

Another way to circumvent the impacts of fast fashion is to develop materials with considerably lower impacts during production, and which also avoid the barriers to recycling faced by conventional garments. Instead of hinder consumers from buying new, the act of acquiring a new garment could in fact be sustainable. The paper-based short life garments considered in this assessment show considerable impact savings when compare to the benchmark garment. Dr. Peters says,

“The paper-based garments benefit from the lower impacts of the material (fibre production, spinning and knitting) compared with conventional cotton, from their relatively light weight and also on account of the lower impacts in garment production and use.”

Cinte Techtextil China opens its doors next week, with around 480 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions preparing for another successful showcase of the world’s leading textile innovations. Leading international and domestic brands will feature in halls N1 – N3 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre from 4 – 6 September, making Cinte Techtextil the ideal place to make connections and gain insight into Chinese and Asian market trends.

The technical textile industry in the Asia region, and China in particular, has been growing steadily and is predicted to continue doing so. China’s total output of technical textiles and nonwoven products is estimated to account for 30% of global production by 2020, and double that of 2013. This high potential for growth, achieved through investments worth billions of dollars, has drawn attention from European exhibitors, who are set to travel to the region for Cinte Techtextil.

This year’s European Zone will feature around 30 exhibitors from countries including Austria, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, while further exhibitors can be found in national pavilions from Belgium, Germany and Italy. In addition to this, the Czech Republic will present its debut pavilion, showcasing exhibitors with solutions for technical yarn, fabric processing and nonwoven fabrics.

In addition to this, exhibitors from 12 more countries and regions will present their latest innovations to the market. These include domestic and international exhibitors from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the US.

Belt and Road: a success story for Buildtech
Following higher regulations and quality standards that aim to exceed Western levels, demand is high in China for production machinery. What’s more, with the national nonwovens market displaying particularly fast growth, Cinte Techtextil has attracted some of the world’s leading nonwoven and weaving machinery brands.

The fair will showcase leading global exhibitors across 12 application areas. Two areas to watch out for include Buildtech and Mobiltech, which are both performing well in Asia and specifically in China. The Belt and Road initiative brings Buildtech a great deal of benefits through China’s enormous investments in global infrastructure. Adding to this, China’s automobile production has been increasing 3% year-on-year, with particularly high growth seen in new-energy vehicles, SUVs and commercial vehicles. China has become the world’s largest auto producer, and this has been boosting progress in the Mobiltech category.

Cinte Techtextil fringe programme a hub of industry insight
A comprehensive fringe programme will keep Cinte Techtextil fairgoers up to date with industry news, with standout events including the 7th China International Nonwovens Conference. Focusing on the global nonwovens industry, topic highlights include the latest innovations in China’s nonwovens industry, an insight into the North American nonwovens market, future trends in the global hygiene product market, and more. The conference will also discuss innovations and developments in filter materials and the wipe industry.

The first day of the fringe programme will see a panel discussion in hall N1, moderated by the Taiwan Technical Textiles Association (TTTA), with confirmed panellists including DuPont, IBENA Textilwerke and SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services. The panel will focus on current trends, developments and standards in the protective textile industry.

Other fringe programme events will include seminars and product presentations led by industry leaders on the latest global technologies and market trends, and an Innovation Showcase Area in a variety of application categories. 

As the countdown to the 2018 edition of Cinte Techtextil China enters its last two months, the final exhibitor line-up is starting to take shape. A number of leading international and Chinese brands across the fair’s 12 product application areas will feature at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from 4 – 6 September, with an expected 500-plus total exhibitors from around 20 countries & regions set to feature.

Nonwovens exhibitor highlights

As the fair’s largest product category, buyers have a wide range of domestic and overseas brands to source from, including:

• Johns Manville (US): who will showcase their polyester spunbond, PP & PBT meltblown, glass fibre nonwoven, micro glass fibre nonwoven, hybrid nonwoven, glass fibre needle mat and glass microfibre product lines among others at the fair.
•  J.H. Ziegler (Germany): with over 150 years’ expertise and their own production plant in China, they offer products for acoustic absorption in automotive interiors and exteriors, nonwoven foam composites for leather lamination, needle-punched nonwovens, foam nonwoven composites, laminated nonwovens and natural-fibre nonwovens.
• KOBE-cz (Czech Republic): a new exhibitor to the fair, their nonwoven fabrics, mainly made from glass fibre with temperature resistance up to 800°C, are used for high-temperature isolation in the automotive, marine, energy and building industries. They also have isolation materials made from natural fibres including hemp, wool, cotton and flax.
• TDF Nonwovens (China): one of the leading domestic brands, their specialties are polyester spunbond geotextiles, polyester filament roofing carriers, filter nonwovens, high-strength coarse denier polypropylene spunbond geotextiles and medical & health nonwovens.
• Kingsafe (China): they specialise in the production of fusible interlining and nonwoven fabrics for high-end garments.

Yarn & fibre exhibitor highlights

• Perlon (Germany): has developed a PET based monofilament, HighGrip, which guarantees long-lasting efficiency of conveyor belts, and is available in various types with different tribological characteristics, which they will feature at the fair.
• Sateri (China): is a global leader in viscose rayon made from 100% dissolving wood pulp, and the largest maker of viscose fibre in China. Their natural and high-quality fibre, made from trees grown on renewable plantations, can be found in textiles and skin-friendly hygiene products.
• Cordenka (Germany): producers of industrial rayon, their product range covers rayon tire cord, yarn, single-end dipped cord, short-cut fibre and more.
• EMS-Griltech (Switzerland): will showcase a range of technical fibres & yarns and thermoplastic adhesives at the fair.
• Barnet (Germany): several finished products (nonwovens, spun yarns and fabrics) made with their specialty fibre will be on display at the fair, including OPAN, para-aramid and carbon filament fibres. The application of their specialty fibre in flame retardant and anti-cut gloves and felts will be shown at their booth for the first time.

Coated textiles & solutions exhibitor highlights

• Stahl (the Netherlands): the Dutch company will present new products from their water repellent and flame retardant ranges at this year’s fair. According to the company, as the Chinese government continues its efforts to clean up the environment, eco-friendly chemicals remain in strong demand in the country.
• Sioen (Belgium): will showcase sign materials, truck tarpaulins, tents, membrane fabrics, apparel products, chemicals and specialty products such as inflatable boat fabrics, pool liners and more at Cinte 2018.
• ROWA Lack (Germany): a new exhibitor at this year’s fair, they will present their special lacquer systems and top coatings.
• Trelleborg (Sweden): also a new exhibitor, they will display engineered textiles, especially in the fields of outdoor, medical, protective and automotive.
• FPC Technical Textile (Saudi Arabia): another first-time participant at the fair, they will showcase a range of high-end specialty fabrics including PVC coated fabrics and fibre glass PTFE fabrics.
• Zhejiang Jinda New Materials (China): this supplier is known for its coated textiles for industrial, transportation and building uses, as well as warp knitted geo-synthetic materials and printable coated materials for advertisements.

Lenzing to showcase its new VEOCEL nonwovens specialty brand at the fair

First announced in June this year, and featuring at Cinte Techtextil, Lenzing’s new VEOCEL brand is billed as a premium range of nonwovens fibres for daily care, which “provides the nonwovens industry with fibres that are certified clean and safe, biodegradable, from botanic origin and produced in an environmentally responsible production process.” Products in this range can be applied to a multitude of uses including baby care, beauty and body care, intimate care and surface cleaning, under the VEOCEL Beauty, VEOCEL Body, VEOCEL Intimate and VEOCEL Surface brands.

• CHIC Shanghai, March 14-16, 2018
• CHIC March 2018 closes successfully with rise in attendance
• CHIC´s new design: Discovering the young consumer world
• Successful business in all fair segments
• Service point CHIC as international platform for the international fashion trade
• New autumn date for CHIC: September 27-29, 2018

The spring edition of CHIC, taking place from March 14-16, 2018, finished successfully with yet another increase in visitor figures. 1,210 exhibitors from 21 countries and regions presented themselves on 117,200 m² at the National Exhibition & Convention Center in Shanghai. 112,666 visitors of all business channels were registered at the fair, among them leading department stores, shopping malls, multibrand stores, agents, distributors.

Chen Dapeng, President of CHIC and Executive Vice President of China National Garment Association: "The consumers in China develop rapidly, `consumer upgrade´ is the keyword, the Chinese market is consumer oriented, in demand is an individual young style. The offer has to adapt to the needs of this target group, the industry has to become even more innovative and face the technological challenges."

CHIC Shanghai shows that the Chinese market follows the current trends which is also mirrored by its fresh young design and a full visual concept that was developed in cooperation with WGSN. Addressees are the young trendsetting consumers, China´s driving force for the strong growth in retail sales, which increased by 10.2% in 2017 to about 5.7 trillion US$. According to a study by BCG this target group accounts for 65% of consumption increase in China with a predicted growth rate of 11% per year until 2021. The total domestic consumption contributed nearly 60% to the economic expansion of the country in the last year.

Intensive contacts and ordering in all areas of CHIC

The exhibitors of the designer area IMPULSES, one of the core segments at CHIC and occupying the entire North Hall, among them Hua Mu Shen, Shan Zi, Mood for Mode, were very satisfied. In addition to numerous concrete cooperation agreements high value orders were placed as well.

The international exhibitors in the FASHION JOURNEY area came from Brazil, Denmark, Germany, France, China Hong Kong, India, Italy - with 40 exhibitors again the biggest European participation - , Japan, Korea, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Spain, China Taiwan, UK. They expressed their satisfaction with their participations and recognize the potential of the Chinese market. The trade fair objective are contacts, numerous promising cooperation talks took place that need intensive follow-up after the fair. Nevertheless there were also orders placed at the fair. The Polish Investment and Trade Agency participated for the first time in CHIC with its national export program “go-to-brand”. Polish jewellery and kidswear designer brands participated in the program and exhibited at CHIC.

Showing at the leather and fur area HERITAGE the International Fur Federation (IFF) presented itself for the first time with international producers such as the auction houses NAFA and SAGA. Turkey was again represented under the roof of IDMIB / ITKIB by ten companies. For the national participants, grouped in pavilions of the respective Chinese provinces, CHIC is an essential business platform, here they regularly meet their buyers and this time once again registered orders of high sums.

Young brands in the CHIC YOUNG BLOOD area like Monkey King (after the monkey king in the classic Chinese novel The Journey to the West) with manga style shirts or JPE, a trendy street style brand with a traditional Chinese dragon being its mascot, made more than 300 contacts with concrete cooperation intentions at CHIC.

Companies in the segment URBAN VIEW, the menswear area, e.g. RUYI group with more than 30 international fashion brands such as Aquascutum or Sandro; GSON, a menswear line of SEMIR group or ManCode, a new exhibitor at CHIC, reported hundreds of cooperation inquiries and direct deals at the fair.

A sensation in the accessories segment SECRET STARS was created amongst others by the German brand LEONARDO. Large groups of visitors interested in the jewellery collection gathered at the booth. The fair participation beat the company´s expectations by far.

The young generation is the engine for fashion consumption in China, a fact also recognized by the management of the SEMIR group that presented product novelties and its service offer with its kidswear brand BALABALA in the KID´S PARADISE at CHIC. New technologies were shown on more than 500 m² by the HODO group and its "unstaffed shops", "smart fitting rooms", "magic dressing mirrors". Further innovations were "cloud shelves" and "big screen data".

Service platform CHIC

The intensively expanded visitor management, online and offline, was a central aspect of the fair. Online via WeChat and the official CHIC APP more than 200,000 visitor request for specific product groups were made, exhibitors uploaded more than 700,000 pieces of product information. Active exchange was initiated by the Buyer´s Talk on the second fair day, dealing with the development of the buying systems of department stores and shopping malls, trend information was given at CHIC Buyer´s Theme Salon also taking place on day 2. The VIP Buyer´s Meeting brought international brands and interested agents and distributors together - a service that the organizer will expand in the future. “We visit CHIC Shanghai every time, for us it´s a very important platform for trend information and also to find European brands that we can introduce to the Chinese market”, says Wen Liu, CEO Jesery from Wuhan, representative of Canadian designer brand JAC. The management of Mallstyle Investment (Shanghai), with e.g. Italian luxury brands in its portfolio, directly got in touch with German and Italian brands at CHIC after the meeting.

The event schedule of CHIC offers a broad seminar and workshop programme with its CHIC TALK, from trend information to retail solutions to buyer meetings, the show programme CHIC SHOWS staged fashion presentations, of which especially the IMPULSES and OVERSEAS´ JOINT FASHION SHOWS attracted the visitors´ attention. CHIC Shanghai is designed as a global platform for the fashion industry and fashion trade and integrates all resources that are relevant to a successful development of the fashion business in China.

CHIC Shanghai changes autumn date to September

CHIC Shanghai changes together with Intertextile Shanghai, PH Value and Yarn Expo the date for its autumn edition to September. The next fair will be held from September 27-29, 2018 at the National Exhibition & Convention Center in Shanghai.

In partnership with IPSOS, GINETEX presents the outcomes of its European barometer: "Europeans and textile care labeling" 70% of Europeans follow the textile care instructions featured on the labels and 80% admit that they would not (or would rarely) buy clothes without any labels, While another 84% feel concerned by water and energy savings . GINETEX, the international Association for Textile Care Labeling, called upon the French market research company IPSOS, to evaluate the behavior of European Consumers with regards to textile product labels and care symbols. This study, carried out in December 2016, combines the results of six different countries, gathered from a sample of 6,000 people in Germany, England, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
This IPSOS study reveals that 70% of Europeans follow the textile care instructions represented by the symbols. At a pan-European level, 57% even admit that they follow them 'often' and 13% do so 'always'. These figures illustrate the importance of care instructions in the minds of European consumers.
- 38% state that they follow these instructions in order to avoid washing problems such as shrinking, in the first place
- 31% follow them in order to preserve their clothes and keep them longer, as a second reason Overall, Europeans consider labels as too cumbersome and 62% admit cutting them out: for 74% of them, the labels itch and irritate their skin and for another 55%, they are often too long and uncomfortable. These results can differ from one European country to another.
However, the presence of the label is a real purchasing criterion since 80% of Europeans state that they would never or rarely buy a piece of clothing without a label.