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First polo shirt made from triple-recycled cellulose fiber Photo Thüringisches Institut für Textil- und Kunststoff-Forschung e.V.
17.06.2025

Expo 2025 in Osaka: First polo shirt made from triple-recycled cellulose fiber

At the world exhibition in Japan, the Thuringian research institute TITK Rudolstadt presented a polo shirt made from triple-recycled cellulose fiber. The fiber used is also TITK's innovation Lyohemp® – the first Lyocell fiber made from hemp pulp.

At the world exhibition in Japan, the Thuringian research institute TITK Rudolstadt presented a polo shirt made from triple-recycled cellulose fiber. The fiber used is also TITK's innovation Lyohemp® – the first Lyocell fiber made from hemp pulp.

TITK's managing director, Benjamin Redlingshöfer, wore the polo shirt at the Expo in Osaka on June 17. During the Thuringia Country Days, he was interviewed on stage by presenter Marco Schreyl. Redlingshöfer proudly showed off his polo shirt with the “300% Recycling” print. This means that the shirt is made from a fiber that has undergone three consecutive recycling processes for the first time. And it did so so well that it could be easily processed into a fashionable polo shirt with excellent wearing comfort. “With our 300% recycled fiber, we are demonstrating that closed textile recycling loops are feasible thanks to our technology,” says Redlingshöfer. “This innovation proves that we can take recycling in the textile industry to a whole new level.” 

When textiles are recycled at all, it often involves what is known as downcycling. This means that the originally high-quality textile fibers are used to manufacture lower-quality textile products as part of material recycling. The fiber-to-fiber recycling pursued at TITK, however, aims to produce a recycled fiber from a high-quality textile fiber with the same high level of quality and the same good usage properties. But even in these recycling loops, only 20 to 40 percent of recycled materials are often mixed with a larger proportion of virgin grade material. 

“TITK has now impressively demonstrated that not only is 100 percent recycling of cellulose fibers possible, but that this process can even be used three times in a row without compromising the desired characteristics of the fiber, such as a pleasant, soft feel, a slight sheen, and very good, uniform dyeability,” says Redlingshöfer. 

Recycling process also applicable to cotton
The result is a fully-fledged, sustainable product that now sets the standard for future recycling processes in the clothing industry. This will enable the consumption of new virgin-grade fibers to be drastically reduced in the future. This outstanding innovation was achieved thanks to a further adaptation of the very robust Lyocell process established at the institute – specifically in terms of pulp extraction and pretreatment, says Redlingshöfer. “In principle, this recycling loop can also be applied to cotton fibers as the raw material.” TITK invites industry partners to work together on the further development and implementation of these technologies. 

Under the banner of the Demonstration and Innovation Center for Textile Circular Economy (DICE), which was founded at the Rudolstadt institute and is currently under construction, developments in the holistic recycling of textiles are already being driven forward. TITK researchers are now transferring findings from the Lyohemp® recycling project to so-called polycotton textiles, whereby the two material streams of synthetic and cellulosic fibers are additionally separated in order to then recombine them into a material quality suitable for fiber spinning (fiber-to-fiber recycling).

“However,” adds the institute director, “we cannot rely solely on technological solutions to absolve us of our responsibility to use our resources responsibly.” For good reason, the RRR rule often cited in the circular economy has two additional Rs before recycling: reduce and reuse – in other words, consume less and reuse more. Redlingshöfer: “Only in combination with a more conscious use of our raw materials will we be able to make a significant contribution to practical sustainability.” 

Source:

Thüringisches Institut für Textil- und Kunststoff-Forschung e.V.

THEME 2: SPIRITUS. THEME 2: SPIRITUS. Julian Miholics. Pigeon Griffin, 2024. Cone 5.5 stoneware, underglaze, glaze. julianmiholics.com – @julianmiholics
10.06.2025

Trends: A/W 2026-2027 inspirations from Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris

Nova Fabula, the Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris Trend Book unveiled at Le Bourget from 15 to 17 September 2025, is a sensory and forward-looking narrative designed to inspire Autumn-Winter 2026-2027 collections.

Fashion's future is written in the present. As the industry strives to reconcile imagination, sustainability, and emotion, Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris introduces its latest trend book – a deep dive into tomorrow’s emerging style stories. Curated by art directors Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud against a backdrop of mixed realities – technological advances, climate disruption, and a desire for re-enchantment – Nova Fabula offers an insightful reading of subtle signals identified by a collective of stylists, designers, writers, visual artists, and color experts.

Nova Fabula, the Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris Trend Book unveiled at Le Bourget from 15 to 17 September 2025, is a sensory and forward-looking narrative designed to inspire Autumn-Winter 2026-2027 collections.

Fashion's future is written in the present. As the industry strives to reconcile imagination, sustainability, and emotion, Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris introduces its latest trend book – a deep dive into tomorrow’s emerging style stories. Curated by art directors Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud against a backdrop of mixed realities – technological advances, climate disruption, and a desire for re-enchantment – Nova Fabula offers an insightful reading of subtle signals identified by a collective of stylists, designers, writers, visual artists, and color experts.

Conceived as a tool for trend forecasting and creative stimulation, this edition lays the foundation for a new kind of brand storytelling, aligned with the key values shaping 2025: circularity, emotional resonance, slower production rhythms, hybridization of genres and disciplines, and the power of narrative, both personal and collective. As the opening line of Nova Fabula states: “Everything begins with a story. It is through storytelling that we move forward.”

The four creative universes of Nova Fabula
Imagined as an atlas of “possible futures,” Nova Fabula is built around four main themes, each driven by a narrative and sensory tension. For each theme, three “star colors” anchor the season's color story, complemented by six intermediate shades that shape the season’s core palettes. Carefully selected fabrics and bold chromatic choices bring each universe to life, offering designers a space to create collections infused with emotion, memory, and utopia.

#1 Natura
This first universe celebrates a return to the living as a creative matrix. Textures feel organic, tones are mineral, and silhouettes offer protection. Nature is not just a backdrop—it becomes the primary language of inspiration. Materials are raw but patterns remain fluid. Here, fashion becomes a biotope: a space for care, resilience, and regeneration.

#2 Spiritus
This theme opens up a contemporary spiritual quest. Expect diaphanous fabrics, dawn-like tones, and subtle ritual symbols. In this universe, fashion evokes the sacred, turning garments into symbolic objects. “Inner awakening” becomes a counterpoint to hyper-connectivity, expressed through an ethereal and mystical aesthetic, with airy, translucent textiles rich in symbolic meaning.

#3 Philosophia
This axis encourages critical thinking and awakened consciousness. A call to rethink, question, and resist. Aesthetic choices become intellectual exercises: fragmented shapes, sculptural greys, and visual tension. Textures invite reflection, with asymmetries and a sense of gravity in the tones. Fashion becomes a medium of thought—where visual arts meet political discourse.

#4 Scientia
The final world explores the union between knowledge – enlightened, not dominant – and innovation. Think synthetic colors, technological effects, modular design, geometric patterns, and advanced finishes. This universe questions our ability to create science without domination. A tribute to soft, responsible technology, inspired by the living world.

Source:

Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, Messe Frankfurt 

Photo Barbara, Pixabay, AI-generated
03.06.2025

Old socks to become biochar in the steel industry

Rags and unmanageable textile waste can help with the transition to a fossil-free steel industry. This is the aim of a new innovation project from Science Park Borås at the University of Borås, where worn-out textiles will be turned into biochar.

The majority of our textile waste has historically been incinerated instead of being reused or recycled. In the textile flows, there is always low-value, tattered material that Swedish municipalities now receive many questions about: What should we do with our old socks?

Today, this type of material comes in as a fraction that overburdens the sorting systems without generating any benefit. By sorting out the worst material, converting it into biochar, and using it in industrial processes, the project hopes to create new types of raw material for the steel industry.

Rags and unmanageable textile waste can help with the transition to a fossil-free steel industry. This is the aim of a new innovation project from Science Park Borås at the University of Borås, where worn-out textiles will be turned into biochar.

The majority of our textile waste has historically been incinerated instead of being reused or recycled. In the textile flows, there is always low-value, tattered material that Swedish municipalities now receive many questions about: What should we do with our old socks?

Today, this type of material comes in as a fraction that overburdens the sorting systems without generating any benefit. By sorting out the worst material, converting it into biochar, and using it in industrial processes, the project hopes to create new types of raw material for the steel industry.

"The project aims to make use of 'the worst material' and combines technical innovation with policy development to circulate material between industries," said Birgitta Losman, project manager at the University of Borås.

Connecting industries
The project was initiated by actors from the Swedish textile and steel industry jointly, and involves parties throughout the whole value chain:

  • The municipal company Borås Energi & Miljö will sort out about 100 kg of rags from its pilot plant for textile sorting in Borås.
  • The material is then sent to the Research Institute of Sweden’s (RISE) test and demo environment in Piteå, where the textile waste is converted into biochar through so-called slow pyrolysis (in pyrolysis, the organic material is broken down in an inert atmosphere at temperatures around 500–800 °C.)
  • The product – biochar – is delivered to the metal powder manufacturer Höganäs AB, where it is evaluated as a possible reducing agent to produce sponge iron. Biochar is an important part of the company's work to phase out fossil raw materials.
  • Fashion company Kappahl is the initiator of the project and contributes material knowledge as the initial producer in the value chain.

"For us as a brand, this is an important innovation project to ensure that the upcoming extended producer responsibility (EPR) for textiles creates environmental benefits," said Sandra Roos, Vice President of Sustainability at Kappahl Group.

Biochar replaces fossil materials
According to the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), about 3 million tonnes of fossil coal are used in Sweden every year, of which about 70 percent goes to iron and steel production. Finding new raw materials based on waste streams for sustainable production of biochar is an opportunity to both create great climate benefits and improve resource utilisation in society while also increasing the availability of biochar at an attractive price, according to Pontus Hydén, Technical Expert at Höganäs AB.

"This project is exciting as it creates collaboration between two industries that normally do not have much exchange of material streams," said Pontus Hydén.

At RISE in Piteå, there are flexible test beds for the pyrolysis process that will transform the waste textile into biochar.

"In the project, we contribute to the circular transition by converting textile waste into usable products," said Ann-Christine Johansson, researcher at RISE.

Will help municipalities – and residents
Science Park Borås will coordinate the project and contribute with policy development at local and national level for material circulation. The project is also linked to the University of Borås's national work with the government assignment Textile & Fashion 2030 and the innovation project System Demonstrator for a Sustainable Textile System.

"We hope that the project will give us experience and knowledge in both technical innovation and policy issues, which in the long run will support the municipalities in their task of collecting and circulating textile waste," said Birgitta Losman.

At Borås Energi & Miljö, which recently started up its pilot plant for textile sorting in Borås, they hope above all to be able to give residents an answer to their eternal question.

"Everyone is wondering what to do with their old socks – soon we may be able to tell them to sort them correctly so that they can become steel," said Felicia Fernstedt at Borås Energi & Miljö.

About the project
The project "Old socks become biochar in the steel industry" at Science Park Borås at the University of Borås intends to carry out real-world tests to highlight how Sweden’s recently implemented regulation on municipal responsibility for textile waste collection can be used in combination with groundbreaking technology. This technology means that waste textiles are converted into biochar through pyrolysis for the steel industry's needs. This provides context for the broader regulatory environment, which is currently undergoing rapid change.

The project runs from April 2025 to April 2026 and is funded by Vinnova.

Source:

University of Borås

The glass fibres are woven through the fabric at regular intervals (left). A transmitter (T) passes acoustic waves through the glass fibres, while the receiver (R) measures the waves at the other end. Integration of SonoTextiles for creating smart T-shirts (right).   Illustration: Yingqiang Wang / ETH Zürich
27.05.2025

Using sound waves to create a smart T-shirt

New smart textiles developed by researchers at ETH Zurich use acoustic waves and glass fibres to help make precise measurements. They are light, breathable and inexpensive, and offer great potential for medicine, sports and everyday life.

New smart textiles developed by researchers at ETH Zurich use acoustic waves and glass fibres to help make precise measurements. They are light, breathable and inexpensive, and offer great potential for medicine, sports and everyday life.

  • Researchers at ETH Zurich develop smart textiles that use acoustic waves instead of electronics to measure touch, pressure and movement precisely.
  • SonoTextiles work with glass microfibres that conduct sound waves; data processing is efficient thanks to use of different frequencies.
  • Potential applications range from monitoring breathing in asthma patients, to improving movement sequences in sports and translating sign language.

Imagine wearing a T-shirt that measures your breathing or gloves that translate your hand movements into commands for your computer. Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Daniel Ahmed, Professor of Acoustic Robotics for Life Sciences and Healthcare, have laid the foundations for just such smart textiles. Unlike many previous developments in this area, which usually use electronics, the ETH researchers rely on acoustic waves passed through glass fibres. This makes the measurements more precise and the textiles lighter, more breathable and easier to wash. “They are also inexpensive because we use readily available materials, and the power consumption is very low,” says Ahmed.

Acoustic sensors embedded in fabric
The researchers call their development SonoTextiles. They have transformed normal fabrics into smart sensors that react to touch, pressure and movement. “While research has already been conducted into smart textiles based on acoustics, we are the first to explore the use of glass fibre in combination with signals that use different frequencies,” explains Yingqiang Wang, the first author of the study that has been published in the journal external page Nature Electronics.

The researchers have woven glass fibres into the fabric at regular intervals. At one end of each glass fibre is a small transmitter that emits sound waves. The other end of each of the glass fibres is connected to a receiver that measures whether the waves have changed.

Each transmitter works at a different frequency. This means it requires little computing power to determine which fibre the sound waves have changed on. Previous smart textiles often struggled with data overload and signal processing issues, since each sensor location had to be evaluated individually. “In the future, the data could be sent directly to a computer or smartphone in real time,” says Ahmed.

When a glass fibre moves, the length of the acoustic waves passing through it changes, as they lose energy. In the case of a T-shirt, this can be caused by body movement or even breathing. “We used frequencies in the ultrasonic range, around 100 kilohertz – well beyond the range of human hearing, which is between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz,” Wang emphasises.

Highly versatile
The researchers have shown that their concept works in the lab. In the future, SonoTextiles could be used in a variety of ways: as a shirt or T-shirt, they could monitor the breathing of asthma patients and trigger an alarm in an emergency.

In sports training and performance monitoring, athletes could receive real-time analysis of their movements, to optimise their performance and prevent injuries. The textiles also have potential for sign language: gloves with this technology could simultaneously translate hand movements into text or speech. They could also be used in virtual or augmented reality environments.

“SonoTextiles could even measure a person’s posture and improve their quality of life as an assistive technology,” adds Chaochao Sun, who shares first authorship of the study. People who want to improve their posture could receive targeted feedback to correct poor posture. The textiles could also indicate when a wheelchair user needs to change position to prevent pressure ulcers.

Although the everyday usability of SonoTextiles is potentially very high, Ahmed adds that there is still room for improvement in terms of practical application. Glass microfibres worked well as sound conductors in the lab, but they could potentially break in everyday use. “The beauty is that we can easily replace the glass fibres with metal. Sound also propagates effectively through metal,” explains Ahmed, adding “We would like to expand our research in this direction and also into other applications.” The researchers now want to make the system more robust and examine how the electronics can be better integrated into the textiles.

Source:

ETH Zürich, Deborah Kyburz