From the Sector

ERCA successfully showcased their latest product during the recent ITMA 2023 exhibition, taking the opportunity to share with ITMA visitors the journey that stood behind the creation of REVECOL®.

REVECOL® transforms critical waste materials (exhausted vegetable oils) into a line of innovative and responsible chemical auxiliaries destined for the entire textile industry and its various applications, offering different characteristics: circular DNA, certification, safety, high performance, competitivity and applicability on any type of textile fiber, whether virgin or recycled.

Patagonia® and trim supplier YKK teamed up with ERCA to deploy REVECOL® in their manufacturing process. This alliance was presented to ITMA visitors as an example of what the industry can achieve through collaborative practices.

The process of sharing REVECOL® with the industry really started with the announcement of ERCA’s partnership with Patagonia® and YKK and deepened during the session Upcycling Minds Think Alike moderated by Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity, Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy), and which saw the participation of Matt Swartz, Color and Material Quality Manager of Patagonia®, Fabio Locatelli, Head of ERCA, Textile Specialties Business Unit and Mike Maekawa, Sales and Business Development Manager, YKK Vietnam.

The launch of the third edition of the Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award started on October 27, 2022. The Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award (ISFA) is the international competition born out of the collaboration between Connecting Cultures, the foundation that guides the Out of Fashion platform, and C.L.A.S.S., an international eco-hub that since 2007 has been advocating for a new generation of fashion in which the union of design, innovation, communication, and responsibility shapes a conscious and competitive business, capable of playing both an economic and social role.

The Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award invites stylists, photographers, designers, illustrators and artists to create visual imagery, a project that highlights awareness, respect for people and the planet that define the values of sustainable fashion in the fashion system.

Award submissions will be examined by an international jury composed of:

• Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
• Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
• Rita Airaghi, Steering Advisor, Gianfranco Ferré Research Center
• Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana
• Jeanine Ballone Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
• Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
• Sara Kozlowski, Vice President of Program Strategies, Education, and Sustainability Initiatives, Council of Fashion Designers of America
• Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
• Renata Molho, journalist, former editor-in-chief of L'Uomo Vogue and former editor-at-large of L'Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia, Casa Vogue
• Stefania Ricci, Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
• Jovana Vukoje, Senior New Brands Specialist, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana

The winning projects of past editions were Take a Walk on the Green Side by Emma Scalcon (2021 - Italy) and Fashion Affair by Vishal Tolambia (2022 - India), two very different works that highlighted how challenging sustainability issues are in the contemporary communication landscape.

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
The winner will be announced in March 2023 and will receive a cash prize of €3,000.00.

The international eco hub C.L.A.S.S. brings its next generation Smart Shop’s offer to the 10th edition of the Future Fabrics Expo from the28th to the 29th of June 2022 in London.

Since 2018, C.L.A.S.S. has been offering the access of the top of its Material hub innovations to small and new generation of designers and brands through its Smart Shop, the online store of smart materials. C.L.A.S.S. intent at FFE is to share the unique values of its design driven, conscious, high-tech materials, in order to start synergies with an audience characterized by the interest in responsible innovations, the main expertise of CEO and founder Giusy Bettoni and her team.

C.L.A.S.S. offers smart solutions – from 1 meter to max 50 meters - for the contemporary wardrobe which include all the different expressions of textile ingredients: natural, transformed, innovative and back in the loop materials, giving everyone the possibility to create design, innovative and yet responsible products in line with their new generation of contemporary values.

Among the conscious, yet technological materials which will be presented at Fabrics for Future there are Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei, Albini’s organic and scientifically traceable cotton, Re.VerSo™ recycled wools, NewLife™ recycled polyester and Maeba International’s Back in The Loop fabrics.

The winner of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition was announced during a webinar broadcast on March 30 at 4pm attended by Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub, Anna Detheridge, President of Connecting Cultures, Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts, Stefania Ricci, Director of the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.
 
Vishal Tolambia, 24, a graduate with an MA in Fashion Futures from the London College of Fashion and in Fashion Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology India, is a Fashion Sustainability researcher and a multidisciplinary designer. In 2021, Vishal founded the organization Humanity-Centred Designs (HCD) with the aim of transforming "human-centred design into humanity-centred designs through sustainable practices to foster the Fashion Industry."
 
In his communication project, the "Fashion Affair" video proposes a speculative view of fashion dating - derived from dating apps - a tool to effectively evaluate brands and their products, in the form of augmented reality. The consumer is not only informed in real time about the brand and supply chain, but the app also becomes a platform for matching products based on individual sustainability goals and commitments. "Fashion Affair" also won the special social media contest open to the public among the finalists selected by the jury for being the most voted project by Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S.' profile.
 
Vishal ranked first among the finalists selected by the international 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 Research Center            
- 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, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
- Renata Molho, journalist and fashion writer, former editor-in-chief of L'Uomo Vogue and editor-at-large of L'Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia, Casa Vogue
- Stefania Ricci, Director, Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

The international eco-hub will be at Filo (23-24 February) with key partners such as Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei, ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, Ghezzi, Circular Systems™ and SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos to highlight the role of yarns in responsible innovation.

C.L.A.S.S. is ready for yet another moment dedicated to share and amplify its message of responsible innovation together with its key partners. The international eco-hub has been invited to attend the Filo fair with its own space in order to spread the word on the utmost importance of injecting innovation, sustainability and change starting from the very beginning of the supply chain.

“We are extremely pleased to be here at Filo, the fair for the very first and fundamental ingredient of fashion” Says Giusy Bettoni, Founder and CEO C.L.A.S.S. “We believe this is a valuable opportunity to  share possibilities and chances to start a conscious and yet innovative fashion product by learning about the latest developments in smart yarns”.