From the Sector

and textile technology company Infinited Fiber Company’s work to build the world’s first commercial-scale Infinna™ textile fiber factory in Kemi, Finland, has progressed largely according to plan since the announcement of the factory site in June 2022. The company is increasing its focus on scaling Infinna™ production volume further as quickly as possible. This is in response to the continued and growing customer demand for the company’s high-quality regenerated textile fiber Infinna™. The market impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine – including the increased uncertainty on the global utility, commodity and financial markets – have highlighted the need to proceed rapidly with technology scaling on multiple fronts.
 
“We are not immune to the global market context in which we operate. The supply chain issues stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic are still wreaking havoc, and the ongoing war in Ukraine has dealt a heavy blow to the global utility, commodity, and financial markets – and to us. We are satisfied with the progress at the site of our planned commercial-scale factory and the opening of the factory remains our key priority. The current, unstable market environment has highlighted the need for us to also accelerate efforts to simultaneously pursue other avenues for scaling production, with the ultimate aim of serving our customers in the best possible way in the long run,” said Infinited Fiber Company CEO and cofounder Petri Alava.
 
Infinited Fiber Company said in June that it planned to build a factory to produce Infinna™, a textile fiber that can be created 100% from cotton-rich textile waste, at the site of a discontinued paper mill in Kemi, Finland. The factory is expected to create around 270 jobs in the area and to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons, equivalent to the fiber needed for about 100 million T-shirts. The future factory’s customer-base includes several of the world’s leading apparel companies, with most of the future production capacity already sold out for several years.
 
Since June, Infinited Fiber Company has advanced the site-specific basic engineering, recruitment planning, vendor selection, and permit processes according to plan. The limited component availability caused by the continuing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have, however, prolonged significantly the delivery times for some of the key equipment and machinery needed for the factory. As a result of these developments, Infinited Fiber Company has re-evaluated its overall factory project timeline. The first commercial fiber deliveries from Kemi are now expected to begin in January 2026. The scope of the project remains unchanged and construction work at the site is expected begin during 2023 as previously communicated.
 
In addition, the European energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine has caused the electricity prices in Finland to roughly triple, and the prices of some of the key chemicals needed in the fiber regeneration process have risen by some 200-300% since the start of the war.
 
“We of course don’t have a crystal ball. But according to our advisors and other experts, utility and commodity prices are forecast to normalize before 2026, when we now expect the first commercial fiber deliveries from Kemi to be shipped. In addition to the likely normalization of the market, the extended timeline enables us to undertake the necessary measures to develop the profitability of the future factory. The growing demand for Infinna™, despite the general turbulence, is an encouraging and clear indication of the fashion industry’s commitment to circularity,” said Petri Alava.

• BRANDS Fashion: Vertriebspartnerschaft mit Green Workwear

BRANDS Fashion, Anbieter für nachhaltige Workwear und Fashion Merchandise, bietet als erstes Unternehmen ein nachhaltiges Poloshirt an, das Industriewäsche-tauglich ist. Dazu kooperiert Unternehmen im Vertrieb mit Green Workwear. Unter dieser Marke wird vor allem Berufsbekleidung für das Gesundheitswesen angeboten, die aus nachhaltigen Geweben gefertigt nach hohen Öko- sowie Sozialstandards produziert wird und industriell wiederaufbereitet werden kann.

Das Poloshirt besteht aus GOTS-zertifizierter Bio-Baumwolle mit 30 % recyceltem Polyester und ist für die Industriewäsche nach ISO 15797 geeignet. Auch einem desinfizierenden Waschverfahren nach RKI hält das Polo stand. Die Produktionsstätte befindet sich in Indien – BRANDS Fashion gewährt allen Interessierten gern Einblick in die komplette Lieferkette.

Aktuell ist das Shirt in drei Farben in weiß, navy-blau und schwarz beziehbar, jeweils als Damenshirt und in einer Unisex-Variante mit Brusttasche. Sonderanfertigungen in anderen Farben sowie Individualisierungen wie nachträgliche Bestickung mit eigenem Logo sind möglich.

Exhibition: Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
May 5 – July 16, 2023

The Costume Institute’s spring 2023 exhibition will examine the work of Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019). Focusing on the designer’s stylistic vocabulary as expressed in aesthetic themes that appear time and again in his fashions from the 1950s to his final collection in 2019, the show will spotlight the German-born designer’s unique working methodology.

Most of the approximately 150 pieces on display will be accompanied by Lagerfeld’s sketches, which underscore his complex creative process and the collaborative relationships with his premières, or head seamstresses. Lagerfeld’s fluid lines united his designs for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his eponymous label, Karl Lagerfeld, creating a diverse and prolific body of work unparalleled in the history of fashion.

Within the scope of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) initiative “The Sustainability Pledge”, to improve transparency and traceability for sustainable garment and footwear supply chains, the Swiss company Haelixa traces Egyptian cotton from the source up to premium shirts.

The UNECE and United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been developing over the period 2019-2022 policy recommendations, implementation guidelines, a call to action, and a traceability toolbox including blockchain and DNA tracing solutions, which has been implemented in few different textile supply chains. Haelixa is part of the group of experts that develops such policy recommendations and conducts projects with key industry players to set traceability benchmarks and later develop them into standards.

Fashion brands are often responsible for complex global value chains and traceability is the needed tool to enable trust, transparency and credible sustainability. The magnitude of the supply chain traceability challenge can be overwhelming for brands, but the UNECE initiative framework facilitates the alignment with suppliers, provides the necessary guidance and the needed tools, with Haelixa as physical traceability provider.

To make the premium shirts traceable, Haelixa has developed a DNA marker to label the raw material, premium Egyptian cotton. The DNA marker has been applied as fine spray to GIZA 96 lint cotton in Borg Al Arab, Egypt and used to produce the finest fabric by Swiss manufacturer Weba. Once applied to the fibers, Haelixa’s DNA markers stay safely embedded into the material and withstand the industrial processing, ensuring traceability from the source until the finished garment. Samples of lint cotton, yarn, and fabric at different steps were verified with a test based on PCR, and the correct DNA marker was detected, thereby enabling the identification of the premium product, of its origin and the specific supply chain. The forensic data obtained were recorded on a blockchain system provided by UNECE. The marked fabric was used to make Hugo Boss cotton dress shirts. As one of the leading premium fashion brands and partner to the UNECE project, Hugo Boss is responsible for a complex global value chain and strives for high sustainability standards and is looking at traceability options.

“In cases like this one, where the material is of the highest quality and the product is shipped from one facility to another for premium processing, adding physical traceability is critical to ensure that the origin, quality and processing claims can be backed up" says Gediminas Mikutis, CTO and co-founder at Haelixa.

Maria Teresa Pisani, Economic Affairs Officer and Project Lead at UNECE, emphasized: “Traceability and transparency are crucial elements to protect environmental, social, and human rights along global value chains. At UNECE, we aim to enhance traceability approaches by exploring new and innovative solutions that help identify and address negative impacts in the fashion industry.”

SHIMA SEIKI announces a sales promotion package for the apparel industry together with KDDI, Linking 3D fashion design with cross-reality― realizing digital catalogs, VR showrooms and new customer experience allowing 360-degree viewing without actual samples

Leading fashion technologist SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan together with telecommunications company KDDI Corporation of Tokyo, Japan launched "XR Mannequin for APEXFiz," a sales promotion package that links SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz design software for the apparel industry with KDDI's XR (cross-reality) technology.

XR Mannequin for APEXFiz will be offered to the apparel industry. Using an XR Mannequin that enables viewers to check product images from any angle in 360 degrees on various devices, XR Mannequin for APEXFiz enables digital catalogues with 3D virtual sample image data of garments designed on APEXFiz design software, 360-degree VR showrooms, as well as digitally extended stores. It also realizes virtual proposals at exhibitions, showroom-style stores with no inventory, and user-friendly purchase experience on e-commerce sites, and more. It also allows users to reduce excess stock at stores and create new sales opportunities.

Eventually, by adding movement to models wearing Virtual Samples and rendering them on a cloud server, customers will be able to view high-resolution virtual fashion shows on their smartphones and other devices.

 Until now, the apparel industry has been making actual product samples in each of the planning and design stages of production. This process not only takes an enormous amount of time and cost, but generates waste of raw materials including fabric that require disposal. At the retail stage, stores also needed to have various sizes and colors in stock to address a wide range of customer preferences, resulting in excess inventory.

With SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz, designs can be evaluated without making actual samples, minimizing resources spent on sample production as well as lead time, enabling environmentally-friendly manufacturing.

In May 2022, KDDI developed a high-resolution XR mannequin for apparel sales, with support from Google Cloud. It enables various devices such as store signages and smartphones to check products from any angle in 360 degrees, enabling stores to sell products without maintaining inventory.

SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI combines APEXFiz and XR Mannequin to start providing XR Mannequin for APEXFiz. This brings DX solutions to all stages in the supply chain for the apparel industry, from planning and design to sample making, production, distribution, and retail sales. SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI will continue to create services together that link each other's products, to bring about a sustainable society by reducing excess stock, and providing a customer experience that gives peace of mind when purchasing products.

Digital Product Passports can now be processed at TEXAID’s largest sorting facility, thanks to circular.fashion’s intelligent sorting stations, which use RFID and NFC technology to improve the quality and consistency of manual sorting.

Digital Product Passports (DPP) have been recognised by the EU as an enabler for circular fashion and textiles. Technology company circular.fashion has been a leader in this effort, releasing the circularity.ID in 2018 and developing Intelligent Sorting Stations to bring ID based sorting to the textile reuse and recycling industry.

ID based sorting optimises the manual sorting process for reuse and recycling by giving sorters data to make decisions more accurately and consistently. TEXAID has, by adopting this technology, increased Europe’s capacity to process DPPs.

The installation and testing of TEXAID’s new Intelligent Sorting Stations was completed successfully shortly before the holiday period. Initial test results indicate that ID based sorting can make sorting decisions more reliable and more consistent. The team also sees a potential for ID based sorting to reduce training costs for new employees and maximise the value of their sorting decisions. This advancement was made through the CIRTEX project, funded through the KMU Innovativ funding programme from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The Intelligent Sorting Stations at TEXAID are now operational, and brands and retailers have the ability to adopt the circularity.ID as a Digital Product Passport and have textile products returned to TEXAID for ID based sorting.

• New fibre with a circular economy footprint obtained from cotton linters through a closed-loop process
• September 22-25, 2022, WSM-White Sustainable Milano, Visconti pavilion

For the second time in a row Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei takes part to White Sustainable Milano, the first fashion trade show entirely dedicated to the research and focus on new materials and technologies able to lead to a real ecological transition, developed in collaboration with Giusy Bettoni, CEO and founder C.L.A.S.S., and Marco Poli, Founder of The Style Lift.

After becoming a leader in formalwear lining, in the latest decade this fiber by Asahi Kasei has been able to evolve towards new consumer needs and desires, moving itself towards many different applications such as intimate, fashion, formalwear and activewear. Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei arrives at WSM with a new step into its journey and evolution in contemporary style with a new Staple-fibre that unlocks creative paths towards mew aesthetics, touch and sustainability.

A new yarn range that expands the company’s realm of applications for the fashion and luxury industry, including also knitwear, jersey and casualwear. Indeed, the fibre comes with a circular economy footprint obtained from cotton linters through a closed-loop process. Bemberg™ also ensures certified sustainability credentials through its transparent and traceable approach.

At WSM fair, the company proves it by unveiling a collection of t-shirts developed in collaboration with the MagnoLab smart network of Italian companies. Circular economy and environmental responsibility meet aesthetic research with a collaborative imprint.

The new t-shirt collection created in synergy with MagnoLab, a network of Biella-based companies bringing forward initiative and collabs related to sustainability and circular economy. Staple-fibre is the top ingredient of the collection. The cut t-shirts are presented both in sheer and blends with other certified fibers, including GOTS cottons and RWS wools, capable of enhancing both the hand of the final garment and the performance of the brand-new yarn.

Sustainable fashion brands YesAnd & Kornit Digital are teaming up with the global platform fostering innovation in the fashion industry, Fashinnovation. This month, the three like-minded companies will be unveiling a direct-to-garment printing collaboration.
 
YesAnd & Kornit Digital are (e)co-creating digital, on-demand printed certified organic blank merchandise, with graphic designs by artists, celebrities, influencers, musicians, fashion VIPs, NGO’s and more. Sharing core values of fashion & innovation & non-toxic, zero-waste production, and the fusion of technology to accelerate impact, this launch represents a cutting-edge and sustainable solution that’s accessible, traceable, customizable, and scalable. By joining forces, this collaboration will educate, engage, and activate both consumers and industry alike.
 
"We at Fashinnovation have a strong belief that the fashion industry must walk side-by-side with innovation, in order to ensure a sustainable future. We are thrilled for this collaboration with YesAnd and Kornit, as we hope to set an example when it comes to the power of unity. In our minds, it's not about a person's wins, but rather it's about our collective progress," said Jordana & Marcelo Guimaraes, Founders of Fashinnovation.
 
Debuting the first of their brand collaborations with farm-to-print organic merchandise, this collaboration will together minimize waste, water, chemical use, and energy, while celebrating climate action, manufacturing efficiencies, and sustainable innovation—representing a true and timely fashion statement. The brands will be debuting their select blank styles of digitally-printed designs from the initial capsule collection—including the YesAnd Frida Hoodie, Gloria Hoodie Tee, Dominique Tee, and the Samata Dress, with a graphic option aligning the missions of YesAnd, Fashinnovation and Kornit Digital, “Don’t Wear Clothes, Wear Change.”

15,493 visitors from 107 countries attended the second Istanbul Fashion Connection. Over 300 companies showed their collections on more than 15,000 square meters of exhibition space and provided information about their creative collections and their production capacities in the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, shoes, leather and fur, lingerie and sportswear.

There was busy business activity, the ideal near shore capacities combined with the range of fashion collections experienced great demand. Istanbul Fashion Connection was a meeting point with the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting on a common platform. All trade channels were represented at the fair, from large shopping malls and department store groups to wholesalers, international retail chains, multi-brand boutiques and online platforms.

The global turkish exports in the first half of this year amounted to US$ 12.4 billion, which corresponds to an annual growth of 11.6%. In the EU alone, the total for this period is US$7.7 billion, a growth of 14.7%. Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly and IHKIB, announced that ready-to-wear exports are to be increased to $40 billion in the medium term.

The organizers are expecting over 600 companies to attend next IFCO. The exhibitors for the sourcing area will take part in a separate hall. Leading companies have already registered with the association for this. Lingerie and bridal/evening wear will also be shown in their own hall, which seasonally only presents itself once a year in Turkey.
The participation of international fashion companies is encouraged, for which IFCO provides the springboard into the Eastern European market.

Leading computerized knitting machine manufacturer SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, together with its Turkish sales representative TETAS A.S., will participate in the CAITME 2022 Central Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition in Tashkent, Uzbekistan next month.

This is the first time SHIMA SEIKI products are shown at the exhibition. Uzbekistan has been keen to convert its industry from raw material supplier to garment exporter, and therefore its market offers new opportunities for development and implementation of new technology.

To that end, SHIMA SEIKI will exhibit its WHOLEGARMENT® knitting technology that can knit an entire garment and requires no post-process sewing. On display will be the MACH2VS WHOLEGARMENT® knitting machine. The flexible and versatile MACH2VS is capable of knitting a range of production styles. As a conventional shaping machine, it is capable of all-needle knitting in its available range of 8 to 18 gauge, while WHOLEGARMENT® knitwear can be produced in half-gauge fabrics. The range of usable yarn and material has increased as well, thanks to i-DSCS＋DTC® as standard equipment. The R2CARRIAGE® system that yields quicker carriage returns for greater efficiency, now features a lighter carriage for even higher productivity. MACH2VS is even capable of gaugeless knitting whereby a number of different gauges can be knit into a single garment.

Meanwhile the N.SSR112 computerized flat knitting machine offers leading technology in an economical yet reliable package. Featuring industry-leading innovations such as the R2CARRIAGE®, spring-type moveable sinker, DSCS® Digital Stitch Control System, stitch presser and takedown comb, Made-in-Japan quality, reliability, productivity, user-friendliness and cost-performance combine to satisfy the high expectations of the world's fashion industry.

Demonstrations will be performed on SHIMA SEIKI's SDS®-ONE APEX4 design system. At the core of the company’s "Total Fashion System" concept, SDS®-ONE APEX4 provides comprehensive support throughout the production supply chain, integrating production into one smooth and efficient workflow from yarn development, product planning and design, to production and even sales promotion. Especially effective is the way SDS®-ONE APEX4 improves on the design evaluation process with its ultra-realistic simulation capability, whereby virtual samples replace physical sampling, consequently reducing time, cost and material that otherwise go to waste. Digital prototyping using virtual samples on SDS®-ONE APEX4 help to digitally transform the fashion supply chain for realizing sustainable manufacturing