From the Sector

With its fifth participation at Pitti Uomo, CHINA WAVE once again underscored the dynamic rise of Chinese designer brands on the international stage. The showcased collections demonstrated how Chinese labels are increasingly defining themselves through distinctive design languages, technological innovation and cultural authenticity, attracting growing attention from the global fashion industry. 

As the flagship brand of the collective presentation, SEPTWOLVES impressed visitors with a collection combining functionality, sustainability and Chinese cultural heritage. Alongside its further enhanced Business Travel Jacket featuring advanced technical innovations, the Wulin World Heritage Collection and the sustainable polo line crafted from natural fibres attracted particular interest. International buyers praised SEPTWOLVES for translating traditional Chinese craftsmanship and intangible cultural heritage into a contemporary design language with global appeal. The collections led to intensive discussions with buyers and distributors from Europe, South America, the Middle East and Central Asia, reaffirming the brand's growing international potential. 

For SWOF CARE, the hat wear brand, direct engagement with the international market was the central focus. The new SUPER SWOF "SS Super Classic" collection and the handcrafted BLACK LABEL line successfully combined traditional Chinese millinery with a contemporary design aesthetic. Particularly valuable for the brand was the immediate feedback received from international buyers and industry professionals, providing important inspiration for future collection development. At the same time, numerous concrete business opportunities emerged, with buyers expressing interest in sourcing solutions, product customization, long-term distribution partnerships and agency collaborations. Establishing new partnerships to further accelerate the brand's international expansion also ranks among the lasting achievements of its participation. 

With its distinctive interpretation of contemporary Oriental aesthetics, ZIFEI WANG became one of the creative highlights of CHINA WAVE. Combining artistic expression with premium ready-to-wear fashion, the collection impressed international buyers as well as renowned showrooms and premium boutiques. Particular praise was given to its successful balance between avant-garde creativity and commercial relevance. The successful presentation in Florence further strengthened the brand's international positioning while paving the way for future presentations across Europe like the forthcoming Milan Fashion Week in September.  

SOARIN presented its unique design philosophy under the guiding concept "I Become." Through plant-based dyeing techniques, innovative material research and the fusion of traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design, the brand developed a distinctive creative signature. International buyers and industry professionals particularly appreciated its creative originality and innovative use of materials. Discussions during the fair generated promising prospects for future collaborations and international showcases. 

SOARIN WORLD, the pioneering Chinese label under the SOARIN brand, presented a collection rooted in an Eastern interpretation of beauty while embracing a forward-looking design philosophy. Drawing inspiration from ethnic cultures, nature and humanity, the brand reinterprets traditional Chinese aesthetics through a contemporary lens, creating garments that bridge heritage and modernity. International buyers and industry professionals praised the collection's distinctive cultural identity and sophisticated craftsmanship, recognising its strong potential for premium retail and concept stores. The presentation in Florence further strengthened SOARIN WORLD's international visibility and opened promising opportunities for future collaborations and market expansion. 

For KIMUSSO, Pitti Uomo represented far more than a platform for presenting a collection. The avant-garde womenswear label used the direct exchange with international buyers to further refine its positioning in the global market. Immediate feedback confirmed the brand's particular strength within the progressive concept store and curated premium boutique segment. The exhibition therefore marked an important milestone in reflecting on the brand's identity from an international perspective and further sharpening its future strategic direction. 

Under this year's theme, "The Pitti Pool," Pitti Uomo 110 once again proved to be a meeting point for the ideas, perspectives and partnerships shaping the future of the global fashion industry. Through its fifth participation, CHINA WAVE demonstrated how naturally Chinese designer brands have become part of this international creative ecosystem. From technological innovation and sustainable material concepts to a confident expression of cultural identity, the participating labels presented their own distinctive visions for the future of fashion, attracting significant interest from international buyers and key industry decision-makers. 

CHINA WAVE has long evolved into far more than a collective exhibition. The platform connects Chinese designer brands with international business partners, creates new market opportunities and fosters creative dialogue between East and West. The successful presentation in Florence clearly demonstrated that Chinese brands are increasingly recognised as drivers of innovation, design excellence and cross-cultural exchange. Following this milestone edition, attention is already turning to the next chapter: from January 12 to 15, 2027, CHINA WAVE will return to Pitti Uomo 111 in Florence, bringing a new wave of Chinese creativity to the international stage. 

The first chapter of Catalyst Club debuted in Florence, bringing together creative directors, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, journalists and innovators from across the fashion and textile industry for an evening of dialogue, exchange and connection.

Hosted at the Soko Innovation Hub and developed in partnership with Pioneer Denim, the gathering took place around a single long table, bringing guests together in an informal and convivial setting designed to encourage open conversation and the sharing of ideas.

During his opening speech at the dinner, Matteo Urbini, MD of Soko Chimica, expressed his enthusiasm for the initiative: "It’s a real pleasure to host an evening where we can finally move past virtual networking and connect in person. Getting together live is still the best way to build authentic relationships and make real things happen."

Set within a relaxed and convivial environment, free from presentations, panels and formal agendas, the evening encouraged guests to engage openly, allowing ideas, perspectives and future visions to flow naturally. Conversations touched on sustainability, creativity, manufacturing and innovation, generating valuable connections and opportunities for collaboration while introducing the purpose of Catalyst Club: a community designed to bring together the people shaping the future of fashion, denim and innovation through dialogue, exchange and shared inspiration.

The first chapter was realized with the support of Pioneer Denim, whose commitment to innovation and industry collaboration reflects the values at the heart of the initiative.

The Florence gathering represents the beginning of a journey that will continue through future chapters, expanding a network of professionals united by the belief that meaningful change starts with connection.

About Catalyst Club Catalyst Club is a curated community that brings together the people shaping the future of fashion, denim and innovation. Through intimate gatherings and meaningful conversations, it creates opportunities for ideas, perspectives and collaborations to emerge and evolve.

About Soko Soko is an innovation-driven chemical company serving the global fashion and textile industry. Through research, partnerships and its Soko Innovation Hub, the company promotes collaboration, sustainability and knowledge-sharing across the supply chain. Soko is the creator and organizer of Catalyst Club.

About Pioneer Denim Pioneer Denim is a leading denim manufacturer recognized for its commitment to innovation, quality and responsible production, supporting global brands through advanced technologies and sustainable practices.

Ponda, a UK-based biomaterials company with roots at Imperial College London, has partnered with the university to make branded clothing from wetland-grown plants.

The first products in this collaboration – a Mallard gilet and a Fern cap – are insulated with BioPuff®, a material made from bulrush grown on restored wetlands rather than oil or animal products. The clothing will be on sale exclusively at the Imperial College Union campus shop and online store this autumn.

Full circle collaboration
The world produces around 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year. That is the equivalent of a bin lorry of clothing burned or landfilled every second. Branded merchandise sits at a difficult intersection of this problem: it often relies on conventional materials with significant environmental impacts, yet is discarded long before the end of its useful life. BioPuff® offers an alternative approach, using plant-based insulation designed to connect product manufacturing with wetland restoration, and lower-impact material systems. Importantly, it also outperforms premium synthetics on warmth.

The collaboration between Ponda and Imperial is part of Sustainable Imperial, the university’s commitment to lead on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution through research, education, operations and community action. But the ambition runs wider than one campus.

Professor Anna Korre, Imperial’s Associate Provost (Sustainability), said: "This partnership will give Imperial's community the chance to directly back climate friendly fashion innovation. We're proud to celebrate this collaboration as part of our strategy launch. Ponda's story is a powerful example of how Imperial aims to maximise its positive impact on people and planet by giving our students and innovators the tools they need to find solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges."

About the innovative insulation
Ponda’s BioPuff® has already been used by fashion companies Stella McCartney, Berghaus, Ahluwalia and Sheep Inc. The team exhibited at the Sustainable Markets Initiative CEO Summit at Hampton Court Palace, where they met King Charles III and were recognised by the King’s Terra Carta Design Lab.
The first-of-its-kind insulation, which outperforms premium synthetics on warmth, is made from Typha (bulrush) and grown through paludiculture, the farming of wetland crops on rewetted peatlands.

Each BioPuff®-insulated gilet has the equivalent impact of restoring four square metres of healthy wetland. That represents approximately:

• 9kg of CO2e in avoided emissions each year
• 800 litres of water stored
• three times the bird density of drained land

Wetlands hold more than twice the carbon of all the world’s trees combined. The millions of hectares of drained peatlands emit approximately 1.9 gigatonnes of CO2 a year, roughly twice the total emissions of the global fashion industry.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has hosted the first meeting of its Collaborative Platform on Alternatives to Animal Testing (CP-AAT).
The event brought together Member States, the European Commission, EU agencies, industry and public-private partnerships to define priorities and strengthen cooperation on the use of alternatives to animal testing.

The members of the platform discussed the wide range of ongoing alternative methods initiatives across Europe, as well as shared challenges in advancing and applying them. They emphasised the importance of structured and continuous information exchange to support progress and avoid duplication of efforts.

Four priority areas were identified for the platform’s initial two-year work programme:

• QSARs: promote regulatory use of in silico methods, starting with acute oral toxicity, by showing practical use and setting clear performance criteria for hazard assessment;
• In vitro toxicokinetics: develop harmonised approaches for using in vitro toxicokinetic data and align scientific and regulatory expectations;
• Omics: Support use of omics technologies (e.g. transcriptomics, metabolomics) in hazard identification and grouping through guidance and case studies; and
• New approach methodologies (NAMs) for nano- and advanced materials: create regulatory approaches to assess nanomaterials’ specific properties and enable their inclusion in non-animal testing strategies.

These priorities reflect areas where further collaboration and alignment are needed to support regulatory uptake. Their scope will now be developed in more detail, with work expected to begin shortly. 

Background
The Collaborative Platform on Alternatives to Animal Testing is an informal and non-binding forum meeting twice a year focusing on scientific exchange, capacity building and development of a common understanding on the regulatory use of alternative methods. The platform is ECHA’s first contribution to the European Commission’s roadmap towards phasing out animal testing, which was published on 1 June 2026. 

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation. 

With a degree in Production Polymer Engineering from the University of Minho, Mario Jorge Machado brings extensive industrial experience and a strong commitment to innovation, competitiveness and sustainable transformation. 

Upon his re-election, Mario Jorge Machado said:
“My priority for this new mandate is clear: to strengthen the competitiveness of our industry, ensure that the same rules apply to all products sold in Europe, and support our companies through the green and digital transition. Europe must decarbonise its industry, not deindustrialise it.” 

Three priorities for the new mandate

1. Competitiveness as the foundation
Mario Jorge Machado has made clear that competitiveness must be the starting point for any successful industrial policy. In his recent Brussels address, he stressed that without competitiveness there can be no investment, no innovation, no sustainability and no strategic autonomy. He will therefore continue to push for a stronger business environment for textile companies, with support for investment in automation, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, skills and innovation, especially for SMEs. 

2. A genuine level playing field
A second key priority is to ensure that the same rules apply to everything sold in Europe, not only to what is made in Europe. Mario Jorge Machado has repeatedly called for stronger market surveillance, better border enforcement and more effective control of imports sold through digital platforms, so that European companies are not put at a disadvantage against products that bypass EU safety, environmental and consumer rules. EURATEX will continue to advocate for equal enforcement, fair competition and a market where compliance is rewarded. 

3. Supporting industry through the transition
Mario Jorge Machado also wants to ensure that the green and digital transition strengthens European industry rather than weakening it. He has underlined that sustainability must become a source of competitiveness, not a burden, and that companies need realistic rules, affordable energy, workable implementation and targeted support to adapt successfully. He has also stressed the importance of stimulating demand for sustainable European-made textiles, including through public procurement and transparency tools that are feasible for companies. 

Presidency Team
The General Assembly also confirmed the composition of the EURATEX Presidency Team, which will support the President in steering the organisation’s strategic direction:

• Mr. Franz Peter Falke, T+M, Germany
• Ms. Barbara Cimmino, Confindustria Moda, Italy
• Mr. Ismail Kolunsag, IHKIB, Türkiye 
• Mr. Grégory Marchand, UIT, France 

Neuthread has been named as Source Fashion's Charity and Design Partner in a new 12-month collaboration designed to champion circular fashion, inclusion and industry innovation.

Created by autism and neurodiversity charity Daisy Chain, Neuthread has gained industry recognition for transforming textile waste into high-quality fashion collections and became the first charity-led fashion brand to present a scheduled runway show at London Fashion Week in 2024. Through the new partnership, Source Fashion and Neuthread will work together to raise awareness of circular fashion, promote innovative approaches to tackling textile waste and encourage greater collaboration between brands, manufacturers, retailers and sustainability leaders.

Founded to challenge the perception that textile waste has reached the end of its life, Neuthread transforms donated, surplus and reclaimed textiles into contemporary fashion collections that combine environmental sustainability with social impact. The brand has rapidly gained recognition for its innovative approach to circular fashion, demonstrating how waste materials can be repurposed into desirable, commercially viable products while creating opportunities for autistic and neurodivergent people to develop skills and access employment pathways within the fashion and textiles sector.

Building on its London Fashion Week success, the organisation has since secured £1.5 million in investment from The National Lottery Community Fund to establish a pioneering circular fashion manufacturing facility in the North East of England, designed to reduce textile waste while creating training, volunteering and employment opportunities through its linked skills academy programme, Mend It Don't Rag It (MIDRI).

Over the next 12 months, the partnership will focus on building an eco-system of brands, manufacturers and retailers with innovative circular solutions, encouraging collaboration across the supply chain and creating new opportunities to repurpose surplus materials and textile waste.

As Design Partner, Neuthread will headline the Source Catwalk throughout the July edition, presenting its collections three times a day alongside trend-led showcases from Source Fashion exhibitors and bringing circular fashion to the forefront of the show's content programme. The partnership will provide a platform to demonstrate how surplus, reclaimed and donated textiles can be transformed into commercially relevant fashion collections, while highlighting the opportunities that circular design presents for the wider industry.

The catwalk showcases will also support Neuthread's ambition to build new relationships with brands, manufacturers and retailers looking for innovative solutions for surplus fabrics, deadstock materials and textile waste streams. Through the partnership, Neuthread hopes to encourage greater collaboration across the industry and demonstrate practical alternatives to landfill and low-value textile recycling.

Johnathon Pickard, Director of Business Development & Income Generation, Neuthread commented: "We are incredibly proud to be partnering with Source Fashion as both Charity Partner and Design Partner for the July show. Source Fashion has established itself as one of the most influential platforms driving conversations around responsible sourcing, sustainability and the future of fashion. Those are conversations that sit at the very heart of what Neuthread is seeking to achieve.

Neuthread was created to challenge the perception that textile waste has reached the end of its life. Through innovative design, circular manufacturing and the talents of autistic and neurodivergent people, we are demonstrating how fashion can create environmental, social and economic impact simultaneously.

Following our journey from becoming the first charity to showcase a scheduled fashion brand collection at London Fashion Week through to securing £1.5 million to establish a pioneering circular fashion manufacturing facility, we are now entering an exciting period of growth. Working alongside Source Fashion provides an opportunity to share that vision with a wider industry audience and inspire new ways of thinking about sustainability, creativity and inclusion.

We are excited about what this partnership can achieve over the next 12 months and look forward to collaborating with the Source Fashion team to demonstrate that fashion can be a force for positive change.”

Suzanne Ellingham, Event Director of Source Fashion, added: “Neuthread is a natural fit for Source Fashion because they bring together creativity, circular innovation and practical action in a way that genuinely resonates with the challenges facing our industry today.

"As our Charity and Design Partner, they will play a central role in the July edition, headlining the Source Catwalk with showcases that demonstrate how surplus, reclaimed and donated textiles can be transformed into commercially relevant fashion collections. Their ambition to build new partnerships across the industry also aligns closely with our mission to connect businesses, encourage collaboration and drive meaningful change.

"From their pioneering manufacturing facility in the North East of England to the Source Fashion catwalk in London, Neuthread showcases the incredible innovation taking place across the UK fashion and textiles sector. We are proud to provide a platform that helps bring those stories to a wider audience and look forward to working together over the next 12 months."

Visitors to Source Fashion's July 2026 edition will be able to experience Neuthread's catwalk collections, engage directly with the team throughout the show and learn more about the organisation's pioneering approach to circular manufacturing, textile waste reduction and inclusive employment.