From the Sector

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has identified new research areas where further regulatory scientific research is needed to enhance protection of human health and the environment and strengthen chemicals safety. 

In its updated Key Areas of Regulatory Challenge Report, ECHA calls for targeted research to address gaps in environmental risk assessment and support evidence-based decisions on chemical safety across the EU.

New areas for regulatory science research

• Environmental impacts of chemicals at ecosystem level, to strengthen the link between risk assessment, biodiversity protection and socio-economic decision-making;
• Mobility of persistent substances, including the need for improved methods and models to identify contaminants that can spread widely in water systems; and
• Resistance to biocides, requiring harmonised methods to assess risks and ensure continued effectiveness of treatments.

Strengthening ECHA’s regulatory science focus
Dr Sharon McGuinness, ECHA’s Executive Director, said:
"This report reflects ECHA’s strengthened focus on regulatory science, aligning with our vision of chemical safety through science, collaboration and knowledge. We encourage the research community to read the report and work to build the evidence base for future decision-making on chemicals safety.

"The establishment of our new Science Council will ensure our scientific efforts are consistent across the Agency and closely linked to our regulatory needs."
Key Areas of Regulatory Challenge 

The report is part of ECHA’s evolving research agenda and a practical reference for researchers and policymakers, highlighting where scientific advances can deliver the greatest regulatory value. It identifies priority areas where further scientific work is needed to support EU chemicals legislation. The list of research needs is not exhaustive.

The report was originally developed to support the work under the Partnership for the assessment of risk from chemicals (PARC), a Horizon Europe programme aiming to advance risk assessment and strengthen collaboration between scientists and regulators.

More than 620 talents, nine editions, one milestone: Neo.Fashion. celebrates its 10th edition this July and announces a new organizational structure — a clear statement of commitment to the long-term development of emerging talent in the German fashion industry. 

Germany’s most versatile platform for emerging fashion talent marks its 10th anniversary with a strategic repositioning and a new venue: For its 10th edition, Neo.Fashion. will take place during Berlin Fashion Week from July 2 to 4, 2026, in a former industrial hall at “Neues Ufer 13” in Berlin-Moabit. The program includes the Best Graduates Shows and Aspiring Designer Shows, alongside the presentation of the Neo.Fashion. Award and the Digital Fashion Award. To date, ten universities from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Ukraine have confirmed their participation. A strong emphasis on sustainability defines this year’s collections. With the establishment of the non-profit Neo.Fashion. e.V. in 2025, the initiative has further professionalized its organizational structure, creating a more robust foundation for the long-term promotion of emerging design talent. 
 
What started in 2017 as a vision has since become a defining fixture for young fashion designers across Germany: Neo.Fashion. is celebrating its 10th edition this year. Since the inaugural graduate show in the fall of 2017 at Motorwerk Weißensee in Berlin, more than 620 graduates from across the country have presented their final collections on the Neo.Fashion. stage. In 2019, the platform became an official part of Berlin Fashion Week, cementing its place in the international fashion calendar. With the Best Graduates Shows, the Aspiring Designer Shows, the Neo.Fashion. Award, and the Digital Fashion Award — launched for the first time last year — Neo.Fashion. has grown into a unique ecosystem that goes far beyond a pure presentation platform. 

The founding of the nonprofit Neo.Fashion. e.V. in 2025 marks a pivotal step toward sustained, structured talent development. A newly expanded organizational team now manages the full range of Neo.Fashion. activities — from university coordination and communications to technical production, industry partnerships, textile research, and startup outreach. Workshops, competitions, mentoring programs, and international collaborations will be part of the platform’s expanded offering going forward. 

Neo.Fashion. is also making a geographic move. From July 2 through 4, 2026 — as always, in sync with Berlin Fashion Week — the event relocates to “Neues Ufer 13” (“New Shore 13”) in the Berlin district of Moabit: a former industrial hall whose raw, urban aesthetic provides an authentic backdrop for young, uncharted fashion voices. “We see ‘Neues Ufer’ as a metaphor — for us as a format that has reinvented itself time and again over ten years, and for the talents who show their collections here with a new shore as their destination,” says Jens Zander, CEO of brand experience agency S49, founder of Neo.Fashion., and director of the new Neo.Fashion. e.V., where he oversees production and strategic development. 

More than ten professional runway shows are planned, featuring selected graduates from nearly all German fashion schools presenting their collections. Each show will spotlight six to eight emerging designers. In total, up to 80 participants will take the stage in July, presenting their work to a broad public audience—well beyond the industry itself. This open and inclusive approach sets Neo.Fashion apart from other formats. 
Ten universities have already confirmed their participation: Hochschule Pforzheim (Pforzheim), Hochschule Niederrhein (Krefeld, Mönchengladbach), AMD Akademie Mode & Design (Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Munich), Hochschule Reutlingen (Reutlingen), Hochschule Hannover (Hannover), Hochschule Bielefeld (Bielefeld), Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin – HTW Berlin (Berlin), Hochschule Macromedia (Berlin), Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle (Halle/Saale), and HAW Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences (Hamburg). On the international side: the University of Art and Design Linz (Linz, Austria), the Academy of Art and Design Basel – HGK FHNW (Basel, Switzerland), Fashion Art Toronto (Toronto, Canada), and the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design – KNUTD (Kyiv, Ukraine). 

One theme runs through nearly every collection shown at Neo.Fashion.: sustainability. What was a niche concern a decade ago is now a core driver of young designers’ creative work. From material sourcing and production processes to circular design principles, Neo.Fashion. graduates are rethinking fashion from the ground up — and setting new standards for a responsible future in the industry. Neo.Fashion. actively supports this shift, providing space for innovative, sustainable approaches. 

Nurturing Talent as an Investment in the Future 
Germany’s fashion economy — including retail, startups, and FashionTech — contributes approximately €70 billion to the country’s GDP and supports around one million jobs, according to research by Oxford Economics commissioned by the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The German textile and apparel industry generates around €32 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 120,000 people across approximately 1,400 companies. The German apparel market as a whole recorded revenues of around €67.7 billion in 2025. 

Maintaining and growing that position demands a consistent pipeline of new talent. Platforms like Neo.Fashion. play a central role in bridging the gap between education and professional entry — giving emerging designers the visibility and industry connections they need to launch their careers. 

Success Stories and International Partnerships 
The impact of Neo.Fashion. as a launchpad for young designers is evident in the careers that have followed: many alumni who showed their first collections on the Neo.Fashion. runway have since returned with their own labels — and are now fixtures in the Berlin Fashion Week calendar. 

Particularly noteworthy is the partnership with Ukrainian Fashion Week, established in 2022, which gives Ukrainian design talent an international platform despite the difficult situation in their home country. Strategic partners including the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) and the German Textile and Fashion Federation (Gesamtverband textil+mode) support Neo.Fashion. in broadening its reach and opening doors into the industry for emerging designers. 

Neo.Fashion. — The Ecosystem 
Best Graduates Show: The flagship show of Neo.Fashion. during Berlin Fashion Week, in which the best final collections from fashion design students across Germany are presented in professional runway shows. 

Neo.Fashion. Award: An award recognizing outstanding emerging talent distinguished by exceptional creativity, innovation, or sustainability in their collections — designers who are setting the agenda for the future of the industry. 

Aspiring Designer Shows: A platform for young designers who have already taken their first steps toward independence and are building their own labels — giving them the opportunity to present their current collections to a broad professional audience. 

Digital Fashion Award: Launched in 2025, this award signals a shift in how fashion engages with the digital world — treating it not just as a tool, but as a creative space in its own right. For Neo.Fashion., it marks a key step in the evolution of the format and opens a new chapter in supporting digital emerging talent. 

• B2B textiles are textile-based products used in commercial or industrial settings, rather than by consumers  
• While B2B textiles are considered better positioned for circularity than the B2C textile sector, solutions remain early-stage and have not yet scaled in line with the volume of waste generated 
• New research examines key barriers to circularity across five priority sub-sectors and the opportunities to unlock greater circularity  

Circular solutions for B2B textiles have yet to scale in line with the volume of waste generated, according to new research by Reconomy, the international circular economy specialist. 

B2B textiles include textile-based products used for commercial or industrial purposes such as soft furnishings, automotive interiors, agricultural textiles and construction materials rather than clothing worn by consumers. While these sectors are widely considered to be better positioned for circularity than the B2C sector due to established logistics and the fact that B2B textiles are typically more homogenous in material composition, solutions remain underdeveloped and have not yet scaled, leaving large volumes of material flowing into downcycling or disposal.   

The research examines waste flows and market dynamics across five priority B2B textile categories, including: soft furnishings; upholstery and furniture textiles; automotive textiles; agricultural textiles; and geotextiles and construction textiles. 

Across all five, the findings point to a common challenge, namely that while circularity is technically possible, it is impeded in practice by weak sorting, limited aggregation, poor data visibility and underdeveloped end-markets – meaning materials that could be reused or recycled are instead lost from the system. 

Within UK B2B soft furnishings, for example, the research found that products are dominated by bed, bath and table linen used by the hospitality and healthcare sectors which generate large waste flows. Despite the strong underlying recycling potential of these materials, reuse is structurally constrained by hygiene requirements and low unit value, resulting in most volumes sent to energy-from-waste facilities or landfill.  

The research identifies that the primary opportunity for the industry lies upstream, in improving sorting and aggregation at industrial laundries, which act as the key control point for circular and end-of-life material routing. 

The report comes amid rising waste volumes, with more than 6,000 tonnes of hospitality textiles lost each year in the UK and four million linen items lost annually by the NHS, including bed sheets, pillowcases and surgical gowns. 
 
Commenting, Aimee Campanella, Development Director for Textiles EPR at Reconomy, said: “While much discussion around textiles circularity has centred on apparel, non-apparel textiles represent a significant adjacent area that has been largely overlooked. Given our expertise in textiles for clothing and footwear, we commissioned this new research to provide the industry with greater clarity on the structural barriers holding circularity back, and what needs to change to accelerate circular models that reduce waste, cut carbon emissions and lower costs for businesses.”