From the Sector

Ontex Group NV announces the launch of enhanced youth pants this fall. The pants are designed to reduce the psychological impact of incontinence during adolescence, offering protection and discretion.

The new Ontex youth pants are tailored for children aged 3 to 15 who struggle with bladder control at night, despite staying dry during the day, or have some disability leading to loss of bladder control.

The pants are produced by Ontex plants using its growing HappyFit product platform and will be available through retailers and Ontex’s online sales channels in Europe, with room for expansion to other regions. The pants are constructed combining absorbent materials for heavy bedwetting protection, a chassis with soft and quiet materials for discretion that also offers an improved fit. The production will also have a significantly lower impact on the environment vs previous concepts. During the production, waste is also minimized.

Bedwetting is a common issue, affecting many children. Research^[1] shows that 15% of children still wet the bed in primary school, with boys significantly more likely to experience incontinence. Bedwetting mainly occurs at night and is the second most common chronic childhood condition after allergic disorders. Factors contributing to bedwetting include sleep arousal difficulties, nocturnal polyuria (excessive nighttime urine production), and bladder dysfunction.

[1] https://www.abct.org/fact-sheets/bed-wetting/

Flos and B&B Italia, furniture brands of Made in Italy design, take part in the Casa Italia Paris 2024 project, the hospitality house that will host the athletes and guests during the XXXIII Olympic Games, to be held in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

Along with other design brands and contemporary Italian artists, the two companies participate for the first time at Casa Italia Paris 2024 showcasing their most iconic creations, both classic and contemporary, in the venue’s indoor and outdoor spaces, taking guests on a spectacular and evocative journey that epitomizes Italian elegance and beauty.

As Official Partner of Casa Italia Paris 2024, B&B Italia is furnishing the living, lounge and outdoor areas with some of its most recognisable products that combine unique design, quality, comfort and function as well as sustainability, an increasingly crucial element intrinsic to furniture designed to last over time. The UP Series by Gaetano Pesce, the Camaleonda sofa and Le Bambole seating by Mario Bellini, the Planck tables by Piero Lissoni, and the Allure O’ table and Flair O’ chairs by Monica Armani will furnish Casa Italia, highlighting a dialogue with the context through the choice of distinctive shapes, colours and materials.

The ongoing dialogue created by the brand’s products continues through to the outdoor lounge areas, where Casa Italia’s green spaces are dotted with products from the B&B Italia Outdoor collection, the brand’s outdoor furniture line launched in 2007. The Ribes sofas by Antonio Citterio, the Crinoline chairs by Patricia Urquiola and the Borea tables by Piero Lissoni will welcome athletes and guests creating stylish aesthetic synergies with the Le Pré Catelan gardens.

Flos has worked at the lighting project for Casa Italia Paris 2024 as Official Supplier, with the aim of making light a precious element for highlighting the works of art and the objects that enrich the setup of the Italian hospitality house, so that the exhibition and its narrative itinerary can be enjoyed both during daytime and nighttime hours. Light is used to shape the space in such a way as to create visual hierarchies among the superb items on display, without forgetting the ambient lighting needed for the celebratory events that will take place in the venue. The Flos lighting display includes some of the brand’s most recognisable suspension creations, such as cocoon models Taraxacum and Viscontea by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Zeppelin by Marcel Wanders. These interact with more recent and timeless collections, such as Glo-Ball by Jasper Morrison, Arrangements by Michael Anastassiades, IC and Captain Flint floor lamps, also by Anastassiades, and Bellhop Floor by Barber Osgerby.

For the exterior green spaces, Flos has chosen stylish outdoor floor lamps that create a harmonious dialogue with the surrounding architecture. These include Captain Flint Outdoor and IC Outdoor, designed by Michael Anastassiades, featuring bases in precious materials such as Tuscan imperial travertine and volcanic stone from the slopes of Mount Etna. Finally, Flos Architectural, the brand’s professional lighting division for large-scale projects, has equipped Casa Italia with innovative tech solutions that include The Tracking Magnet, an ingenious patented system with magnetic fastening LED lights in spot or linear versions for functional, efficient lighting that is also comfortable and non-invasive.

Today more than ever, sustainability in the fashion sector is an imperative that is reshaping the dynamics of the sector. These are important changes driven both by increasing CSR regulations (for example, Business of Fashion revealed that, according to 87% of players, the new regulations will impact their company in 2024), and by consumers’ habits (increasingly sensitive to the topic and consequently more careful in purchasing choices). In this scenario, Lectra analyzed real-time data from Retviews – its artificial intelligence-based solution specialized in competitive intelligence and automatic benchmarking – and unveils how Retviews’ empowers brands to navigate the complexities of sustainable and optimized collection planning.

According to Retviews data, to face sustainability challenges and best orient in the current complex fashion landscape, it will be crucial for brands to keep 5 key indications in mind:

1. Planning sustainable collections
Faced with the new regulations, brands are called to rethink their strategies, without losing sight on performance. For this reason, brands are already moving to optimize and rationalize the creative processes of their collections with a view to sustainability. In particular, Retviews' real-time data analysis reveals a growing trend towards sustainability in the collections of leading brands, where there are important investments in sustainable fabrics for both upper and lower garments. In particular, in the "Top" section, shirts show the most significant growth year over year among the eco-responsible options.

2. Sustainable prices (in every sense)
In this context, the redefinition of prices requires a strategic balance between market dynamics and the consumer's willingness to pay for products redesigned in terms of CSR. Retviews data shows a significant increase in costs in sustainable top collections. However, has this shift affected stock levels?

3. Inventories: optimized management
Tracking stock levels is crucial to season management, as it helps identify best-selling items and trends, as well as identify which items would sell better at full price versus those that should be discounted.
The new premium prices for sustainable collections require optimization of the sales rate, a waste limitation to minimum and a reduction of unsold goods rate.
Analyzing the tops category - In the tops category, where sustainably made products prevail with significantly higher price points than generic tops, Retviews' real-time data reveals that sustainable collections boast a higher sell-out rate compared to non-sustainable products. This superior sell-out rate underscores consumers' willingness to pay a premium for sustainability

4. Traceability and certification of collections
Certification is essential in verifying sustainability claims, fosters trust and ensures compliance. Not only that, it is also important to understand the value of the certifications and which ones appear most frequently in the various markets so as to make targeted decisions and adapt the assortments accordingly. This also let brands to prioritize the right mix of fabrics that can reflect the desires of local consumers. Retviews data highlights a particular focus on “Recycled Claim Standard” (RCS) certification in Europe and on “Fair Trade” and “Good Cashmere Standard” certified garments in the United States.

5. Mix of sustainable fabrics
About environmental impact, fabrics also play a fundamental role. Through data-driven tools, brands are able to find valuable information on sustainable materials that are gaining tractions in collections and thus make informed and strategic decisions in the process of planning their creations.

TrusTrace, a SaaS company with a platform for product traceability and supply chain compliance in fashion and retail, announced the launch of its upgraded AI-powered Forced Labor Prevention (FLP) Solution, which will help brands proactively map out supply chains, screen it for risk, and efficiently gather evidence for regulatory compliance.

The Forced Labor Prevention solution combines the power of AI to manage large quantities of data from complex supply chains with scalable collection of primary data per purchase order, which is screened and validated for risk, ensuring brands have validated evidence at a product and shipment level.

The solution collects primary data directly from suppliers to ensure detailed and reliable information about facilities, products, and materials. The primary data collected through the TrusTrace solution is specific to the context of the traced products, contrary to solutions leveraging third party data, which can introduce large quantities of irrelevant information from various sources, creating ‘noise’ that can obscure critical insights and quickly become unmanageable. TrusTrace has traced more than two million purchase orders to date and has more than 55,000 suppliers and facilities mapped globally, demonstrating the capacity to automate the collection of primary data at very large scale.

The data is proactively screened for risk against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entity list, and the solution can integrate with any relevant risk screening database.

AI-Powered Chain of Custody Creation and Document Collection drives speed, accuracy and cost savings, making it quick and easy to gain supply chain visibility and stay on top of documentation for compliance. The FLP solution can classify, extract, and translate large volumes of documents in over 100 languages, facilitating the creation of a digital chain of custody, and transforming traditionally time-consuming manual processes, increasing efficiency, and reducing the likelihood of human error.

15 brands worldwide are already using TrusTrace for forced labor prevention, including Vera Bradley, who see proactive supply chain traceability and data management as key in achieving their ESG commitments.

The Fashion for Good Museum publishes its legacy document. The report was prompted by the museum’s closure on June 5th, 2024. It represents the museum’s mission, summarising invaluable insights gathered over six years and key results such as reaching 115.000 visitors and creating a dedicated community of more than 250.000 followers online. Committed to transparency and collaboration, Fashion for Good shares its reflections, tools, and transferable learnings, as well as the future of its collections and next steps, continuing to inspire positive change within the fashion ecosystem. All information can be accessed on the Fashion for Good website for continued use and benefit of educators, the cultural sector, and the wider public.

Looking back on its journey, the Fashion for Good Museum celebrates achievements such as hosting 115.000 visitors, including 8.000 students from 200 schools, curating 13 exhibitions, offering over 75 events, launching 4 educational programmes, reaching both current and future generations, and inspiring many to drive change in the fashion industry. With an earned media value of over 46 million Euros through press coverage since 2017, Fashion for Good's influence has been significant, evident in its 250.000 social media followers and 15.000 newsletter subscribers.

The report fulfils the promise Fashion for Good made in 2017 – to share their journey, learnings, and most impactful activities with the world. Within these pages, readers will discover reflections on their messaging, insights about creative partnerships with entities such as Lowlands Festival, Dutch Design Week, and Museumnacht to case studies of pioneering exhibitions. Their programming was created around themes and topics, such as the untold stories around cotton, circularity, and the future of biomaterials to educate and inspire visitors, ultimately empowering them to take action themselves.

Reflecting on the output of the museum during its short existence, as well as its footprint and wide reach, while acknowledging the challenges encountered during its establishment and development, Fashion for Good distilled six key lessons from Fashion for Good's sustainable museum practices:

• Recognition of Broader Shift: There is a wider movement towards sustainability in the museum sector, exemplified by Fashion for Good and the new ICOM definition.
• Storytelling for Societal Change: Cultural institutions are crucial in driving societal change in fashion consumption through storytelling.
• Innovation through Limitations: Embracing organisational limitations can stimulate innovation in museum collection management and education.
• Audience Engagement: Understanding and expanding the core audience is essential for effective engagement in sustainability initiatives.
• Measuring Impact: It's challenging to measure impact for organisations with social missions, requiring clear success criteria.
• Establishing a Sustainability Framework: Defining sustainability within context is fundamental for organisational sustainability efforts.

For the second chapter of their Spring/Summer 2024 collection, adidas and Yohji Yamamoto continue to explore the concept of Contra-Natural. The collection highlights the tensions at the heart of Y-3: sport and boundary pushing design, organic and synthetic, linear perfection and natural imperfection.

For Chapter 2, Y-3 introduces a selection of dynamic apparel looks with a focus on refined cotton twill workwear inspired garments and reimagined sporting classics. Subtle yet bold overshirts, cargo pants, and tops are constructed with utility pockets and adjustable hems, while updated takes on the iconic adidas Superstar Tracksuit are elevated with topographical map piping. A selection of garments inspired adidas’ Teamgeist soccer jerseys rounds out the apparel collection, with each piece bearing a digital rust print inspired by the natural process of oxidation. Accompanying the apparel offering is a suite of accessories including nylon backpacks, totes, and holdalls.

From apparel to footwear, the second seasonal chapter plays host to an expressive selection of silhouettes as adidas performance Running technology is recontextualized through the lens of Y-3. Moving boldly into tomorrow, Yohji Yamamoto’s take on adidas’ pinnacle running silhouette takes the form of the Y-3 PRIME X 2 STRUNG, while the Y-3 ADIOS PRO 3.0 arrives in three colorways.

From the past, reborn, to the future, the Y-3 Spring/Summer 2024 Chapter 2 collection is then punctuated by the Y-3 WATER SLIDE, the Y-3 SANDAL, and an update to the instantly recognizable Y-3 ITOGO which sees the silhouette’s straps swapped out for an engineered print.

The association has launched another initiative to promote upskilling and reskilling in the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industry: the “TCLF SkillBridge” project will focus on establishing regional skills partnerships.

In the context of the EU TCLF Pact for Skills, EURATEX will work together with CEC  and COTANCE  to support the creation of regional partnerships in the area skills; this new SkillBridge project, supported by the European Commission DG GROW, will specifically help to develop action plans with regional authorities, local TCLF industry and education providers. These action plans should respond to the changing needs of the TCLF industry in the area of education and skills. The project will also offer a mobility scheme for regional stakeholders from the industry and offer support to SMEs, to help them develop reskilling or upskilling initiatives in their company.

The TCLF SkillBridge project complements the MetaSkills and Aequalis projects, which have been launched earlier this year. They all share the same objectives which have been established in the TCLF Pact for Skills, and thus contribute to addressing one of the most critical bottlenecks which is faced by the TCLF industry: the shortage of qualified labour. These 3 projects will, collectively, allow EURATEX and its partners to work with all relevant stakeholders from our sector across the EU and beyond.

Dirk Vantyghem, EURATEX Director General, welcomes these initiatives to support the TCLF industries: “Addressing the skills gap, and attracting young people with the right set of skills, is essential to strengthen the European textiles industry. We are grateful to the European Commission to offer the necessary support, and want to reach out especially to the regional authorities, to work together and design a skills strategy that works for its local TCLF industry.”

In the context of the EU Pact for Skills, EURATEX launches an EU co-funded project under ERASMUS+ Programme to support the up-skilling and reskilling in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear (TCLF) sectors.  The new project, AEQUALIS-4-TCLF, brings together 19 partners mainly from Eastern and Northern Europe¹ who will work together in the coming 4 years to give a boost to upskilling and reskilling of workers in the TCLF industry.

Following the blueprint project SMART4TCLF and complementary to the METASKILLS4TCLF project, AEQUALIS4TCLF prioritizes creating strong links with regional and local entities to boost skills initiatives and establishing an EU-wide Network of TCLF vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) providers. Based on the results from the skills gap analysis, AEQUALIS4TCLF will develop new national skills strategies in seven countries to address specific regional needs, setting a clear path for workforce development with special attention to addressing discrimination and promote diversity in the TCLF industries.

¹ List of Netherlands, Czechia, Lithuania, Finland, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia

In the fourth quarter of 2023 Italian textile machinery orders index, drawn up by the Economics Department of ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, appears to be stationary compared to data recorded for the same period in 2022. In terms of absolute value, the index stood at 82.4 points (basis: 2015=100).

This is the result of an upswing in orders from foreign markets, counterbalanced by declining orders on the domestic front. While orders in Italy decreased at 18% rate, a 4% increase was observed abroad. The absolute value of the index on foreign markets amounted to 77.9 points, whereas it came in at 126.2 points domestically. Overall for the fourth quarter, the average order backlog yielded 3.7 months of assured production.

For the whole 2023 year, the index declined 25% overall compared to the 2022 average (absolute index of 82.4). On the home front however, the index dropped 24% (absolute index of 124.5), while slipping 25% abroad (absolute index of 78.4).

ACIMIT president Marco Salvadè commented the data: “The orders index for October – December 2023, as elaborated by our Economics Department, confirms an intake of orders that is still weak, with a negative trend in demand for machinery that is ongoing for the domestic market.” Nonetheless, the orders index abroad shows a slight increase. “We estimate that the global geopolitical context is still a source of concern,” continued Salvadè, specifying that, “For the first nine months of 2023, Italian exports on major global markets (i.e. China, Turkey, India and the United States of America), confirm a widespread decline. However, some positive signs emerged in the fourth quarter of last year, as reflected by the latest orders index. For 2024 we expect a consolidation of this trend reversal.”

Many end-users now expect recycled materials to be in textile products they purchase – and this is driving innovation throughout the industry. However, there are still many technical and economic issues facing yarn and fabric producers using recycled resources. Members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association offer some effective solutions to these challenges.

Synthetic recycled materials such as PET can usually be treated similarly to new yarn, but there are additional complexities where natural fibres like wool and cotton are involved. Today, there’s a trend towards mechanically recycled wool and cotton fibres.

Spinning recycled cotton
The use of mechanically recycled fibres in spinning brings specific quality considerations: they have higher levels of short fibres and neps – and may often be colored, particularly if post-consumer material is used. It’s also true that recycled yarns have limitations in terms of fineness. The Uster Statistics 2023 edition features an extended range of fibre data, supporting sustainability goals, including benchmarks for blends of virgin and recycled cotton.
In general, short fibres such as those in recycled material can easily be handled by rotor spinning machines. For ring spinning, the shorter the fibres, the more difficult it is to guide them through the drafting zone to integrate them into the yarn body. Still, for wider yarn counts and higher yarn quality, the focus is now shifting to ring spinning. The presence of short fibres is a challenge, but Rieter offers solutions to address this issue.

Knitting recycled wool
For recycling, wool fibres undergo mechanical procedures such as shredding, cutting, and re-spinning, influencing the quality and characteristics of the resulting yarn. These operations remove the natural scales and variations in fibre length of the wool, causing a decrease in the overall strength and durability of the recycled yarn. This makes the yarn more prone to breakage, especially under the tension exerted during knitting.

Adapting to process recycled materials often requires adjustments to existing machinery. Knitting machines must be equipped with positive yarn suppliers to control fibre tension. Steiger engages in continuous testing of new yarns on the market, to check their suitability for processing on knitting machines. For satisfactory quality, the challenges intensify, with natural yarns requiring careful consideration and adaptation in the knitting processes.

From fibres to nonwovens
Nonwovens technology was born partly from the idea of recycling to reduce manufacturing costs and to process textile waste and previously unusable materials into fabric structures. Nonwovens production lines, where fibre webs are bonded mechanically, thermally or chemically, can easily process almost all mechanically and chemically recycled fibres.

Autefa Solutions offers nonwovens lines from a single source, enabling products such as liners, wipes, wadding and insulation to be produced in a true closed loop. Fibres are often used up to four times for one product.

Recycling: total strategy
Great services, technology and machines from members of Swiss Textile Machinery support the efforts of the circular economy to process recycled fibres. The machines incorporate the know-how of several decades, with the innovative power and quality standards in production and materials.
Stäubli’s global ESG (environmental, social & governance) strategy defines KPIs in the context of energy consumption, machine longevity and the recycling capacity in production units worldwide, as well in terms of machinery recyclability. The machine recyclability of automatic drawing in machines, weaving systems and jacquard machines ranges from 96 to 99%.