From the Sector

Source Fashion opens Tuesday, 8th July, at Olympia London, welcoming buyers, retailers, and sourcing professionals from around the world. Running until 10th July 2025, the show will host over 250 makers and manufacturers from over 22 key sourcing regions, including UK, Portugal, Morocco, India, Nepal, Italy, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Türkiye, France, and China, to name just a few.
 
With leading retailers and brands such as AllSaints, Burberry, Frasers, French Connection, Gymshark, Harrods, JD Sports, John Lewis, JoJo Maman Bebe, Killstar, Lyle & Scott, Next, Paul Smith, Primark, River Island, Selfridges, Tottenham Hotspur, Victoria Beckham, Zalando, and more, already pre-registered, Source Fashion is set to be a must-attend event for businesses looking to source responsibly and discover innovative solutions to industry challenges. 
 
Exhibitor Highlights
Returning this season, Amplebox Ltd is a Leicester-based womenswear manufacturer with over 30 years' experience delivering fast-turnaround outerwear to major UK and European retailers. Specialising in design-to-delivery solutions, the company has sharpened its focus on sustainability and ethical production.
 
Deni Mai, based in Istanbul with design offices in London and LA, brings premium denim and knitwear across womenswear, menswear, and childrenswear. Known for flexible minimums, quick lead times, and sustainable techniques like laser finishing, they offer full-service production tailored to today’s market demands.
 
Glovika, a rising Nigerian label from Abuja, showcases bold, bespoke garments that fuse contemporary style with vibrant African textiles. Their presence underscores the global momentum behind African fashion and the demand for culturally rich, responsibly made collections.
 
Exhibiting as part of the Made in Ethiopia initiative, a delegation of Ethiopian manufacturers will showcase the country’s growing strength in sustainable apparel production. Supported by the Sustainable Industrial Clusters project (backed by the British and German governments), the pavilion highlights Ethiopia’s capacity as a reliable sourcing destination, with over 100,000 workers in the sector and a focus on ethical manufacturing within its industrial parks. With duty-free access to the UK under the EBA agreement, Ethiopian producers are poised to connect with international buyers seeking scalable, responsible solutions.
 
From Insight to Impact: Exploring Trends, Innovation, and Ideas on the Source Stage
Visitors can immerse themselves in the latest trends and insights shaping responsible fashion with the Source Catwalk Show, presented three times daily. This season, the catwalk puts pre-loved garments centre stage through a new partnership with leading circular fashion platform Reskinned. Curated by the Source Fashion team, the show features womenswear looks built from exhibitor collections and pre-loved pieces, highlighting how resale, reuse, and repurposing can deliver trend-led, high-impact style. The result is a bold, visual statement that proves pre-loved fashion is not only sustainable, but undeniably stylish.
 
Source Fashion’s thought-leading content programme returns this July with a sharp focus on how to thrive in a volatile world. Running across two stages over three days, the agenda tackles the real challenges facing fashion businesses today, from supply chain resilience and ethical sourcing to pricing pressures and changing consumer behaviour. Back by popular demand, the Source Debates Stage delivers bold, provocative conversations designed to spark honest reflection and collective problem-solving. 
 
Key Speaker Highlights 

• Finding clarity from chaos – leading with purpose. Fireside chat, Lynda Petherick, Chief Information Officer, New Look and Non-Executive Director, British Fashion Council shares honest reflections on steering teams through disruption.
• Leading and collaborating through geopolitical and economic upheaval. Hash Ladha, Former CEO, Jigsaw delves into how strong internal alignment, cross-functional communication, and strategic supplier partnerships can build resilience and help businesses navigate global instability with confidence.
• The new ‘New’ - is pre-loved the future of fashion? Fashion Director and renowned sustainability advocate Bay Garnett explores whether the explosion of second-hand marketplaces and rental platforms represents a lasting shift or passing trend.
• When will consumers really pay more – are they ready? Panel with Anna Berry, Co-Founder and Director, Retail 100, Berni Yates, Knowledge Exchange Lead, CSM and Mark Sumner, Textiles Lead, WRAP
• Rethinking the rules - what would a smarter fashion system look like? Mark Sumner, Textiles Programme Lead – WRAP on Source Debates Stage to reimagine fashion’s supply chain from the ground up

Cascale, formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, has published a white paper that details how the organization’s Higg Brand & Retail Module (BRM) can help companies meet their regulatory reporting obligations under European Union (EU) law. The paper, titled “How the Higg BRM Supports CSRD Reporting Obligations,” speaks specifically to how the tool is continually evolving to support companies in meeting their regulatory reporting requirements under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

In the face of today’s challenging and ever-changing legislative landscape, brands and retailers require reliable tools to support them in meeting compliance requirements. The Higg BRM is the leading framework specific to the textile, apparel, and footwear industry designed for brands and retailers to evaluate, assess, and improve Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. The tool assesses 11 critical impact areas along global value chains to foster a holistic approach to sustainability, and is available on Worldly, a sustainability data and insights platform.

The Higg BRM has evolved to assist brands and retailers in fulfilling reporting obligations, while also supporting companies in the development of consistent corporate sustainability strategies to streamline efforts and reduce redundancy across sustainability initiatives. Beginning in 2024, Cascale conducted a thorough analysis of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which provides specific guidance on how companies should report on sustainability. Cascale mapped how the standards align with the Higg BRM, offering a clear pathway for organizations aiming to comply with ESRS. As detailed in the white paper, there is a 65 percent content overlap between the ESRS and the Higg BRM.

While the Higg BRM aligns broadly with ESRS on sustainability topics, it also delves deeper into issues that are specific to the textile, apparel, and footwear sector. This focus on sector-specific material issues ensures Higg BRM users can expect a comprehensive tool that not only meets general reporting requirements but also emphasizes the nuances and priorities unique to the industry.

Cascale is currently hosting an ongoing webinar series titled “Navigating Legislation & the Higg Index,” which highlights how the Higg Index tools serve as a valuable resource and can offer specific guidance on reporting requirements. The most recent webinar, co-hosted by Cascale and Worldly, provided an in-depth discussion on how the Higg BRM intersects with key pieces of legislation at the EU level, such as the CSRD.

Cascale is committed to continuously evolving, updating, and refining the Higg Index to meet the needs of its members, Higg Index users, and the industry. In collaboration with Worldly, the Higg BRM will be further refined to enhance alignment with the CSRD and other relevant regulations. By identifying and bridging gaps, the Higg BRM continues to support stakeholders in achieving a more structured and transparent approach to sustainability reporting.

The announcement of a new effluent treatment plant (ETP) marks a milestone in Denim Expert's journey towards sustainability. This upcoming facility is a testament to the company's dedication to reducing its ecological footprint and safeguarding local ecosystems through advanced water management techniques.

The new Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) being developed by Denim Expert strives for 100% wastewater recycling. As the ETP rises from concept to reality, Denim Expert embarks on a transition towards its next horizon: aligning with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Wastewater Guidelines Version 2.0.

Denim Expert's proactive approach to sustainability has been recognized on a global scale. The company has been named 'New Champion' by the World Economic Forum and has partnered with organizations such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Jeans Redesign program. As one of the first factories to join the Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) and in the process of implementing the 3E program, Denim Expert is dedicated to achieving 100% water reuse and full reliance on solar energy, further solidifying its commitment to driving positive environmental change.

• Presenting Sustainable Apparel Solutions

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel (Freudenberg) will be part of the Performance Days from November 03 to 04, 2022 in Munich, Germany. The specialist in woven, knitted, weft and nonwoven interlinings will showcase the latest sustainable products for sportswear, workwear, sportive fashion and athleisure collections.

Freudenberg will showcase its full range of European and global products being part of its House of Sustainability, Active Range and the comfortemp® brand offering high-performance thermal insulation for outdoor and active wear.

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel’s House of Sustainability strives to minimize the company’s footprint by reducing the environmental impact of the company’s manufacturing processes to a minimum. At the same time, Freudenberg maximizes its handprint by developing products enabling customers to manufacture more efficiently and sustainably or to consume fewer valuable resources. This initiative is based on seven product pillars with more than 500 sustainable products, among them recycled general interlinings, recyclable, energy-saving or biodegradable materials, sustainable cotton, nature-based solutions and recycled thermal insulations and linings.

Being part of the House of Sustainability, Freudenberg’s Active Range stands for high-performance solutions for stretch active and outdoor active wear including interlinings, tapes, linings, bonding solutions and measuring tools. Most materials of this portfolio are made of at least 70% recycled materials and thus cater to customers’ sustainability goals.

CALZEDONIA chooses products belonging to the GREEN LABEL line by ILUNA GROUP for its new Eco Collection of tights. They are GRS (Global Recycled Standard) and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified and made with recycled yarns.

The ingredients used in the collection are:

• Q-NOVA® by Fulgar, an eco-sustainable nylon 6.6 fiber obtained from regenerated raw materials through a mechanical process that does not involve the use of chemical materials. It has been certified with the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and for some time now has been part of the HIGG INDEX, the index developed by SAC (Sustainable Apparel Coalition) evaluating the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of a garment;
• ROICA™ EF by Asahi Kasei, one of the first recycled stretch yarns certified with Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

This collaboration confirms Iluna's commitment to creating products with a environmental responsibility thanks to a technological and corporate system that covers the entire perimeter of production, from materials to processing, dyeing and finishing. An industrial reality that increasingly integrates the value of responsibility, as demonstrated by the fact that the percentage of sustainable production has risen from 3% in 2018 to 52% in 2021.

All of Sateri’s five viscose mills in China have undergone independent evaluation of their social and labour practices, having completed the Higg Facility Social and Labour Module (FSLM) audit and achieved a consistent high score of above 80%.

A member of the RGE group of companies, Sateri is also one of the world’s first viscose producers to have completed the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) assessment, with the similar verified high score of over 80% for all its viscose mills.

Developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a global, multi-stakeholder non-profit alliance for the fashion industry, the Higg Index is a suite of tools that enables brands, retailers and facilities of all sizes to accurately measure and score a company or product’s sustainability performance.

The FSLM tool of the Higg Index holistically assesses working conditions of the mills, including fair wages and compensation, health & safety, respectful treatment of employees etc; while the FEM tool focuses more on environmental performance, including energy consumption, greenhouse gas missions, water use, chemical and waste management.

Shanghai - Sateri has signed the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, becoming the first viscose producer in China to support this global fashion agenda. An initiative convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this charter calls on the fashion industry to support the goals of the Paris Agreement in limiting global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, by achieving 30 per cent aggregate reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, including the supply chain.

Niclas Svenningsen, Manager of Global Climate Action, UNFCCC, said, “UNFCCC is excited to have Sateri joining the Fashion Industry Charter on Climate Action and committing towards global climate action as the first Chinese viscose producer to do so. We hope that it will inspire more textile companies from China to join and take action.”

As a signatory of the Charter, Sateri looks forward to participating in relevant Working Groups which bring together stakeholders and experts in the fashion and textile sectors. In recent months, Sateri has joined several other leading industry multi-stakeholder associations. These include the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), China Association of Circular Economy (CACE), and the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA).

Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said, “Sateri is committed to growing our business as sustainably as we can. Our adoption of the Fashion Charter goals is a bold leap but we believe that pushing the boundaries is necessary. We are also stepping up on our engagement with industry partners to be part of the collective action to accelerate efforts against climate change.  As we formulate Sateri Vision 2030 for a sustainable business, carbon reduction will be one of our key focus areas”.

In addition to stepping up greenhouse gas emission reductions in its own operations, the company will continue to support decarbonisation efforts of the downstream textile value chain. Late last year, in collaboration with the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), a Climate Leadership Whitepaper was published. The paper analysed how innovation in Sateri’s EcoCosy® fibre products help reduce carbon emission during yarn and fabric manufacturing stages, and also proposed next steps in achieving industry-wide emission reduction goals.   

Sateri attained an ‘A-‘ score in CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) for Climate Change in 2019;  a score which is higher than the ‘C’ average globally, in Asia, as well as in the Textiles and Fabric Goods sector.