From the Sector

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel (Freudenberg) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia at its Nantong factory in China to expand the company’s innovation capabilities. With floor space of 900 m2, the new center offers technical expertise and innovations to apparel customers from nearly all apparel segments in Asia and around the world.

New capabilities with the Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia
Committed to bringing enhanced technical support and services tailored to customers’ needs, the dedicated Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia (ATSC) is equipped with cutting-edge technology. This includes a wide variety of fusing and bonding machines, laser and ultrasonic cutters, specialized sewing machines for sportswear applications, fiber filling machines for insulation applications, and washing and dry-cleaning machines that meet GB and AATCC standards.

The ATSC offers technical know-how to help customers design complex apparel solutions. In particular, it furthers Freudenberg’s dedication to joint innovations with sportswear customers and to finding technical solutions for performance applications.

Further innovation at the Nantong factory
The factory was moved to the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area to meet increased production demand with state-of-the-art technological capabilities. Covering an area of nearly 50,000 m² with cotton interlining, bi-elastic fusible interlining, and preformed materials production lines, the new site went into operation in 2021.

Dedicated to continuously improving production quality, the new factory also includes an innovative online defect detection system. This system enables defect information to be captured in real time and sent to operators for immediate adjustments, increasing the rate of bi-elastic interlinings and shirt interlinings. Furthermore, the online weft density automatic adjustment system helps improve the stability of the drying process and the quality of semi-finished products.

The world’s largest fashion brands and retailers must increase transparency to tackle the climate crisis and social inequality, according to the latest Fashion Transparency Index.

The seventh edition of the Fashion Transparency Index ranks 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers based on their public disclosure of human rights and environmental policies, practices, and impacts, across their operations and supply chains.

• Brands achieved an average score of just 24%, with nearly a third of brands scoring less than 10%
• The majority of brands (85%) do not disclose their annual production volumes despite mounting evidence of clothing waste around the world
• Most major brands and retailers (96%) do not publish the number of workers in their supply chain paid a living wage

The Index reveals insights into the most pressing issues facing the fashion industry, like:

• As new and proposed legislation focuses on greenwashing claims, almost half of major brands (45%) publish targets on sustainable materials yet only 37% provide information on what constitutes a sustainable material.
• Only 24% of major brands disclose how they minimise the impacts of microfibres despite textiles being the largest source of microplastics in the ocean.
• The vast majority of major brands and retailers (94%) do not disclose the number of workers in their supply chains who are paying recruitment fees. This paints an unclear picture of the risks of forced labour as workers may be getting into crippling debt to accept jobs paying poverty wages.
• While many brands use their channels to talk about social justice, they need to go beyond lip service. Just 8% of brands publish their actions on racial and ethnic equality in their supply chains.

Despite these results, Fashion Revolution is encouraged by increasing supply chain transparency among many major brands, primarily with first-tier manufacturers where the final stage of production occurs, e.g. cutting, sewing, finishing and packing. Nine brands have disclosed their first-tier manufacturers for the first time this year. It is encouraging to see significant progress across market segments including luxury, sportswear, footwear and accessories and across different geographies.

Fashion Revolution’s co-founder and Global Operations Director Carry Somers says: “In 2016, only 5 out of 40 major brands (12.5%) disclosed their suppliers. Seven years later, 121 out of 250 major brands (48%) disclose their suppliers. This clearly demonstrates how the Index incentivises transparency but it also shows that brands really are listening to the millions of people around the world who keep asking them #WhoMadeMyClothes? Our power is in our persistence.”

More key findings from the Fashion Transparency Index 2022:

Progress on transparency in the global fashion industry is still too slow among 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers, with brands achieving an overall average score of just 24%, up 1% from last year
For another year, the initiative has seen major brands and retailers publicly disclose the most information about their policies, commitments and processes on human rights and environmental topics and significantly less about the results, outcomes and impacts of their efforts.

Most (85%) major brands still do not disclose their annual production volumes despite mounting evidence of overproduction and clothing waste
Thousands of tonnes of clothing waste are found globally. However, brands have disclosed more information about the circular solutions they are developing (28%) than on the actual volumes of pre- (10%) and post-production waste they produce (8%). Brands have sat by as waste importing countries foot the bill, resulting in serious human rights and environmental implications.

Just 11% of brands publish a responsible purchasing code of conduct indicating that most are still reluctant to disclose how their purchasing practices could be affecting suppliers and workers
Greater transparency on how brands interact with their suppliers ought to be a first step towards eliminating harmful practices and promoting fair purchasing practices. The poor performance on transparency in this vital area is a missed opportunity for brands to demonstrate they are serious about addressing the root causes of harmful working conditions, including the instances where they themselves are the key driver.

Despite the urgency of the climate crisis, less than a third of major brands disclose a decarbonisation target covering their entire supply chain which is verified by the Science-Based Targets Initiative
Many brands and retailers rely heavily on garment producing countries that are vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, yet our research shows that only 29% of major brands and retailers publish a decarbonisation target covering their operations and supply chain which is verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative.

Only 11% of brands publish their supplier wastewater test results, despite the textile industry being a leading contributor to water pollution
The fashion industry is a major contributor to water pollution and one of the most water intensive industries on the planet. Only 11% of major brands publish their wastewater test result, and only 25% of brands disclose the process of conducting water-related risk assessments in their supply chain. Transparency on wastewater test results is key to ensuring that brands are held accountable for their potentially devastating impacts on local biodiversity, garment workers and their communities.

Most major brands and retailers (96%) do not publish the number of workers in their supply chain paid a living wage nor do they disclose if they isolate labour costs
Insufficient progress is being made by most brands towards ensuring that the workers in their supply chain are paid enough to cover their basic needs and put aside some discretionary income. Just 27% of brands disclose their approach to achieving living wages for supply chain workers and 96% do not publish the number of workers in their supply chain paid a living wage. In response, we have joined forces with allies across civil society to launch Good Clothes, Fair Pay. The campaign demands groundbreaking living wage legislation across the garment, textile and footwear sector.

adidas unveils the first of two drops with South African luxury designer, Thebe Magugu. The debut collection for women features the celebratory and joyful artwork of a woman dancing, designed in collaboration with artist Phathu Nembilwi, and influenced by Thebe’s mother, aunt and grandmother, and the theme of femininity, interwoven with leading adidas material technology . Each garment features an abstract selection of bright and punchy colors including, impact orange and yellow, accents of shock pink, backgrounded by pulse lilac. The collection spans across sports including running , swimming , training , tennis , football , and cycling alongside a set of casual lifestyle garments.  

United by a shared passion for inclusivity and kinship, the collection includes a three-piece modesty swimwear set made in part with recycled materials and chlorine resistant fabric that is lightweight and chlorine-resistant; swimwear in inclusive sizing (XS-4XL); and gender-neutral pieces with UNITEFIT – a fit system that is created with a spectrum of sizes, genders, and forms in mind.

The high-performance tennis pieces will be premiered during one of the most prominent hardcourt tournaments by adidas’ inspirational athletes Dana Mathewson, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger Aliassime and Daria Kasatkina who are passionate about showing support for what matters and encouraging diversity and inclusivity on and off the court. The tennis collection features the Purple NY UNITEFIT Tennis Dress, delivering style and functionality, made in part with recycled materials.

Alongside the performance pieces, the statement Originals looks include the Originals Crop T-shirt, in white and semi pulse lilac, delivering classic streetwear style, and the Originals 7/8 Leggings, a go-to choice for every occasion. The collaboration also includes remixes of iconic adidas footwear silhouettes including the Stan Smith, Nizza Platform, Astir and Forum footwear, which feature design accents from Thebe Magugu's signature prints. Reflecting adidas's commitment to consciously crafting performance materials, hero styles and pieces have also been made in part with recycled materials, just one of the innovations that represent adidas' commitment to help end plastic waste. 

The 50th INNATEX fair opens its gates to a Green Fashion trade audience from 29 to 31 July 2022 in Hofheim-Wallau, near Frankfurt. At this anniversary fair, over 200 labels will be exhibiting, a wide range of experts and organisations will be gathering, and elaborate features and facilities are planned for the Rhein-Main exhibition centre.

According to INNATEX project manager Alexander Hitzel, one highlight is the Community Area, which brings together a range of experts. In short lounge talks, they reveal insights into what they are currently working on and a dialogue format encourages personal discussion. Mirjam Smend, whom we know well from Greenstyle Munich, introduces her recently launched sustainability magazine, Pureviu, and facilitates the morning talks.

Alongside standard bodies such as IVN and GOTS, which have taken part in INNATEX for many years, younger projects such as Fairmodel and the digital platform Retraced will be part of this special area. Fairtrade Germany, Femnet and the VDMD are to be found there too. Almost all of them are joining in with the Ask Me Anything dialouge format. Interested attendees can pre-book a slot of up to ten minutes for a personal discussion with the expert of their choice.

The supportive activities that had to be suspended during the pandemic are enjoying a comeback at this year’s summer fair: five newcomers to INNATEX designated DesignDiscoveries will be presenting their projects in another special area. Vegtus, from Barcelona, produces sneakers and other products from cactus leather. Natural textiles such as organic cotton are used by Lounge Cherie, a yoga fashion label.

Products for kids through to seniors, classics and streetwear, footwear and accessories
Nordlicht similarly relies on recyclable, renewable natural fibres for its outerwear, bags and accessories. The field of circular fashion is also served by the remaining two Design Discoveries. Both Nature is Future, with its handmade sneakers, and Freibeutler, with its functional rucksacks, make extensive use of recycled materials, while also paying due attention to broader sustainability aspects.

Regular INNATEX exhibitors include Lana, Chapati and Didymos, all of whom are also celebrating anniversaries. Labels such as Anokho with their colourful accessories in jacquard fabrics and Danish label Angel Circle with its plus-size fashion are exhibiting for the first time.

The new Swedish luxury womenswear brand presented its first couture runway show, ‘Midnight in the Persian Garden’, in the Salle des Textiles of Paris’ Musée des Arts et Métiers on Thursday, July 7th at 10.30am CET.

As earthly manifestations of an imaginary paradise, where architecture and horticulture were brought together into meticulous perfection, the Persian garden was the point of inspiration for ArdAzAei’s debut couture collection.
A poetic ode to the transcendent beauty of nature, ‘Midnight in the Persian Garden’ honours the incredibly complex systems of engineering required to create such sublime spaces through couture’s intricate techniques of smocking, pleating, embroidery, and appliqué.
 
An evening wear collection of red-carpet gowns and cocktail dresses, tailoring, jewellery and accessories, the collection sees a recurring reference to the Persian Rose and the Parrot Tulip, with the flowers informing silhouettes, three-dimensional sculptural forms, and elaborately embroidered jacquard.
 
Sharp tailoring in the form of contemporary women’s suits see sleek jackets and flared pants with hypnotic floral patterning evoking the undulating chaos of nature’s rhythms.
 
Another key theme running throughout the collection is the dynamic between mathematic forms of composition—a key element of Persian garden architecture—and the craft of the handmade, evident in crystal sequins custom-cut to the lines of the ArdAzAei logo, designed by M/M (Paris), which are then hand-embroidered to create organic forms.
 
The dynamic is also evident in an evening dress which sees 60 metres of fabric pleated and cut into geometric shapes appliqued to its top, while 100 hand-painted pleated fans go into the construction of its flared skirt.

In order to realise such intricate forms of construction, the collection is made in France in collaboration with highly skilled couture artisans focused on upholding the highest craftsmanship and material standards. The show venue, the ‘Salle des Textiles’ at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, pays homage to the country’s rare artisanal expertise.

“I have been searching for the long-lasting beauty and respect for nature that you’ll find in the Persian garden, some of which date back to as early as 4,000 BC,” says Bahareh Ardakani, ArdAzAei’s founder and creative director.
 
“This is reflected in our endeavours to certify part of our collection to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), and why this collection is made in France with the country’s leading couture artisans. Every detail is precious, and we want to express the feeling of walking through a Persian garden in the midnight to the smallest of details.”
 
With ateliers in Paris and Stockholm, ArdAzAei is where Persian heritage, Swedish modernism and French savoir-faire collide.

As a luxury womenswear brand engaged in the search for the sublime, ArdAzAei eschews trend-based consumption to instead offer made-to-measure couture, and one prêt-à-porter collection of formalwear per year, released in drops according to the seasons on the digital flagship ArdAzAei.com
 
ArdAzAei focuses on working with textile suppliers that can reveal the details of the origins and processes behind its products, tracing each fabric right through the supply chain of raw materials, yarn spinners, weavers, print and dying techniques.

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.

BOGNER celebrate its anniversary with the title “Off to New Horizons” and reinterpret its iconic silhouettes of the past years for today. The focus is on new perspectives and ways to merge craftsmanship with the latest innovations, always in search of synergies between luxury and progress.

The timely and the timeless come into balance at BOGNER Fall/Winter 2022, where a selection of sophisticated looks conveys a sense of loose elegance and ease. The quest for new horizons is reflected in a wide range of luxurious materials, which ensure cool comfort and performance glamour.

Archroma launches Smartrepel® Hydro SR liq, a new PFC-free* technology for the repellence of water-based stains.

The innovation has been developed in line with the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”.

Smartrepel® Hydro SR liq is the latest addition to a range of micro-encapsulated, highly biodegradable, non-PFC based technology offering durable water repellency to all cotton and synthetic fibers, and their blends.

The new Smartrepel® Hydro SR liq has been specifically developed for soil repellent finishes aiming to offer protection against water-based stains such as coffee, red wine and ketchup, in applications such as home textiles, table clothes upholstery, car seats and interior textiles.

The new grade offers the signature Smartrepel® high performance standard: a symbiosis of water protection, soil repellence, breathability and durability – with the soft hand-feel that is sought after by consumers.

The Smartrepel® product range supports the increasing adoption of eco-advanced materials and production processes by textile producers and brand owners adhering to standards such as ZDHC, bluesign and Oeko-tex.

Billi London is shaping the future of fashion with eco legwear. Founded by Sophie Billi-Hardwick and Marie Bouhier in November 2020, the pair’s goal was to create durable and comfortable hosiery that was no longer seen as disposable or for single-use.
 
Each piece is made with innovative enhanced degradable yarns Amni Soul Eco® nylon and ROICA ™ V550 elastane. Amni Soul Eco® is degrading in a time of 5 years*, 20x faster than the normal 40–100-year timeframe. The materials break down into biomass and biogas, create renewable energy and do not leave behind microplastics in landfill. The soft yet chic fabrics have revolutionised the legwear industry as well as pioneering a change across the fashion sector which rarely goes beyond just using recyclable materials.

This year, Billi London was selected as one of only five brands to present as an Organic Exhibitor at the Salon International de la Lingerie (SIL) from 18-20 June at Porte de Versailles in Paris.

*In landfill conditions. Reference system: ASTM D5511 - Std test 

Huntsman Textile Effects, a global leader in innovative solutions and environmentally sustainable products, will be at Outdoor Retailer in Denver, Colorado this week to present end-to-end solutions that enable outdoor apparel brands to achieve the functionality that outdoor adventurers crave with on-trend aesthetics and a high degree of sustainability.

Resource-saving solutions
Huntsman will highlight the AVITERA® SE Fast process. This technology delivers the lowest environmental impact for dyeing polyester-cellulosic (PES-CO) blends. It combines alkali-clearable TERASIL® W/WW disperse dyes and AVITERA® SE reactive dyes to cut processing time from around nine hours to just six, helping mills to reduce the water and energy required for production by up to 50% and to increase output by up to 25% or more. The new process also delivers outstanding wet-fastness to ensure that sportswear will not bleed or stain during home laundering or while in storage or transit.

EROPON® E3-SAVE is another next-generation water-saving innovation. An all-in-one textile auxiliary for PES processing, it allows pre-scouring, dyeing and reduction clearing to be combined in a single bath and eliminates the need for anti-foaming products, which shortens processing time and further saves water and energy.

Eco-friendly stain and rain resistance
Huntsman will also present eco-friendly finishes that repel water and stains to help garments look new for longer. Continuing its long-standing relationship with Chemours, Huntsman is highlighting Teflon™ EcoElite with Zelan™ R3 technology. The industry’s first renewably sourced water-repellent finish, it contains 63% plant-based materials and exceeds performance levels possible with traditional fluorinated technologies, preserving breathability while offering excellent water repellency and durability.

Another breakthrough for brands and mills is PHOBOTEX® RSY for outerwear. A next-generation non-fluorinated water-repellent finish, its performance is comparable to formulations based on per-fluorinated chemicals (PFCs), delivering sustainable protection that keeps the wearer dry, even in the most demanding environments. It is a perfect combination of excellent water repellency and extremely high wash durability.

Innovative odor control solutions
Huntsman will also showcase antimicrobial and odor-control solutions as part of its partnership with Sciessent. Sciessent’s latest anti-odor technology, NOBO™, has been specifically developed to reduce odors in natural and synthetic fabrics. It can be incorporated into virtually any fabric, making it ideal for everything from base layer and activewear tops to socks and underwear to hiking pants, chinos and hard shell jackets. It offers a cost-effective way to upgrade everyday garments.

In addition, the partners will also present Sciessent’s Agion Active X2®, a next-generation odor-control solution that combines advanced antimicrobial and odor-absorbing technologies to both capture and fight odor-causing bacteria, and Lava X2®, a standalone odor adsorption product and key component of Agion Active X2® that attracts, adsorbs and degrades odors for long-lasing odor protection.