From the Sector

Happy sheep trotting toward a fresh pasture inspired fiber science major Miriam Lourie’s wool sock design: a creamy white stripe across a textured green knit that puckered like a gently rolling field.

Lourie is one of 9 budding fashion designers in Knitwear Design and Other Applications, a College of Human Ecology class where students are working with New York sheep farmers and wool processors to explore ways to grow the local industry.

New York weather makes sheep farming hard. Feeding hay through the winter means bits of vegetative matter get stuck in the wool. Fine-wool breeds like Merino and Rambouillet do better in drier climates. New York fiber farms tend to be small, producing enough wool for a boutique industry aimed at crafters, and meat-focused sheep farms raise breeds that produce wool that is too coarse for industrial knitting machines. But through a series of visits to regional farms and experimentation with local wool, students in the class are discovering its idiosyncrasies and charms.

“Understanding the whole process of how that material got to a finished product adds a level of intimacy with the yarn that I think helps in the design process,” said Melissa Conroy, senior lecturer of human centered design in CHE and the instructor of Knitwear Design.

Melissa Conroy, senior lecturer of human centered design in CHE, reviews work with teaching assistant Madison Feely ’26, a fiber science and apparel design major, during the Knitwear Design and Other Applications class.

Conroy and doctoral student Paige Tomfohrde received a $10,000 grant from the New York Fashion Innovation Center to work with fiber producers to develop yarn suitable for industrial knitting machines. The students are helping test the yarn and providing feedback. 

“Problem solving is a big part of knitwear design,” Conroy said. “Normally, we start with a design direction that leads us in choosing yarn. This semester, we start with the yarn and see where it takes us.”

The artisanal quality of New York wool can make garments feel less mass produced, even as it presents logistical challenges. 

“Yarn doing weird things is fun for us, as fashion designers,” Conroy said. “It opens a path to discovery.”

Through visits to farmers, processors and fiber artists around the state, including Crooked Creek Sheep and Wool in Brooktondale, New York, and Battenkill Fibers, a spinning mill in Greenwich, New York, Conroy’s students studied every part of the local wool supply chain, from farming to shearing, cleaning and spinning. A grant from the Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation funded their travel. 

Back in the classroom, the students turned yarn specifically made for them at Battenkill Fibers into socks, featuring designs drawn from what they saw and learned during their visits. 

The yarn had a personality of its own.

The class visited sheep farms and wool processors and spinners around New York. Fashion design major Liriana Nezaj ’27 drew inspiration from raw wood she saw there to design lacy socks reminiscent of wood grain.

Fashion design major Lucy Jones ’26 said fine-tuning the tension of the yarn to get her socks just right took patience. “Working with the wool, as opposed to the acrylic we worked with last semester, it feels like a much more human process,” she said. “We met the sheep this wool came from.”

The natural color and texture variation in the yarn reminded fashion design major Liriana Nezaj ’27 of raw wood she saw at the farms. She chose to make mauve socks in a lacy pattern reminiscent of wood grain.

“It’s fun to keep in mind where your materials actually come from,” she said. “There are a lot of steps to get a wool garment to market.”

Those steps start at the farm, where farmers work to keep their flocks healthy. Stress and disease can cause weak spots in a sheep’s wool that can break when spun into yarn.

“The quality of sheep’s wool is intertwined with how well farmers take care of their sheep,” said Lourie ’26. 

Wool is one of the most thermally efficient fibers, and it’s biodegradable, renewable and fire resistant. It can be used for fabric and rugs but also fertilizer, insulation and weed barriers.

“All of us growers, we love wool,” said Crooked Creek Sheep and Wool owner Dr. Amy Glaser, DVM ’87, Ph.D. ’94. “We think it belongs in every household, in every aspect of your life, from what’s on your floors to what’s on your walls to what’s on your beds to what’s on your body.”

The students’ socks and process sketches will be on display, alongside pieces from the processors and designers they met during their field trips, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13 in the Jill Stuart Gallery in the Human Ecology Building. 

The EU project TEX 4.0 is an innovative initiative that aims to revolutionize vocational education and training in the textile industry. The focus was on developing a tailor-made curriculum that takes into account the specific needs of trainers and learners in the field of new technologies. This curriculum provides important tools to help learners acquire digital skills. In addition, the project offers a comprehensive and innovative training package focusing on Industry 4.0 skills to optimally prepare learners for the technological requirements of the modern working world. 

TEX4.0 provides engaging and attractive training materials to make the textile industry more appealing to younger generations. A key objective of the project is to promote active engagement and the use of participatory approaches in vocational education and training to ensure a more interactive and effective learning experience. Through these efforts, TEX4.0 aims to set a new standard in vocational education and training, making it more relevant, attractive, and effective in order to prepare learners for the challenges and opportunities of the digital age in the textile industry.

The project, which began on November 1, 2023, will end on October 31, 2025. The six partners from Greece (KAINOTOMIA), France (IDL – Institut de la Mode), Romania (UPB-CAMIS), Belgium (CAMARABELUX – Chamber of Commerce Belgium-Luxembourg), Italy (Lottozero Textillabore), and Germany (TU Dresden) worked together for two years as part of the EU-co-funded Erasmus+ project TEX 4.0.

The TEX4.0 training suite comprises three different areas:

• E-learning platform with 12 modules on new technologies in the textile industry for vocational training students;
• Trainer's Corner with modules in PPT format and quiz questions for self-assessment in raw format, aimed at vocational training instructors and stakeholders in the textile industry;
• Textile4all area with 18 case studies on the various areas of application of Industry 4.0 technologies in the textile industry, aimed at all target groups. Six case studies were developed using augmented reality (AR) technology to make them more attractive to learners. 

The TUD carried out the national pilot activities in Germany at the Institute for Textile Machinery and High Performance Materials Technology. The aim of these activities was to present the TEX 4.0 project and the developed learning platform to textile trainers and learners. Over 40 participants took part in the pilot trials, including highly qualified lecturers from the textile sector, experts from the textile industry, and future learners. The pilot tests in Germany successfully confirmed the relevance and quality of the TEX 4.0 project and developed the training suite. Participants rated the project positively for improving the digital skills of both learners and trainers and promoting innovation and new technologies in the textile industry.
 
All learning materials developed are freely accessible on an online platform, so that everyone—from vocational students and teachers to small business owners—can explore the materials, earn certificates of completion, and apply new skills directly in their professional practice.

Kornit Digital LTD., a global pioneer in sustainable, on-demand digital fashion and textile production technologies, announced today UK-based Snuggle has expanded its investment in the Kornit Atlas MAX PLUS direct-to-garment platform  to meet increasing customer demand and maintain its exceptional time-to-market and its reputation for quality apparel.

Leveraging the Atlas MAX PLUS, Atlas MAX POLY, and a Kornit Titan Smart Textile Dryer, Snuggle can produce more than 24,000 pieces daily – all offering consistent world class print quality. The Peterborough company serves a broad range of online retailers and decorators with an array of print-on-demand services. Growing alongside customer needs, Snuggle has expanded its production space more than 3x since 2017.

“We were the first Atlas MAX customer in the UK when it was unveiled over five years ago, and have always been delighted with its ability to deliver consistent quality and an economical cost per print to ensure profitability in any quantity,” said Akil Thathia, Director and Founder at Snuggle, Ltd. “A key element of our business growth is directly tied to the power of Kornit technology – which is why we have invested so heavily in their advanced direct-to-garment systems over the years. Our partnership with Kornit is strategic to our continued planned growth and success.”

“If you’re looking for a real-world example of how digital textile production is transforming the industry – look no further than our partnership with Snuggle. The company has been at the forefront of high-quality, on-demand fulfillment since it was founded more than a decade ago – and continues to evolve and grow alongside customer requirements to match demands of a market requiring speed, adaptability and quality,” said Guy Yaniv, President of Kornit Digital Europe. “We’re proud Snuggle has chosen Kornit as the foundation of their digital textile production environment. Working together, we’ve enabled them to produce with the agility today’s market requires to rapidly grow their business. Partnership is the foundation to our joint success.”

26 European business associations, representing a wide array of industries and businesses, express their full support for the swift ratification of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement:

Together, the associations’ members cover a significant portion of the total trade in goods and services of over 153 billion euros in 2024 between the EU and the Mercosur region, as well as the approximately 380 billion euros of mutual investment in our two regions in 2023. In this unprecedented time when the rules-based global order is being critically undermined, this free trade agreement represents a beacon in the EU’s diversification strategy. It is therefore a critical element in ensuring the EU’s long-term competitiveness. 

By 2040, according to DG Trade’s calculations, the agreement is expected to add 77.6 billion euros to the EU GDP and 9.4 billion euros to the Mercosur GDP. At the same time, the agreement will result in a 39% increase in EU exports to Mercosur and a 17% increase in Mercosur exports to the EU. 

The EU-Mercosur is a modern agreement, driven by modern principles. It will deliver increased market access and improved access to resources, while preserving key sectors in European domestic markets, diversifying secure supply chains, and fostering investments for both sides. It will also help to deepen the cooperation on sustainable development, in areas such as fighting climate change, preserving biodiversity, and advancing labour and social rights. 

European businesses wholeheartedly support the EU-Mercosur Agreement and call on the Council and European Parliament to swiftly ratify the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement (iTA) and the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA). To this end, it is key to streamline the ratification process and to ensure timely completion and avoid procedural delays. This is a crucial opportunity for Europe which will support growth and prosperity for one-fifth of the global economy – benefiting about 750 million people. 

In a significant advancement for supply chain transparency, TextileGenesis has introduced a new feature in its advanced digital traceability solution, the Fiber-to-Retail (FTR) module, enabling suppliers to upload Haelixa DNA/Forensic Traceability Certificates via a dedicated dropdown menu: ‘DNA/Forensic Traceability Certificate’. This integration bridges the gap between physical and digital traceability, offering brands and suppliers a unified platform to verify material authenticity from source to retail.  

The textile industry continues to face growing risks of fiber adulteration, blending, and fraudulent claims, particularly when it comes to premium materials such as organic cotton, recycled fibers, cashmere, and other high-value fibers. By combining Haelixa’s forensic DNA markers, which are embedded directly into the fiber, with TextileGenesis’ blockchain-inspired digital chain of custody, this integration enables a multi-layered traceability system, providing irrefutable scientific evidence alongside transparent, tamper-proof digital records. 

“Traceability must go beyond trust—it must be verifiable,” said Gediminas Mikutis, Founder & CTO of Haelixa. “By embedding natural DNA markers at the fiber level, we offer forensic proof of origin. When paired with TextileGenesis’ digital platform, brands gain unprecedented visibility and assurance over the authenticity of their materials throughout the supply chain.” 
  
“Supply chain transparency demands both depth and integrity,” adds Amit Gautam, Founder & CEO of TextileGenesis. “This integration with Haelixa is a powerful example of how digital and physical traceability methods can complement one another. It allows brands to consolidate all traceability data, transactional, certified, and forensic, into a single, trusted system of record.” 
  
As global regulatory frameworks increasingly emphasize evidence-based sustainability claims, this collaboration supports brands and suppliers in strengthening their traceability infrastructure, reducing compliance risks, and reinforcing consumer trust through authenticated data and science-backed proof of origin. 

About Haelixa 
Traceability is in high demand across industries as regulatory pressures increase. Haelixa offers a bulletproof DNA-based traceability solution that empowers responsible textile brands to verify material authenticity and track product origins from fiber to finished garment. Natural DNA from Swiss mountain herbs, compliant with GOTS and Oeko-Tex 100, is applied. With this technology, Haelixa complements digital traceability by providing secure, physical proof of origin.  

Backed by the expertise of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Haelixa is a globally recognised leader in supply chain transparency. Trusted by major brands such as C&A, OVS, and Hugo Boss, Haelixa traced over 30 million garments in 2024, according to their sales records. 

About TextileGenesis: 
Founded in 2018, TextileGenesis, a Lectra company, provides a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables fashion brands and sustainable textile manufacturers to ensure a reliable, secure and fully digital traceability of their textiles, from the fiber to the consumer, and thereby guarantee their authenticity and origins. The platform provides traceability for textiles, leather and footwear, employing fiber forwards traceability for sustainable and certified materials and Supply Chain discovery approach to traceability for conventional materials. 
  
Its innovative traceability mechanism, which addresses both ends of the textile value chain, as well as its network of partners for material certification, and its technology platform guarantee the exchange and tracking of reliable and secure data throughout a material's life cycle. TextileGenesis platform also identifies and flags supply chain compliance/legal risks across the value chain from tier 1-4 for brands.