From the Sector

Reset
4 results
Manel Echevarria Photo Ananas Anam
Manel Echevarria
06.09.2023

Ananas Anam: Manel Echevarria new CEO

Ananas Anam, the provider of innovative low-impact textile solutions made from pineapple leaf waste, announced the appointment of Manel Echevarria as the new CEO. The Spanish executive who had previously worked as CEO for Grupo Excens Sports and Lacoste Iberia, as well as in senior executive roles for Swarovski and MontBlanc, will lead the global business from its European research and production site near Barcelona in Spain.

At the beginning of the year, the company reported the successful closing of a funding round led by HALTRA Group, a family-backed sustainable investment firm in Luxembourg and a group of strategic investors, including the French Compagnie Fruitière, one of the leading producers in Europe and major fruit producer in the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific region, as well the global automotive technology supplier Forvia, and Asahi Kasei Corp, a leading Japanese multinational group working in innovative materials and technologies.

Ananas Anam, the provider of innovative low-impact textile solutions made from pineapple leaf waste, announced the appointment of Manel Echevarria as the new CEO. The Spanish executive who had previously worked as CEO for Grupo Excens Sports and Lacoste Iberia, as well as in senior executive roles for Swarovski and MontBlanc, will lead the global business from its European research and production site near Barcelona in Spain.

At the beginning of the year, the company reported the successful closing of a funding round led by HALTRA Group, a family-backed sustainable investment firm in Luxembourg and a group of strategic investors, including the French Compagnie Fruitière, one of the leading producers in Europe and major fruit producer in the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific region, as well the global automotive technology supplier Forvia, and Asahi Kasei Corp, a leading Japanese multinational group working in innovative materials and technologies.

“The appointment of Manel Echevarria as a seasoned CEO with an impressive track-record in the fashion and luxury industry marks another important milestone in setting Ananas Anam up for the next phase of growth” says Dr. Christian Kurtzke, Chairman of Ananas Anam. “Following our investment in the development of an impressive portfolio of next-generation innovative biodegradable, traceable and sustainable materials, and into the setup of its network of strategic partners on the supply and shareholder side, Manel will provide the leadership for driving growth and industrial scale of this pioneering sustainability brand amidst a continued challenging global market environment in fashion, interiors and automotive.”

With Ananas Anam’s core portfolio of innovative materials, the company has successfully collaborated with well-known brands including Nike, Hugo Boss, H&M, Paul Smith and Cat Footwear and sustainable-fashion pioneers like Ecoalf to drive innovation in footwear, as well as with fashion brands like Carolina Herrera in the area of bags and accessories, substituting animal leather in the product design with its vegan, cruelty-free, low-impact and sustainable pineapple leaf fibre based textiles. In July 2023, at the Premiere Vision exhibition in Paris, the company presented the next generation of Piñatex as well as its breakthrough innovation Piñayarn as a biodegradable, traceable and sustainable yarn, and introducing Anam PALF, as a commercially available premium textile grade pineapple leaf fibre, opening up a world of new applications and markets.

“Driving the sustainability transformation in fashion, as well as in interiors and automotive has become a key priority on the agenda of brands and OEMs around the world,” says Manel Echevarria, CEO Ananas Anam. “I am proud to have the opportunity to lead the company in this decisive time, and I am looking forward to collaborating with our exceptional Spanish founder, Dr Carmen Hijosa, and Josep Taylor in Spain, with Bruno de Penanster and his team in the UK, as well as with Chuck Lazaro and his team in the Philippines to turn this amazing sustainability ambition and purpose into a reality.”

Source:

Ananas Anam

Lenzing supports school competition on circular economy and climate protection (c) Lenzing
VCÖ BRG SolarCity Linz Gruppenfoto
22.06.2021

Lenzing supports school competition on circular economy and climate protection

  • Excellent project to encourage ingenuity among young students
  • Experiment on biodegradability of textiles and nonwovens produces impressive results
  • EUR 30,000 in prize money for a total of 209 participating schools in and outside Austria
  • Lenzing views supporting these kinds of projects as part of its sustainability mission

Lenzing – The Association of Chemistry Teachers in Austria – known by its German abbreviation, VCÖ – has been holding project competitions that thrill students and take them beyond the traditional syllabus for 30 years. Every two years, it highlights a key topic for ninth- and tenth-graders to explore by conducting special experiments and learning from their observations and conclusions.

  • Excellent project to encourage ingenuity among young students
  • Experiment on biodegradability of textiles and nonwovens produces impressive results
  • EUR 30,000 in prize money for a total of 209 participating schools in and outside Austria
  • Lenzing views supporting these kinds of projects as part of its sustainability mission

Lenzing – The Association of Chemistry Teachers in Austria – known by its German abbreviation, VCÖ – has been holding project competitions that thrill students and take them beyond the traditional syllabus for 30 years. Every two years, it highlights a key topic for ninth- and tenth-graders to explore by conducting special experiments and learning from their observations and conclusions.

This year, the 16th installment of the competition is called, “Achieving a cleaner climate and a circular economy with chemistry”. These topics are also near and dear to the heart of globally active fiber manufacturer Lenzing. That’s why the company promptly announced that it was prepared to support this project competition in several different ways. First, Lenzing made a contribution toward the sponsorship fund totaling EUR 30,000. Second, it initiated a special prize on biodegradability – a topic of growing importance given the huge challenges involved in reducing plastic waste. Finally, Lenzing placed a recognized expert at the students’ disposal to provide assistance and answer questions: Michaela Kogler, Project Manager Nonwovens & Technical Products.

Teaming up with rainworms

Two teams were tasked with biodegrading different fibers – just like those used to produce textiles and nonwovens – with the active participation of worms. Students at BRG solarCity in Linz buried fiber nonwovens, a basic material used in wet wipes and other products, in soil that was populated with numerous rainworms, while students at Vöcklabruck Junior High School for Sports and Integration layered textiles into a vermicomposting bin. Both experiments intended to determine the extent to which certain materials would biodegrade quickly. As it turned out, both projects showed that wood-based fibers, like those that Lenzing manufactures for the textile and nonwoven industry, break down very rapidly into natural constituents that swiftly pass into the soil. In contrast, fossil-based plastics such as polyester or polyethylene cannot be decomposed by worms or bacteria but remain in the soil, sometimes for hundreds of years.

The prizes for this year’s competition were awarded on June 11. The competition attracted entries from no fewer than 209 schools, including 11 from outside Austria. For more information on the projects and the winners, visit www.vcoe.or.at.

Bemberg™: Nilufer Bracco launches niLuu collection (c) Bemberg™
Women’s Sand kimono, matching sleep mask and pillowcase made of Bemberg™
27.10.2020

Bemberg™: Nilufer Bracco launches niLuu collection

  • The stunning niLuu collection by former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco features smart Bemberg™ fabrics by Ipeker
  • Wonderful kimonos for women and men, sleep and face masks are the key pieces of the PETA certified and cruelty-free collection, 100% Bemberg™ and vegan

Former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco recently launched niLuu, a PETA approved cruelty-free loungewear brand using 100% Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei that combines the iconic elegance of traditional silk with a socially and environmentally ethical production process.

  • The stunning niLuu collection by former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco features smart Bemberg™ fabrics by Ipeker
  • Wonderful kimonos for women and men, sleep and face masks are the key pieces of the PETA certified and cruelty-free collection, 100% Bemberg™ and vegan

Former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco recently launched niLuu, a PETA approved cruelty-free loungewear brand using 100% Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei that combines the iconic elegance of traditional silk with a socially and environmentally ethical production process.

Bemberg™ is a fiber made from the smart-tech transformation of cotton linters bio-utility materials that are converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process; the Bemberg™ Ipeker Textile  fabric’s uniqueness comes from the exceptional quality characteristics achieved in design. The end result is a luxurious fabric so soft and smooth that it is almost like a second skin, breathes like cotton, drapes beautifully like silk, and reflects the cultural tradition of luxury textiles from founder Nilufer Bracco’s native country, Turkey. The first collection released by Miami based niLuu features premium quality kimono robes, sleep masks, face masks, and pillowcases that are available in a variety of deep and vibrant colors, and with a soft-brushed finish typical of premium sand-washed silk.

Designed to not only feel and look amazing but the entire niLuu collection is sustainable, biodegradable and 100% vegan.  Ipeker Textile, one of the major Bemberg™ fabric producers in Europe, proudly holds the title as the first vegan fabric producer in the world, receiving Vegan V-Label certificate on around 150 different products that adhere to the guidelines of the European Vegetarian Label, most of them developed with Bemberg™ yarn.

niLuu’s innovative Bemberg™ collection is hypoallergenic, antistatic, easy to care for, and it is also known to have several benefits for the skin. The breathability of the fabric helps to maintain body temperature; excellent moisture control means the fabric doesn’t dry out the skin or hair in the ways that cotton would and minimal friction against the skin means it is also known to have anti-aging benefits.  Speaking of niLuu’s high-quality Bemberg™ fabric, Founder, Nilufer Bracco adds, “Our innovative Bemberg™ vegan silk delivers the best of both worlds. Not only does our luxury fabric feel amazing when you use it, but you can also feel good knowing that it caused minimum harm to the planet when it was produced and that it will leave only the slightest trace when it reaches the end of its lifecycle.”

The luxury textiles brand has also shown its commitment to responsible practices, by partnering with 1% for the Planet pledging to donate 1% of their annual revenue to environmental organizations that work hard to protect our planet.

Tonello presents collection designed by Piero Turk © Tonello
Sustainable denim collection by Piero Turk
26.10.2020

Tonello presents collection designed by Piero Turk

The collaboration between Tonello and denim designer Piero Turk gave birth to a sustainable denim collection, result of a combination of the latest responsible technologies, and created with the most eco-friendly fabrics selected by The Kingpins Show.

“When it comes to working on new developments, we always start from new ideas and the constant research that starts from a concept that becomes reality, by increasingly raising the bar of sustainability,” said Alice Tonello, R&D and Marketing Director of Tonello.

18 exclusive and contemporary denim pieces, result of the premium experience of Piero Turk, and Tonello with its new brand-new finishing process: The Laundry (R )Evolution.

This is a radically new conception thought to simplify and optimize the entire garment finishing process.

It involves only 2 technologies in the entire finishing cycle, reducing waste and optimizing resources: LaserBlaze, and The All-in-One-System. Finally we use Metro, our software that processes real data, in real time to check all laundry consumption, optimizing processing times and improving performance.

The collaboration between Tonello and denim designer Piero Turk gave birth to a sustainable denim collection, result of a combination of the latest responsible technologies, and created with the most eco-friendly fabrics selected by The Kingpins Show.

“When it comes to working on new developments, we always start from new ideas and the constant research that starts from a concept that becomes reality, by increasingly raising the bar of sustainability,” said Alice Tonello, R&D and Marketing Director of Tonello.

18 exclusive and contemporary denim pieces, result of the premium experience of Piero Turk, and Tonello with its new brand-new finishing process: The Laundry (R )Evolution.

This is a radically new conception thought to simplify and optimize the entire garment finishing process.

It involves only 2 technologies in the entire finishing cycle, reducing waste and optimizing resources: LaserBlaze, and The All-in-One-System. Finally we use Metro, our software that processes real data, in real time to check all laundry consumption, optimizing processing times and improving performance.

The All-in-One System performs all washing operations by integrating 4 sustainable technologies into a single machine: ECOfree 2, which uses ozone in both the water and air; NoStone® for authentic and pumice-free stone-wash effects; UP, for washing processes with at least 50% less water; Core, a nebulizing system improving performance and reducing water consumption.

As a result of The Laundry (R )Evolution, Tonello developed two innovative and patent-pending processes: OBleach and Wake.

OBleach is the new Tonello process, which, by using only ozone, “returns to the future” with an authentic, sustainable and cool Bleach. Without chemicals.
This is possible thanks to a combination of the technologies part of our All-In-One System.
In short, the real Bleach without Bleach has finally arrived. And this in the year of the total ban of permanganate too.

Wake is the first totally natural dyeing system that uses only plants and biodegradable vegetable waste like flowers, berries and roots, without harmful chemicals additives.

The capsule collection will be displayed at KINGPINS24 on October 27th during the seminar held by Alice Tonello and Piero Turk.