From the Sector

The dates are set: IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living is welcoming exhibitor registration for its 2021 edition, to be held from 18 – 20 October 2021 in the South Halls of Tokyo Big Sight. The dedicated fair for interior design is once again set to attract not only retail buyers but also visitors from design and architecture offices, commercial facilities, and other contract businesses. The 2019 edition welcomed 352 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions as well as 16,016 visitors from 34 countries and regions, receiving much positive feedback for its increased focus on contract business.
 
IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2019
Returning after a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living will once again create opportunities for exhibitors to meet new clients and expand their businesses. Messe Frankfurt Japan Ltd is working to put all of the appropriate safety and hygiene measures in place to protect participants during the fair period, and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
 
New ETHICAL zone added to satisfy consumer demand
A newly introduced ETHICAL zone will help industry players explore the themes of sustainability and ecology, which are continuing to gain traction in the interior design market. The zone focuses on environmental protection, up-cycling, fair trade, products that support people with disabilities, organic products, local production for local consumption, and more. Furniture production from recycled forest materials will also be a focus of the zone, which will be promoted in the run up to the fair through sector-specific media channels. This will include dedicated promotional activities targeting ethically driven retailers and restaurants.
 
A variety of booth sizes to accommodate exhibitors’ needs
In response to requests from exhibitors who showcase smaller items, a new booth size has been added for 2021. Measuring 6.3 sqm (width 3m x depth 2.1m), the new booth option is one size smaller than the existing 9 sqm booth, adding more choice for exhibitors
 
Dedicated lifestyle themed zones
Proving popular amongst trade buyers during previous editions, ‘CREATIVE RESOURCE’ is a zone devoted to innovative interior materials, as well as parts and services for interior design and home remodelling. Products featured at the zone include wallpaper, floor coverings, paints and related materials. First introduced in 2012, the zone has grown in stature as the destination for the likes of manufacturers, architects, designers and developers to find inspiration.
 
The fair’s zoning encompasses a variety of different product categories and themes. This not only simplifies the sourcing process for trade buyers, but it also maximises business exposure for exhibitors. Day-to-day lifestyle products – both stylish and functional – will be displayed in the ‘HOME’, ‘ACCENT’ and ‘EVERYDAY’ zones with a focus on living spaces, accessories and household items respectively.
 
Moreover, catering to the world of convenience and home cuisine, an array of pragmatically-designed packaged food will be presented at 'FOODIST', while innovative dining items will be gathered at the ‘KITCHEN LIFE’ zone.
 
Highlighting high quality local craftsmanship, designs from Japanese artisanal artists with a modern touch will be located in the ‘JAPAN STYLE’ zone. The latest designs from highly acclaimed international brands will be displayed too, in the ‘MOVEMENT’ area, while work from up-and-coming young designers will appear at the ‘TALENTS’ and ‘NEXT’ zones.
 
About IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living
IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living is held annually in fall and is the sister fair of Interior Lifestyle Tokyo held in spring, which is based on Ambiente, Messe Frankfurt’s largest and most important international consumer goods fair, and Heimtextil, the biggest international home and contract textiles fair. With the synergetic effects of these leading global trade fairs in the high-end interior market, and with Messe Frankfurt’s global network, IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living is a key platform for professionals, buyers, architects and those engaged in domestic and international contract business.

• Major Monforts denim customers continue to pioneer new initiatives that are pushing the boundaries of sustainable production.

Recycling their cotton waste has become one way these companies can do more with less, and at the recent Kingpins24 Flash online event, Sedef Uncu Aki, director of Orta, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, announced a new partnership with leading recycling operation Gama Recycle.

Traceable
“Through this local partnership we will supply the waste from our spinning mills and return around 3,000 tons of premium quality cotton back to them,” she said. “We have established a truly controlled and traceable system and partnering with a domestic recycling centre is important because a lot the carbon emissions associated with recycling usually come from transportation.”

Orta’s ZeroMax range meanwhile uses no cotton at all, being based on Lenzing’s Tencel cellulosic fibre, while the company’s involvement in denim production for a recent launch by Levi Strauss, of jeans made with organic cotton and Circulose – a breakthrough material developed by re:newcell of Sweden and partners – was hailed as a further step forward.

To make Circulose, re:newcell repurposes discarded cotton textiles, such as worn-out denim jeans, through a process akin to recycling paper. The incoming waste fabrics are broken down using water. The colour is then stripped from these materials using an eco-friendly bleach and after any synthetic fibres are removed from the mix, the slurry-like mixture is dried and the excess water is extracted, leaving behind a sheet of Circulose. This sheet is then made into viscose fibre which is combined with cotton and woven into new fabrics.

Circular Park
Omer Ahmed, CEO of Artistic Milliners also announced plans for his company’s new 70,000 square-foot Circular Park in Karachi, Pakistan, at Kingpins24 Flash.

Once complete, this will add three million square metres of additional denim capacity a month to the company’s production and take its total recycled output to a monthly five million metres.
Ahmed observed that there is currently a lack of sustainable fibres that are readily available to use for denim production at scale.

“Organic cotton is too expensive, and in my opinion always will be,” he said. “Cottonised hemp is also not cheap and it’s hard to mix with cotton, while the new regenerated cellulose fibres that are now emerging are promising, but currently in short supply. Recycled polyester is meanwhile still based on petroleum resources which we want to move away from. As a consequence, there are only a few other options for us as a manufacturer and this new project will help us minimise our own waste while significantly lowering our carbon footprint.”

Other Monforts denim customers to introduce cotton fibre recycling operations at their plants recently include AGI Denim, Bossa and Soorty.

Vertical savings
Refresh is the name of the latest collection from AGI Denim – reflecting the company’s significant reduction in water consumption.

The company has just opened new fibre spinning and denim mills at its complex in Karachi, Pakistan.

“Over the years we’ve gone through a series of backward integration steps to become fully vertical,” said AGI Denim executive director Ahmed Javed, at Kingpins24 Flash. “In our latest expansion, we revisited every step of the production processes in order to make resource savings.”

Innovations have included the installation of proprietary robotics for garment finishing, but the most attention has been paid to water savings.

“Pakistan is one of the largest cotton-producing companies in the world and we’re fortunate that the type of cotton that is grown here is well suited to denim production and also helps us lower our carbon footprint, with everything done in close proximity,” Javed said. “In the lifecycle of a pair of denim jeans, however, cotton fibre production contributes 68% of water consumption. While we cannot control how much water cotton needs for it to grow, we can rethink the way we use it in our factory.”

Refresh-branded denims are washed from 100% recycled water as a result of the company’s new wastewater treatment plant, which puts production wastewater through a series of steps beginning with equalisation, followed by aeration and concluding with sedimentation. The water travels through filtration and ultrafiltration systems before being subjected to an activated carbon system and finally a reverse osmosis system to reduce any dissolved salts.

AGI now recycles 4.4 million gallons of water each month – enough to wash a million pairs of jeans.

Sustainable
Monforts has a leading position in the field of denim finishing with its well proven Thermex continuous dyeing systems, Montex stenter dryers and other lines for resource-efficient and economical processing.

“Our denim partners are constantly setting themselves new goals in respect of sustainable production – and more importantly, achieving them,” says Hans Wroblowski, Monforts Head of Denim. “We work closely with them with the aim of constantly optimising processing parameters and achieving further savings in energy, water and raw materials throughout the dyeing and finishing stages of production.”

The latest Monforts innovation for denim is the CYD yarn dyeing system. This technology is based on the effective and established dyeing process for denim fabrics that is now being applied for yarn dyeing. The CYD system integrates new functions and processes into the weaving preparation processes to increase quality, flexibility, economic viability and productivity. A full CYD line is now available for trials at the company’s Advanced Technology Centre in Mönchengladbach, Germany.”

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today on the White House announcement that President Biden will sign an executive order today, “ensuring the future of America is Made in America by all of America’s workers.”  Further, NCTO launched a new industry video campaign today that outlines steps the Biden administration and Congress must take to re-shore the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the entire supply chain for critical products. The video can be found here: MakeAmericanPPE.

National Council of Textile Organizations President and CEO Kim Glas said:
“We commend President Biden for taking action in his first days in office to strengthen our domestic supply chain and manufacturing base with a “Made in America” executive order directing the federal government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods produced by American workers using American-made components.

Increasing the domestic procurement threshold and the price preferences for domestic goods under the current Buy American law will bolster domestic production and stimulate more investment in U.S. manufacturing.

We believe it is critical that taxpayer dollars are used to invest in American manufacturing and our workforce. It is essential that we close loopholes in our Buy America laws, expand application and product coverage of domestic content rules, and close unnecessary contract waivers that undermine American manufacturing and its workforce.
 
We look forward to working with the Biden administration and Congress on immediately strengthening our domestic procurement laws. The COVID-19 crisis was exacerbated when foreign supply chains broke down leaving our frontline workers vulnerable, underscoring the vital need for America to manufacture essential medical products at home. We look forward to working with the Biden administration on implementing this Executive Order, and with members of Congress to push critical bipartisan legislation to help ensure this onshoring effort is fully realized.

We also sincerely thank Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Kathy Manning (D-NC) for their leadership in sending a recent letter to President Biden, requesting the president prioritize “Made in America” personal protective equipment (PPE) purchases and outlining key steps the administration can take to produce and procure quality American-made PPE for frontline workers.”

Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, has been recognised by global environmental non-profit organisation, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) with the distinguished ‘A-’ leadership score for implementing current best practices in sustainability for climate change. Tata Communications score is higher than the global average of ‘C’ and higher than the Asia region average of ‘D’. The Company scores the highest global score for playing a leading role in Climate Change governance, value chain management, energy efficiency, risk and opportunity disclosures in CDP 2020 reporting.

Tata Communications is among the top 34% companies globally to have received the leadership score for best practices out of 9,600+ companies that reported environmental disclosures this year. The scores are attributed basis a comprehensive peer benchmarking and sustainability performance.

The company made some strategic shifts in implementing several energy efficiency measures and this recognition reaffirms its focus on sustainability. In fiscal 2020, Tata Communications sourced approximately 15 million units of renewable energy and implemented emission reduction initiatives resulting in energy savings to the tune of 0.8 million units.

Tata Communications Sustainability strategy is based on the three facets of environment, social and governance (ESG) principles. The Company’s objective is to drive value creation for its stakeholders and drive sustainable business growth by managing risks and embracing opportunities, implementing robust governance practices and optimising the economic, environmental and social performance.

In early December, the chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Peter D. Dornier presented awards to six successful young engineers. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the award ceremony took place as a web conference for the first time.

Philippa Böhnke, ITM Dresden, and Juan Carlos Arañó Romero, ITA Aachen, were honoured with creativity awards for the cleverest bachelor or project work. The prizes are endowed with 3,000 euros each. Ms. Böhnke’s project dealt with composite implants for the repair and regeneration of bone defects. In his bachelor thesis, Mr. Arañó Romero has developed a spinning machine able to produce yarn with material from the moon. By this, the transport effort in space travel can be minimised, because insulating material for example necessary for a moon base can be produced on the moon directly.

Harry Lucas, TU Chemnitz, and Maximilian Speiser, Reutlingen University, were awarded two promotion prizes in the category master thesis with prize money of 3,500 euros each. The master thesis of Mr. Lucas deals with the development of a new knitting head for jacquard knitted fabrics, enabling a large variety of colours e.g. in the production of fan scarfs. Mr. Speiser showed in his master thesis a solution for increasing energy efficiency in the nonwovens process.

This year, two promotion prizes of the German Textile Machinery Industry in the dissertation category were awarded to Dr. Frederik Cloppenburg, ITA Aachen, and Dr. Annett Schmieder, TU Chemnitz. In his dissertation Mr. Cloppenburg developed a model for the optimisation of roller cards in the nonwovens process. Ms. Schmieder introduced in her dissertation a damage analysis system for fibre ropes. The system detects when a rope must be replaced e.g. in transport applications.

The award ceremony 2021 shall take place with physical presence again. It is scheduled for early May at the fair Techtextil in Frankfurt.

The company, founded in 1993, has established a reputation for leadership in new printing techniques and technologies with customers across Europe, as well as with many of the leading Turkish brands.

Mission
On its mission to achieving continuous progress in error-free and resource-efficient manufacturing, İlay has just taken delivery of a new Monforts Montex stenter range, with a working width of two metres and eight TwinAir chambers.

“This installation provides us with much improved control options for all process parameters and compared to the old stenter it is replacing, we are particularly impressed with the energy savings we are making,” Mr Savaş says.

Achieving energy savings on Montex stenters has been a key focus for Monforts designers and engineers in Germany for many years.

With the TwinAir heating chamber system within a Montex stenter, top and bottom airflows can be regulated completely independently of each other, ensuring heat is only applied when and where it is required. The Optiscan balancing system ensures continuous automatic evaluation of the distance between the nozzles and the fabric for highly economical and contact-free drying.

The resulting constant evaporation rate within the stenter ensures optimum energy utilisation. In addition, TwinAir chambers feature special panelling for low heat radiation, careful sealing of all connecting positions and chamber access points, and air locks at both the entry and the exit.

“Monforts stenters set the benchmark in terms of energy efficiency and help conserve resources,” says Ahmet Kılıç, founder of Neotek, the representative for Monforts in Turkey. “Automatically setting the initial moisture content requirement for a specific process before drying to a minimum value helps reduce heat evaporation and consequently, energy consumption. The hermetic sealing of the stenter frame further prevents the loss of heated air as well as the ingress of excessive cold air – which has to be heated back up if it is not kept out in the first place.”

The new Montex line was completed at İlay Textile in August 2020, with no problems during either installation or commissioning.

In a roundtable discussion during the recent Innovate Textiles & Apparel (ITA) textile machinery exhibition, imogo Founding Partner Per Stenflo and representatives from a number of like-minded European companies discussed the opportunities for new spray application technologies for the dyeing and finishing sector.

These technologies can achieve tremendous savings for manufacturers compared to traditional water-intensive processes it was explained at the event, held online from October 15-30th.

Pioneer
imogo – one of the latest companies to join TMAS, the Swedish Textile Machinery Association – is one of the key pioneers in this area with its Dye-Max system. Dye-Max spray dyeing technology can slash the use of fresh water, wastewater, energy and chemicals by as much as 90% compared to conventional jet dyeing systems. This is due to the extremely low liquor ratio of 0.3-0.8 litres per kilo of fabric and at the same time, considerably fewer auxiliary chemicals are required to start with.

Obstacles
Such technologies, however, face a number of obstacles to adoption and during the ITA discussion it was agreed that 2020 has not provided the ideal climate for adventurous investors. “The textile industry is quite conservative and is definitely in survival mode at the moment and it is not the time to be a visionary,” said Stenflo. “Day to day business is about staying alive – that’s the reality for many of our customers.” Nevertheless, all of the panellists agreed that sustainable production will remain top of the agenda for the textile industry in the longer term and spray technologies for dyeing and finishing processes will be a part of it.

“Any investment in something new is a risk of course, and we have to be able to explain and convince manufacturers that there’s a good return on investment, not only in respect of sustainability, but in terms of making good business sense,” said Stenflo. “Here we could use the help of the brands of course, in putting pressure on their suppliers to be more sustainable. Governments also have a role to play, in providing incentives for producers to move in the sustainable direction. Sustainability alone will never cut it, there has to be a business case, or it won’t happen.”

Marketing
The marketing of sustainable new fibers is comparatively easy for the brands compared to explaining the difficult textile processes and the chemistries involved in fabric and garment production, he added.

“These fibers, however, currently go through all the same dirty processes that we need to get away from, so it must happen,” he said. “In developing our technologies, it has been important for us to avoid disrupting existing supply chains, stick with using off-the-shelf chemistries and dyes, and involve the dye manufacturers who are an essential part in how operations are driven today. “In fact, collaboration across the entire textile supply chain – from the brands right back to the new technology developers – is essential in moving the sustainability agenda forward.

Business models
“We are also looking into new business models in terms of how to reduce or lower the thresholds for investment and minimise the risk for the manufacturers who are looking to be the innovators,” he concluded. Also taking part in the ITA roundtable discussion were Simon Kew (Alchemie Technology, UK), Christian Schumacher (StepChange Innovations, Germany) Tobias Schurr (Weko, Germany), Rainer Tüxen (RotaSpray, Germany) and Felmke Zijilstra (DyeCoo, Netherlands).

European innovations
“It’s fantastic that all of this innovation is taking place in Europe based on established know-how and forward thinking,” said TMAS Secretary General Therese Premler-Andersson.

“Spray application technologies are a perfect illustration of how new digital technologies can lead to more sustainable production, in this case by replacing water-intensive processes with the highly precise and controlled application of dyes and chemistries as vapour.
“There was a major project by the Swedish research organisation Mistra Future Fashion recently, involving many brand and academic institute partners. The project’s Fiber Bible 1 and 2 reports conclude that it’s very difficult to make assumptions that one fiber is better than another, because it’s so much about how fabrics and garments are being produced from them. The study also found that 55% of the chemicals used in a garment comes from the dyeing. This is where a number of TMAS companies can make a difference.
“An organic or recycled cotton t-shirt is not automatically more sustainable than a conventional cotton t-shirt, or even one made from synthetics – the alternative fibers are a good start but you have to consider the entire life cycle of a garment, and that includes the smart technologies in textiles production.
“TMAS members – backed by Swedish brands and advanced research institutes – are playing an active part in pushing forward new concepts that will work, and I have no doubt that digitalisation now goes hand in hand with sustainability for the textile industry’s future.”          

• Lakmé Fashion Week 2020
• Bemberg™ fibers empower “Tattva”
• Hemang Agrawal's new craft-tech collection

Smart tech fibers, contemporary style and heritage. Past, present and future are intertwined in the new ‘Tattva’ collection by famous Indian designer Hemang Agrawal who has teamed up with Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei, the Japanese yarn manufacturer leading in both high-performative innovation and sustainability. The collection comprises textiles entirely conceived and created by the designer. A new chapter for Bemberg™ glamorous uniqueness for high-end fashion, first Japanese reality that participated at Lakmé Fashion Week 2020, the biggest fashion event in India.

Made from the smart-tech transformation of cotton linters pre-consumer materials and converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process, Bemberg™ fibers add responsible values to the collection, matching perfectly the vision and the ethic of Hemang Agrawal, a designer with more than one eye on sustainability, innovation and deep knowledge and respect for traditional Indian crafts and culture.

Tattva debuted at the Lakmé Fashion Week 2020 and comprises 40 exquisite pieces for men and women, all inspired by the 12 Tattva – the natural elements bringing harmony in the universe, according to the Indian scriptures and tradition. Motifs representing these elements, including quirky versions of moon-phases, tigers, human mind & DaVinci’s Vitruvian man were woven into the glittering fabrics. The collection was crafted harnessing the skills of Indian handlooms artisans in the designer’s hometown Benares (Varanasi).

Tattva featured Bemberg™ brocades as the predominant textile, along with plain Bemberg™ fabrics and a few blends. The result is a magnificent touch, fabrics are distinctively smooth like silk, second skin-like, shining, and bright. On top of that, Bemberg™ yarns add a new dimension in terms of sustainability and comfort by boosting antistatic and breathable performances, amazing precious touch while being also biodegradable and compostable.

“We are so happy that we participated in LFW and collaborated with Hemang Agrawal.” Says Mr. Hideto Tanimoto, General Manager, Bemberg™ Sales and Marketing Department. “The collection has come out really wonderful and has brought out the properties of Bemberg yarn such as noble sheen, smooth and soft touch, bright colour, supple drape amazingly. I strongly believe that the collection made significant impact on the sustainable fashion scene in India. We are expecting that the collection will be successful commercially and will help the local craftsman from Varanasi.”

The collection blends crafts and technology, Indian tradition and Japanese innovation, sustainability and high-end style. Designer Hemang Agrawal says, “The dexterity which the weavers in Benares have acquired, finds few parallels in the world. Although predominantly a silk-weaving centre, many master-weavers in the city are highly skilful in handling different yarn types. Japan, on the other hand, is well-known for its advanced technologies as well as its approach towards environment and sustainability as a country. Both these facts are well-reflected in the Bemberg™ Yarn”

“During our R&D, we found that the yarn, which is available in various counts and deniers is highly adaptable. The lustre, hand-feel, strength and colour depth are very well-suited for premium textiles, which come out of our looms. For the collection ‘Tattva,’ our endeavour has been to merge the skill-set of Benares weavers with qualities of the Bemberg™ yarn, to create textiles and apparel, which transcend the boundaries of what is termed as traditional Benarasi."

With the Tattva collection Hemang Agrawal and Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei show a new way of making fashion: merging craft & tech, cutting-edge materials and deeply rooted traditions. A stunning collection marking the rise of craft-tech, a trend going beyond the dichotomy of ancient and new, injecting the human-based into the high-tech and a futuristic imprint into heritage. Like the 12 Tattva, a new harmony takes shape, intertwined into exquisitely stylish garments.

• World Cotton Day on 7 October Highlights the Importance of Cotton for Development Policy

Bremen - Stemming from a 2019 initiative of the African Cotton-4 countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, World Cotton Day will take place this year on 7 October. The event is organised by the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Cotton Secretariat (ICAC). The Bremen Cotton Exchange is also involved.

“Cotton is often underestimated because it is so natural. Behind it are millions of people, for example many farmers, field workers, employees in ginning factories, logistics providers and traders. We want to honour their achievements,” said the President of the Bremen Cotton Exchange, Stephanie Silber.

According to the WTO, the aim of World Cotton Day is to highlight the global economic importance of cotton and to raise awareness of the raw material by recognising the work of everyone involved in its cultivation, processing and trade. At the same time, within the framework of international cooperation, it is hoped that supporters and investors can be found to aid with technological and economic progress within the cotton value chain.

This time, the entire world cotton community will be involved in World Cotton Day on Wednesday, 7 October 2020. A wide variety of campaigns and events are taking place everywhere to draw attention to the importance of cotton and its possible uses.

Cotton is one of the most relevant agricultural raw materials in the world. Around 26 million tonnes of it are harvested annually. Approximately 150 million people in almost 80 countries around the world live from the cultivation of the natural fibre. A large number of these live in developing countries, where cotton cultivation is of particular importance as a cash crop.

Cotton is known as an agricultural product that is turned into a textile. The raw material is indispensable in fashion and clothing – and has been for thousands of years. But the use of cotton now goes far beyond textiles. For example, cosmetic products such as hand creams and hair shampoo are made from the oil of cotton seeds. The raw material is also used in the manufacture of banknotes, furniture and technical textiles, as well as in medical technology.

Against the background of the current discussion on sustainability and sustainable consumption, the role of natural fibres is becoming even more important. Cotton is biodegradable and a renewable resource. It can be grown again and again in agriculture through cultivation in crop rotation. This secures incomes and enables efficient value creation within the global production and processing chain.

The Bremen Cotton Exchange will actively support World Cotton Day with cross-media coverage. In addition, in time for World Cotton Day, three thematically different, emotionally appealing short films about cotton will be launched. They are aimed at consumers as customers of the textile and clothing trade and provide information about the benefits and properties of cotton and answer questions about its sustainability. In keeping with the times, they will be published via virtual media.

Two ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 looks make their debut at the Graduate Fashion Foundation, part of London Fashion Week, a springboard for new talent striving to bridge the gap between education and industry.

Following an unprecedented academic year, GFF celebrates how the Class of 2020 have adapted and overcome adversity to complete their degrees across 26 fashion specialisms, from Design and Knitwear to Comms, Marketing and Business. London, 17-22 September – To bring together fashion educators and industry leaders and to support their graduates to reach their full potential once they have graduated: this has always been GFF’s main goal for the past 28 years. Now more than ever, GFF continues in its long-standing commitment to share good practice and knowledge and to inspire students to become innovators, environmental leaders, employees, and educators while promoting cultural diversity and inclusivity within an international platform – very much in keeping with ISKO I-SKOOL™ values and approach which resonate throughout the contest’s Denim Awards.

Designers Kotryna Adomaityte and Isabel Hambly from Nottingham Trent University were 2 of the 9 winners of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 Awards, announced in a phygital ceremony held on July 22. The two students were invited to showcase their winning creations at GFF. Kotryna, winner of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ PERICOLO Award by Cadica Group, impressed the audience with her “Wild West Denim” look to London at the GFF Showroom.

Isabel Hambly, winner of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ Best Marketable Product, stole the show with her “Women at war” outfit which was displayed at the Catwalk Show, live-streamed from Samsung KX on September 22. That two of ISKO I-SKOOL™ 7 winners and finalists were part of this important event is proof of the significant role the contest – developed and supported by ISKO – plays in nurturing and championing talent and creativity. This edition’s main concept was world’s citizenship, with the Creative Theme “North, East, South, West – connected by one planet”. The twenty shortlisted finalists were asked to dig into their roots and to approach different cultures, defining and tracking down the geography of the world connecting them through responsibility. In addition to exploring the planet both locally and globally, they were also required to take into account the product life cycle of their outfits – featuring a 5-pocket jeans to interpret their view on the “local” concept and two Denim Show Pieces to reflect their worldwide influences and topics of interest. These were made with top ISKO™ denim fabrics, meeting the designers’ needs and providing a strong sustainable ingredient.

“We are really proud that two of our winners made it to GFF, with which we have many values in common – it marks another important step in their journey” said ISKO Senior Executive ISKO I-SKOOL™ Project Irem Orhun. “All of this goes to show how ISKO I-SKOOL™ plays a fundamental role in providing the foundation to enter the industry more aware of your skills and capabilities.”