From the Sector

How can economic success be linked with product responsibility and more sustainability? More than 300 players and Hohenstein customers in the Indian textile industry accepted Hohenstein India's invitation to attend the Global Sustainability Conference in Gurugram, India, on November 10, 2022, and to obtain possible solutions to this question. The following day, numerous invited guests gathered at the Hohenstein laboratory site in Gurugram for the ceremonial inauguration of a new leather & footwear laboratory, the first of its kind in the global Hohenstein Competence Network. 

With the ceremonial opening by Prof. Dr. Mecheels, Dr. Christof Madinger, COO Hohenstein HTTI and Dr. Helmut Krause, Hohenstein Technical Director Softlines & Shoes, the starting signal was given for the new leather & footwear laboratory at the laboratory site in Gurugram on November 11, 2022. During tours, visitors were able to get a personal impression of the future focus of work on site: testing for harmful substances in accordance with the LEATHER STANDARD RSL and the subsequent certification of leather and footwear products in accordance with the OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD will in future ensure a lower market risk for brands, retailers and suppliers and comprehensive and reliable safety for consumers.

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.

Archroma, a global leader in sustainable specialty chemicals and solutions and a portfolio company of U.S.-based private investment firm SK Capital Partners (“SK Capital”), announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Textile Effects business (“Textile Effects”) from Huntsman Corporation. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to take place in the first half of 2023.

Since its formation in 2013, through a series of mergers & acquisitions, as well as internal investments in R&D, manufacturing and service capabilities, Archroma has been building a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to serve the emerging needs of the textile industry. The combination with Textile Effects and its rich historical roots of Huntsman and Ciba Specialties will create a technology powerhouse that will include Archroma’s legacy heritages of Sandoz, Hoechst, Clariant, BASF and Dohmen who have been at the cutting edge of the textile industry for decades, and together will continue to serve customers for years to come.

Both Archroma and Textile Effects are founding members of Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI), an alliance of leading chemical companies that strives to empower the textile and leather industries to apply sustainable, state-of-the-art chemistry solutions that protect factory workers, local communities, consumers and the environment.

Since 85 years, Riri Group is a point of reference for the creation of details of style providing fashion brands with accessories, including zippers, buttons, metal components, and fashion jewels. Fashion is necessarily a reflection of social changes, cultural turmoil, popular aspirations, and the needs of the final customer: from these assumptions comes Riri Group’s FW 23-24 collection. The newly released collection presents two dynamic paths to explore the needs of the market targeting self-expression through style: Extreme Outverse and Fluid Glamour.

EXTREME OUTVERSE: Accessories for accessing multidimensionality
Art, space travels and the metaverse experience provide the inspiration for transparent and glossy digital prints, laser markings, use of colored paints, use of jacquard ribbon and iridescent lurex, invisible button caps, PVD finishes (rainbow, matt black), reverse coated nylon zips.

FLUID GLAMOUR: Redefine infinitely (elegance) standard
Fluid Glamour expands the processes of representing the individual in an elegant interpretation of its complexity. This concept of fluidity and uniqueness meets the new frontier of the space tourism race and intergalactic style to create futuristic atmospheres and sculptural silhouettes: rhinestones and black stones developed by Amom, wool yarns, jacquard, and a variety of tapes – metallised genuine leather and eco-leather, GOTS-certified cotton and GRS-certified recycled polyester, knitwear, white with silver lurex – that reflect the space exploration and dark desert landscapes.

• Bluesign announces partnership with SCTI

Bluesign has teamed up with Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI^TM) to develop a sustainable chemistry index that shall provide a standard communication guide for chemical suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and NGOs.

The first-of-its-kind index is intended to inspire change in the industry by making it easier for stakeholders to assess the sustainability of textile chemical products against the highest standards while safeguarding the intellectual property (IP) of participating chemical companies. IP protection is critical to ensuring ongoing investment in sustainable solutions.

Chemical products, such as dyes and textile auxiliaries, are often characterized with the attribute of “free of a certain substance”. Rather than prioritizing ingredients only, the bluesign^® SYSTEM already goes beyond this. The chemicals and the production site where they were created must meet certain criteria regarding environmental performance, occupational health and safety, and product stewardship performance to be bluesign^® APPROVED.

The sustainable chemistry index will be reserved for substances that offer transparency on a number of additional indicators including the chemical’s circularity viability, greenhouse gas emissions during production, and the source of the raw materials. The sustainable chemistry index will also require that the downstream use of the chemical is optimized, meaning, for example, that it promotes resource saving in textile finishing. Additionally, excellent corporate governance paired with well-defined environmental and social (ESG) goals will be a pre-condition.

SCTI^TM is an alliance of leading chemical companies that strives to empower the textile and leather industries to apply sustainable, state-of-the-art chemistry solutions that protect factory workers, local communities, consumers and the environment.

Bluesign will implement and manage the sustainable chemistry index as an independent authority with a holistic approach to helping companies throughout the textile supply chain improve their sustainability performance.

When adidas and Yohji Yamamoto first took to the runway at Paris Fashion week in October 2002 for the inaugural Y-3 collection, the brand with the Three Stripes and the avant-garde Japanese designer changed the worlds of fashion and sportswear. Over ten years later, in 2013, Y-3 introduced one of its most loved sneakers to date – the Y-3 QASA HIGH. Upon arrival, the boundary pushing silhouette made an instant impact in culture, and, having been worn by many of the world’s most forward thinking tastemakers, continues to do so to this day. Now, as adidas and Yohji Yamamoto ring in 20 years of collaboration, the iconic sneaker makes its timely return.

With Y-3 looking back on key moments, designs, materials, and silhouettes from the brand’s history, the Y-3 QASA HIGH once again takes center stage. Instantly identifiable by its expressive EVA outsole, which borrows from adidas’ 90s Tubular running technology, the daring silhouette features a neoprene sock-like upper with stretch mesh, elasticated strapping, a leather toe-cap, and suede heel lining. The avant-garde take on a high top trainer is then completed with a Poron® performance sockliner for cushioning.

Following their merger, Freudenberg Performance Materials, Low & Bonar, Mehler Texnologies® and Filc will be presenting their innovative solutions at a joint stand for the first time at this year’s techtextil exhibition in Frankfurt. The focus is on sustainability. Among the highlights are Evolon® RE, a microfilament textile for a wide variety of applications and markets, FILFLEX, a sustainable padding material for car seat covers, and the truck tarpaulin POLYMAR® 8556 ECO CF. Customers will find the world's leading manufacturer of technical textiles at Stand C51 in Hall 12.1.

Evolon® textiles made from recycled PET
With Evolon® RE, Freudenberg Performance Materials is presenting an even more sustainable version of its high-performance microfilament textiles. Evolon® RE is manufactured from an average of 70% recycled polyester, which the company makes by cycling post-consumer PET bottles in-house. Evolon® RE products are available for various applications such as technical packaging, in weights currently ranging from 80g/sqm to 300g/sqm. For high-tech wiping, lightweight Evolon® RE is now available starting from 30g/sqm. The material meets the needs of cleaning specialists for more sustainable wiping solutions. Evolon® RE offers the same high quality and material performance as all other Evolon® textiles.

Tarpaulins made from recycled raw materials presented by Mehler Texnologies®
When it comes to tarpaulins on trucks, both protection of the transport cargo and advertising for the transport company place high demands on the material. Mehler Texnologies® tarpaulin material ranks among the premium products for truck tarpaulins. The company is a pioneer in sustainable development and is showcasing POLYMAR® 8556 ECO CF. This unique material has a 25% share of recycled raw materials in the coating mass. In addition, the material is made with 100% R-PES yarns. The input materials undergo a complex separation and filtering process.

Sustainable padding material for automotive and furniture seat covers presented by FILC
FILFLEX is a soft and flexible padding layer made from nonwovens for automotive and furniture seat covers. It prevents leather from creasing and improves the dimensional stability of the seat covers. In terms of sustainability, its benefit is its 100% PET composition, making FILFLEX easy to recycle. FILFLEX offers customers easier handling during sewing and the seat covering process. End users benefit from the high seating comfort.

The BOGNER High Summer 2022 collection is inspired by the life on the amalfi coast in Italy - luxurious comfort, understated glamour and the typical BOGNER loose elegance. High summer color shades meet new, natural materials for a cool look when it's hot outside. Colorful and comfortable for women in iconic blousons and jackets in memory nylon, a selection of sporty and luxurious shorts in leather, colored denim and terry or summer dresses with unique prints and silhouettes. For men, 100% merino wool jackets, loose suits, outdoor jackets and beach shirts are available for a cool look that conveys subtle glamour and sporty touch.

The vision of the OEKO-TEX® Association, which was founded in March 1992 through a partnership between the Hohenstein Research Institute and the Austrian Textile Research Institute (OETI), is still reflected today in the organization's core values: trust, safety, and sustainability. For three decades, OEKO-TEX® has pursued the goal of building trust for companies and consumers and enabling them to make responsible decisions to protect people and the planet. "Our services bring transparency to the international textile and leather industry supply chains," says OEKO-TEX® Secretary General Georg Dieners. "They enable all stakeholders to make mindful decisions that help preserve our planet for future generations."

OEKO-TEX® market leadership
In 1992, 20 years before the United Nations announced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), OEKO-TEX® launched STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®, now one of the best-known labels for product safety.
"It emerged from the Schadstoffgeprüft nach ÖTN 100(tested for harmful substances according to ÖTN 100), developed by OETI in 1989 to address increasing public interest in textile ecology and health," the Austrian Textile Research Institute reminds us. The limit values and test methods on which STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® is based were internationally standardized and are adapted to the latest scientific findings and legislation at least once a year - a principle that is applied to all OEKO-TEX® standards. Prof. Dr. Stefan Mecheels, the owner of the textile testing service provider Hohenstein, adds: "From the very beginning, we have considered the needs of all players in the textile value chain and continue to create solutions for current and future market requirements."

At least seven SDGs are firmly integrated into the OEKO-TEX® product portfolio. For example, Good Health & Well-Being (SDG 3) and Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG 6) are reflected in the STeP by OEKO-TEX® factory certification, and Responsible Consumption & Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13) are implemented through the comprehensive MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® product label.

Today, the international association consists of 17 independent research and testing institutes focused on textile and leather, with contact offices in over 60 countries. They are responsible for the joint development of the test methods and limit values in the OEKO-TEX® Standards and carry out laboratory tests and factory audits according to globally uniform specifications. These comprehensive product and process audits to ensure appropriate risk management, consumer and environmental protection, and legal compliance. With their wide-ranging research and development, the accredited OEKO-TEX® test institutes provide important insight for innovations within the textile and leather industry. They work in close cooperation with manufacturers and make a significant contribution to the development of high-quality textile and leather products at all stages of the value chain.

Mirror of social and political development
Being close to the market, and ideally, one step ahead is essential to supporting companies who are adapting to constantly changing conditions and meeting consumer expectations. Therefore, the development of OEKO-TEX® is not only a reflection of scientific knowledge but also of social and political trends. The focus is always on standardizing sustainable action and measures and making it easier for the industry to quickly and comprehensively implement sustainability goals.

Exchange with third parties is particularly valuable for this purpose. OEKO-TEX® participates in various international multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, the ZHDC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals), and Greenpeace.
In addition to cooperation with external multi-stakeholder initiatives, the OEKO-TEX® International Advisory Board (IAB) meets annually. The core function of the IAB is to help review consistent and market-oriented Standards development proposals by the OEKO-TEX® Working Groups. In addition, OEKO-TEX® is conducting a public stakeholder consultation to gain further insights from all interest groups, which it will integrate into further development of the Standards.
Using three decades of experience for the future
The founding goal of enabling responsible choices that preserve our planet for future generations has become increasingly urgent over the past 30 years. So, OEKO-TEX® is even more resolute than ever in developing comprehensive solutions. We stand by industry and consumers as a trusted partner for the challenges ahead. In addition to the IMPACT CALCULATOR launched in January 2022, which helps STeP by OEKO-TEX® certified production facilities reduce their carbon emissions and water consumption, this summer, the association will launch a service to help companies transition to the upcoming Due Diligence Laws.

Flocus ™, the trademark for kapok fibers, offers a range of kapok textile materials such as fibers, yarns, textiles and nonwovens. The company presents the most performing and zero carbon footprint solutions based on Flocus™ kapok available for the leather goods industry, a sector that is making an important transition to sustainability in terms of processing and raw materials.

As for nonwoven, some of their most used products in the world of leatherware are:

• Maliwatt - 50% Kapok, 50% PLA (based on corn), a 100% biodegradable non-woven which can be used in the shoe sole. Maliwatt can be thermopressed/heat press and turned into a paper/cardboard type and lightweight structure. It is the perfect material for sneakers, casual and active shoes thanks to its quick dry, antibacterial, hydrophobic, hypoallergenic, Insulation properties. Other frequent applications are in the field of automotive, construction and car panels, sound absorption and acoustics panels and geo textiles.
• HDE /Hydroentanglement - 50% Kapok, 50% Organic cotton. It is a 100% natural and biodegradable material that can be used in the shoe production as a sole, intersole or as a padding for shoes and bags. Thanks to its termoregulating, lightweight, hypoallergenic, thermoconductivity, insulation, soft touch, hydrophobic, anti-moth anti mite properties, it is used for a large range of applications. It is popular in the apparel world as a cruelty free filling for winter jackets, replacing duck down, and in the home industry ad a stuffing for mattresses, duvets, furniture, sleeping bags.

The offer for the leather goods industry includes also Flocus™ kapok-based fabrics in different blends and weights: linings, coatings, fabric inserts, accessories, components rich in performance and style. For example, kapok and organic cotton with GOTS certification, kapok with Tencel and recycled polyester (Repreve), kapok with linen, organic cotton and a small percentage of Spandex.

These materials were presented at the September 2021 edition of Lineapelle in the exhibition "A New point of materials", dedicated to eco-responsible innovations in terms of technologies, applications, materials and machines.