From the Sector

Baldwin Technology Company Inc., an innovator of advanced color-management solutions and inspection technology for the printing industry, will present its “Complete Solution” for printing and inspection at the Tax Stamp and Traceability Forum, held May 16 to 18 in Malta.

Baldwin’s Complete Solution can be any combination of feeders (roll or sheet), vacuum tables, inspection systems, inkjet printers, UV ink-curing systems, reject gates and bins, sheet stackers, and real-time monitoring and reporting tools. Alongside Baldwin’s technologies, optional solution components can be joined together through partnerships with suppliers to create a world-class solution.

For advanced defect detection, Baldwin’s Guardian PQV 100% Print Inspection camera systems can be mounted on one or both sides of the product to perform 100% print-quality inspection, verify variable data and inspect the most challenging security print features. The system offers lighting options for all materials and substrates, as well as for special applications, including holograms, covert serialization, covert security features and more. The Guardian PQV can also be retrofitted to existing presses, machines and transports.
 
As part of a data-connected defect-management workflow, the Guardian PQV is a feature-rich inline defect-detection system that enables printers to find and remove defects quickly—and monitor their processes to prevent defects from occurring again or repeatedly. This technology provides complete print-quality verification from prepress through production, reporting and archiving for perfect runs.

Baldwin recently realigned its sales teams to optimize service and simplify access to its process-improvement and consumables technologies for printing and packaging customers in more than 100 countries. Two new sales professionals have since joined the team, covering smaller regional geographies and providing customers with a single point of contact for all of Baldwin’s product lines.

• Currency-neutral sales down 3% as supply constraints reduce top-line by € 400 million
• Western markets continue to show strong momentum with combined currency-neutral sales growing 13% across North America (+13%), EMEA (+9%) and Latin America (+38%)  
• Gross margin down 1.9pp to 49.9% driven by significantly higher supply chain costs
• Operating margin of 8.2% reflecting additional investments into brand, DTC, and digital
• Net income from continuing operations reaches € 310 million
• FY 2022 outlook for revenue and net income confirmed at the lower end due to the impact from covid-19-related lockdowns in Greater China

“In the first quarter, consumer demand for our brand and products was strong in all Western markets. Our combined sales in North America, EMEA and Latin America grew at a double-digit rate. Backed by an exceptionally strong wholesale order book and relentless focus on driving growth in our own DTC channels, we expect this positive development to continue for the rest of the year,” said adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted. “In the East, we will return to growth in Asia-Pacific in the second quarter, while we expect the challenging market environment in Greater China to continue. With strong double-digit growth in the vast majority of our markets, representing more than 80% of our business, we are well positioned for success in 2022. “

For the full press release, see attached document.

The Sustainable Apparel Forum takes place on 10 May 2022 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, bringing together government ministers and advisors, the European Union, UN bodies, brands, global fashion campaigners, brands, manufacturers and industry leaders.

This year’s SAF, the third such event, aims to establish Bangladesh as one of the world’s most responsible apparel sourcing destinations. That’s why senior government representatives will be speaking and in attendance, listening to the needs of industry and what needs to be done to take Bangladesh garment production to the next level.

Senior representatives from globally renowned recycling and renewable energy companies will also be in attendance as well as exhibit their sustainability and green technologies, products and solutions under the same roof.

The SAF will showcase opportunities for much-needed green financing in the industry.
Issues under the spotlight will include climate action, environmental social & governance (ESG) and green finance, purchasing practices, circular economy, and regulatory reforms.

Speakers of the SAF include Dr Tawfiq-e-elahi Chowdhury, Bir Bikrom, adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on power, energy and mineral resources; Salman F Rahman, MP, adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on private industry & investment; Tipu Munshi, MP, commerce minister of Bangladesh; Begum Monnujan Sufian, MP, state minister for labor and employment of Bangladesh; Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on ministry of environment, forest and climate change of Bangladesh;  Anna Athanasopoulou, head of unit for social economy & creative industries European Commission;  Barbara Bijelic, financial sector and regulatory engagement lead centre for responsible business conduct, OECD;  Lindita Xhaferi-Salihu, sectors engagement lead, UNFCCC; Gagan Bansal, global material innovation & strategy manager, H&M; Javier Santonja Olcina,  regional head, Bangladesh & Pakistan, Inditex; Faruque Hassan, president, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA); Dr Mark Anner, founding director, Center for Global Workers’ Rights and also professor, Penn State University, USA; Ayesha Barenblat, founder and CEO, Remake;  Najet Draper, vice president research, Better Buying; and  Tuomo Poutiainen,  country director, Bangladesh, ILO.

Archroma and Stony Creek Colors (“Stony Creek”), a manufacturer of traceable natural indigo dyes, announced that they have entered a strategic partnership to produce and bring to the market Stony Creek’s IndiGold™ high-performance plant-based pre-reduced indigo at scale.

Stony Creek extracts its dye from proprietary Indigofera plant varieties grown in partnership with family farms as a regenerative rotational crop.

Stony Creek Colors developed the new IndiGold™ concept as on of the world’s first pre-reduced natural indigo dyes, which was then developed with Archroma to offer a plant-based alternative to synthetic pre-reduced indigo. The dyestuff will be sold as a 20% concentration in a soluble liquid form that displays similar performance to comparable synthetic indigo products available on the market.

Stony Creek Colors evolved into an innovative leader in plant-based indigo due to its complete development of an improved agricultural value chain, from seed breeding and production to biomass harvest and extraction. The company has been selling its US grown indigo to denim mills since 2015.

The pre-reduced plant-based indigo partnership took root in 2020 when Stony Creek was looking to work with like-minded partners to produce the new dyestuff at scale. Archroma emerged as the ideal partner as the company is well known for its expertise in indigo manufacturing and application, as well as for its commitment to transform the denim industry towards creating better blue jeans.

Archroma immediately offered to support the idea of Stony Creek Colors with extensive pilot scale manufacturing trials and engaged with its network of denim machinery manufacturers to test the first samples in industrial conditions. The trials showed excellent coloration and the typical indigo wash down, as with synthetic indigo. Archroma will produce the first batches of IndiGold™ in Salvatierra, Mexico, and has other locations where the product could be made. The company will support Stony Creek Colors through its manufacturing and logistics capabilities, and its expertise in denim dyeing with customers using pre-reduced indigo.

While this development was underway, the global innovation platform Fashion for Good selected Stony Creek Colors as an innovator in its global Innovation Program. The program connects brands with innovators to work together to test, validate and ultimately scale disruptive innovations in the fashion industry to drive positive impact. Through the program, Fashion for Good facilitated a collaboration between brand partner Levi Strauss & Co. and Stony Creek Colors which was announced in December 2021. The partners will pilot the use of IndiGold™ in denim mills at scale, with the goal of unlocking key learnings around shade application and other efficiencies of this new dyestuff.

On the 25th of March ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei invited its strategic European partners to the Triennale Design Museum for the first ROICA™ Summit, with the aim of sharing its global strategy and to consolidate relationships that are key to the Asahi Kasei global vision of its fiber and business.

Among the speakers Senior Executive Manager Mr. Shinichiro Haga and its successor Mr. Takehiro Kamiyama, who will take on the new role after more than thirty years in the Asahi Kasei Corporation and more than three years at ROICA™. Together they opened the floor by explaining the ROICA™ business strategy, which is based on three main steps:

1. Continue to speed up ROICA™ responsible innovation  
2. Continue to speed up ROICA™ international partnerships with a strong focus on responsible innovation
3. Continue to push a new generation of communication where its story making will align with an authentic and consumer driven storytelling based on values.

Then, Mr. Shinohe Hiroaki Chief Marketing Officer Europe, introduced the new production strategy at global level  together with  its program of partnerships, plus the marketing and communication programs for the next year and beyond in synergy with Giusy Bettoni at C.L.A.S.S.

“We are extremely pleased to be here with our European partners, thanking them for the continuous valuable cooperations that made ROICA™ so special, and sharing with them which will be our next steps in order to be leading responsible innovation. This is a very precious moment, during which we are able to talk face to face and install long-lasting relationships, with the aim of supporting the apparel industry by making premium stretch becoming a key player for wellbeing values, which are extremely precious for the contemporary consumer. And this will be part of sport, lingerie, hosiery , fashion and swimwear wardrobes thanks to the ROICA™ special new generation of premium stretch innovations” affirms Shinohe Hiroaki.

Through the collaboration Payal Pratap and Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei show a new way of making fashion, based on merging craft & tech, cutting-edge materials and deeply rooted optimism in troubled times.

With a strong focus on prints, the designer, Payal Pratap, has worked on hand-painted artworks which have then been digitized. The designs capture detailed elements and a three-dimensional depth and texture from the age-old crafts of Batik, plus powerful imagery and minute detailing from the ancient craft of Chintz printing. Batik was named after the Javanese words “Amba” which means to write and “Titik”, which translates to a dot or a point, while Chintz comes from the Hindi word “Cheent”, meaning spotted or speckled.  Both these techniques and crafts have been used in a contemporary context while creating the art works.

The prints encompass flora and fauna, bringing nature from the outside to the inside through the use of extensive flower, leaf, tree, vine and bird motifs, as an ode to sustainability. Placement prints have been engineered to make tailored jackets and structured pieces. A timeless collection comprising experimental pieces that blend the far east with India. A collection signaling holiday with a burst of colour. Bemberg™ in various avatars ranging from satins, muslins, mulmul, and silk blends have been used to create a collection with fluid drapes as well as structure.

The fabric takes printing and colour beautifully and has a slight sheen and glazed feel which resonates with chintz. The colour palette ranges from indigos, browns, rust, to burgundy brick and gold. Furthermore, Bemberg™ is an inherently sustainable ingredient, since it is made with cotton linters, pre-consumer materials derived from the cotton oil industry, and converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process. Coming from nature and going back towards nature, the Bemberg™ fiber is also biodegradable and compostable.

A initiative designed to collectively accelerate carbon reduction in the paints and coatings industry has been launched by AkzoNobel.

The company has invited partners from across the value chain to take part in its Collaborative Sustainability Challenge – a new Paint the Future initiative which aims to develop a shared approach to tackling climate change.

Due to be staged in May, the 24-hour event will involve senior executives and next generation leaders from a select group of partners – including suppliers and customers – who will engage in open discussions in a non-confidential environment.

During the event, participants will deep-dive into the following areas:

• Energy transition – Inspire partners towards decarbonizing processes and transitioning to renewable energy sources
• Process efficiency – Increase the efficiency of material use and reduce the energy required for applying and curing paints and coatings
• Solvent emissions – Reduce the number of solvents emitted throughout our entire value chain
• Circular solutions – Increase the use of circular solutions in paints and coatings, both upstream and downstream

The forthcoming Collaborative Sustainability Challenge will build on the success of Paint the Future, which has already established a collaborative innovation ecosystem with startups, suppliers, academia and customers.

AkzoNobel’s Collaborative Sustainability Challenge is scheduled to take place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between May 17 and 18, 2022.

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.

In 2021, nonwovens production in Greater Europe increased in volume by 2.0% to reach 3,120,967 tonnes (and 87.6 billion square metres).

EDANA, the international Association serving the nonwovens and related industries today released its statistics on Nonwovens Production and Deliveries for 2021. Following the impressive growth recorded in 2020, the updated figures for Greater Europe (incl. Western and Eastern Europe countries, Turkey, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) highlight again the ability of the European industry to innovate and to invest in order to meet the challenges of the pandemic crisis.

In 2021, nonwovens production in Greater Europe increased in volume by 2.0% to reach 3,120,967 tonnes (and 87.6 billion square metres). Since 2019, the European output increased by nearly 9%.

Jacques Prigneaux, EDANA’s Market Analysis and Economic Affairs Director commented “This 2% average growth is in line with European forecasts disclosed in October 2021 in our Global Nonwoven Markets 2020-2025 report. In 2021, significant growth areas for nonwovens were recorded in building construction (+17.4%), agriculture (+11.3%), electronic materials (+10.1%) and air filtration (+9.1%). Countering this, a further decline of -1% was recorded in automotive interior applications. In some market segments, a comparison with the pre-COVID situation is probably more relevant. This is particularly true in hygiene, medical and wipes nonwovens, which were almost flat or slightly decreasing compared to the level reached in 2020, but still much higher than in 2019”.

He added: “Looking at the different production processes of nonwovens, various trends were observed in 2021. The production of fiber-based materials, including Drylaid, Wetlaid, and Airlaid technologies, recorded divergent growth rates (respectively +2.4%, +1.1% and -4.8%), and spunmelt nonwovens recorded a growth rate of +3.1%. In Drylaid, the highest growth in tonnes was observed in needlepunched, with a 6.4% increase. The production of drylaid-hydroentangled, which peaked in 2020, was at the same level a year later”.

• March 16-18, 2022, Istanbul Expo Center
• Successful start of Texhibition, Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair with over 10,000 visitors from 63 countries
• More than 160 exhibitors presented fabrics, yarns and accessories on approx. 5,000 square meters in the Istanbul Expo Center
• Intensive order activity in a professional trade fair atmosphere of over 1billion US$
• The organizer's objective: to double the area and number of exhibitors for the second event in September

With over 10,000 visitors, the premiere event of Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair, organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (ITHIB) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) from March 16th to 18th, 2022 has successfully started.

İTHİB President Ahmet Öksüz: "Our exhibition platforms Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair and IFCO, Istanbul Fashion Connection, which was launched by our sister association IHKIB in February, play an important role in making Istanbul the fashion center of the Turkish textile and clothing industry. For the follow-up event to Texhibition in September this year, we expect the number of exhibitors and space to double."

The consistently positive feedback from the exhibitors underscores this expectation, as does the great interest shown by international visitors, including those from Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

The Turkish textile industry started with an export target of US$ 15 billion in 2022. The exhibition organizers assume that their platforms will contribute US$ 1 billion. Turkey is one of the most important procurement markets for the European textile industry and is becoming even more important in the course of the global supply chain problem and is now one of the top 3 most interesting procurement locations with its low prices, good quality products, reliable suppliers and short delivery times.

Exhibitors
On offer were high-quality and innovative fabrics from the weaving sector, including Kipaş Textiles, BTD Textile, Özdoku, Bossa and Yünsa; knitters like Gülle, Saka, Örkumod or İskur showed their current collections; yarn market leaders such as Korteks, Tepa and Gama were present, as were Şimşek Ege, EMR Zippers, Çağ-Tek and Öz-El Lastik for the accessories sector. A total of 166 exhibiting companies presented themselves in clearly structured segments in a professional trade fair atmosphere.

Frame program
In the Texhibition Forum, experts discussed the topics Sustainability, New Trends, Supply Chain and GMO-Free Cotton giving an outlook on the upcoming trends and developments in the Turkish textile industry. All events were heavily frequented by visitors.

Next Texhibition September 21-23, 2022