From the Sector

Two new research labs are being built by AkzoNobel at its Sassenheim site in the Netherlands to further propel the company’s product development.

Work is about to start on building a technology center for Powder Coatings, while a new polymer lab has just opened which will develop innovative resin technologies for all the company’s businesses.

The total investment in the Sassenheim site – AkzoNobel’s largest global R&D center – amounts to around €8 million. The facility already houses the biggest R&D teams in Europe for the company’s Decorative Paint and Automotive and Specialty Coatings businesses. The addition of the two new labs will help the company further build on its global reputation for product development focused on providing creative solutions for customers.

The recently opened polymer lab – part of the company’s Research organization – will accommodate 15 scientists. It will mainly focus on the development of more sustainable polymer technologies and new coatings to support AkzoNobel’s ambition to halve carbon emissions across the value chain by 2030.

AkzoNobel employs around 3,000 R&D professionals worldwide in 70 laboratories, with more than €1.25 billion having been spent on research and development over the last five years.

The fifth edition of the Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair from 6 to 8 March 2024, organised by İTKİB Fuarcılık A.Ş. in cooperation with the Istanbul Textile Exporters Association (İTHİB), presented 557 exhibitors showcasing the entire range of the textile supplying section: from woven and knitted fabrics to accessories and artificial leather. A new addition was a separate hall for yarns and denim, the BlueBlackDenim hall. With this trade fair, Texhibition has more than doubled its floor space compared to the last event to 35,000 square metres.

Exhibitors
Texhibition Istanbul acts as a central point of contact for the entire international industry, with a clear focus on quality, innovation and the latest trends like the denim companies Bossa, Çalık, İsko, İskur and Kipaş at the BlueBlackDenim Hall.

Yarn companies such as Aksa, Diktaş, Ensar, Karafiber, Kaplanlar, Korteks, Migiteks, Sasa, Tepar showed the production power of the yarn sector, where the product quality, design and workmanship came together.

In addition to well-known companies such as Almodo, Bahariye, BTD, Can Textile, Iskur, Kipaş, Menderes, Söktaş, Yünsa, Zorlu, İpeker a large number of other export-oriented companies from the segments of textiles (woven fabrics, knitting) presented their latest designs and products.

Visitors
25,752 visitors came from over 112 countries, 41.8% from the European Union (including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania etc.) and Great Britain, Ukraine,26.5% from Asia (including Russia etc.), 14.8% from the Middle East (including Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia) 10.7% from North Africa (including Algeria, Tunisia etc.), 3.1% from North America (United States, Canada), 3.1% from South America and other countries.

American buyers from the USA and Canada in particular, but also a large number of Mexican and Colombian buyers took advantage of the numerous match-making opportunities at Texhibition. Many B2B meetings took place and led to numerous orders being placed, including from key accounts such as Alexander Wang, Asos, Forever 21, Sainsbury's, Veronica Beard etc.

In the context of the EU Pact for Skills, EURATEX launches an EU co-funded project under ERASMUS+ Programme to support the up-skilling and reskilling in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear (TCLF) sectors.  The new project, AEQUALIS-4-TCLF, brings together 19 partners mainly from Eastern and Northern Europe¹ who will work together in the coming 4 years to give a boost to upskilling and reskilling of workers in the TCLF industry.

Following the blueprint project SMART4TCLF and complementary to the METASKILLS4TCLF project, AEQUALIS4TCLF prioritizes creating strong links with regional and local entities to boost skills initiatives and establishing an EU-wide Network of TCLF vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) providers. Based on the results from the skills gap analysis, AEQUALIS4TCLF will develop new national skills strategies in seven countries to address specific regional needs, setting a clear path for workforce development with special attention to addressing discrimination and promote diversity in the TCLF industries.

¹ List of Netherlands, Czechia, Lithuania, Finland, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia

The Dutch company Knitwear Lab helps visions become reality. The creative think tank offers capacities in the areas of R&D, design, knitwear development and production of prototypes and small quantities and has thus implemented a wide range of projects in recent years. The objects range from medical products and high-tech sportswear to smart textiles with integrated sensors. Sustainability activities are also part of the repertoire, such as the production of yarns from recycled waste.

Knitwear Lab operates at two locations for its diverse tasks: Almere in the Netherlandsis available for development work. In Istanbul, there is a branch for production. Both Knitwear Lab sites each have five STOLL flat knitting machines, including models from the modern ADF range. Prototypes are produced in Almere and there is small-scale production. The production plant in Istanbul specializes in the manufacture of high-quality knitwear in small quantities. STOLL is also involved in the creative processes. For the industrial development of knitwear, Knitwear Lab offers Virtual Knitting, a revolutionary method that combines virtual and physical elements of pattern development and knitwear production to reduce waste and pre-production steps. Customers can use Virtual Knitting to create realistic, producible collections, simplify their design iteration processes and take advantage of the wide range of real-life colorways. The basis for this is comprehensive knitwear expertise, the latest 3D software and the CREATE PLUS patterning software, which was developed by STOLL together with KM.ON.

"The 3D visualization of CREATE simplifies communication with the customer considerably. We use this function every day," says Annika Klaas, Senior Knitwear Programmer. She personally appreciates the uncomplicated grading and exchange of stitch dimensions and the much faster and more efficient work with Dimensioned Shapes that this makes possible. This helps her in her day-to-day work. "We often have requests to realize the same product in different yarns, which now works much faster," says the programmer. Further simplifications would include minor optimizations in terms of the efficiency and user-friendliness of programming and additional import and export options for shapes. Discussions on implementation are already underway.

The Fashion for Good Museum has opened its doors for the new pop-up exhibition News From The Future. As part of a new Educational Programme and Toolkit - developed by the Fashion for Good Museum team - a selection of up-and-coming talents composed of Dutch fashion students and emerging designers have been asked to respond to the question: “what could the future of fashion look like?” Their answers are revealed in the exhibition in the form of garments, videos, installations and more. This is a future-forward exhibition where you can explore different fashion perspectives beyond the climate crisis, giving hope and, perhaps, a reality check.

Post-consumer waste, overconsumption and the pollution of our waterways are just some of the industry issues we are currently facing. Mirrored against rising temperatures and increasingly unstable weather conditions, the global shift as a result of climate change is inevitable. What does this mean for our future generations? How do we move forward from here? This raises one central question: What does the future of fashion look like?

News From The Future, the new exhibition at the Fashion for Good Museum, invited Dutch students and new creative voices to reflect on these questions. The emphasis on emerging talent is a common thread throughout the exhibition’s and the look and feel is designed by upcoming graphic designer Sara Biatchinyi.

Participating artists and designers include students from art and fashion schools across the Netherlands from the University of the Arts Utrecht, Zadkine MBO, MBO Rijnland and Saxion College. The students’ work was chosen after they participated in the educational programme “Classroom of the Future: the Stories Behind Cotton”. This programme was developed by the Fashion for Good Museum’s Curator and Education Coordinator Alyxandra Westwood and Education and Fashion consultant in sustainability Yophi Ignacia founder of The Future Mode, in collaboration with the aforementioned schools.

To further enhance these narratives, and to facilitate and promote a space for connection between emerging talent, the Museum invited Current Obsession Magazine - an interdisciplinary jewellery platform and magazine - to co-curate an installation and reflect on the future of jewellery. Over the course of the exhibition the Fashion for Good Museum will come to life hosting an art auction, panel discussion and a weekly updated installation, showcasing emerging talent. All of these elements together will collectively address the sustainable and regenerative design practices in both the Fashion and Jewellery industries.

Designer Kevin Paraiso (Paris/Benin) showcases a creative workshop in the museum, featuring looks from his Cosmic Summer .Dolkrey collection, which was presented during Spring/Summer ‘23 of Paris Fashion Week. “Cosmic Summer reflects on our desire to bring vibrant colours and a sense of uplift to the fashion of today and tomorrow. A cosmic news from the future.” A hopeful collection, with future-forward elements seamlessly integrated from the use of deadstock, circular materials and an on-demand tailoring business model with inhouse printing - presents a positive outlook.

Launching “Classroom of the Future: The Stories Behind Cotton”
The educational programme “Classroom of the Future: the Stories Behind Cotton'' has been developed into an open source toolkit for MBO and HBO education. The toolkit is live and available to download from the Fashion for Good Museum website as of the 30th of November 2023.

It consists of a set of six lessons all exploring the various aspects of cotton with specific emphasis on people and planet. The toolkit brings together different forms of interactive tools for the classroom: videos, podcasts,  lesson plans and workshops. The content shows the perspective of local and international makers and innovators working to create a better and fairer fashion system.
The programme was part of and based on the previous museum exhibition Knowing Cotton Otherwise (2022-’23) and invited students to reflect on the  exhibition themes - water, transparency, agriculture, climate, processing, origin, labour/forced labour and end-of-use - through their own perspective. The educational methodology and goals within the programme were developed to level the field between MBO and HBO students, reflecting a more realistic image of what it's like working in the professional field. During the programme students worked together equally, challenging the segregated Dutch education system and aiming for new results.

News From The Future is open to the public at the Fashion for Good Museum at Rokin 102 in Amsterdam.

As a leading company in the collecting, sorting, reselling and recycling of post-consumer textile waste, TEXAID has enabled the recycling of post-consumer textile waste into new textiles and clothing. Working together with brands and retailers, TEXAID and our partners are continuing to take action to shift from a linear to a circular system.

Since 2022, TEXAID has partnered with Triumph International, operating their in-store collection program, “Together We Grow”, for 160 stores across Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Given the success of the program, starting April 2023, in-store take back has been expanded to an additional 108 stores across Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Spain. Customers bring in their worn garments and TEXAID manages the collected clothing in alignment with the EU waste hierarchy, sending each item to its next most sustainable lifecycle. TEXAID is pleased to be partnering with Triumph International to offer in-store take back, at scale, across Europe. For every 5 kg collected, Triumph plants a tree in partnership with Treedom.

To move away from the linear system and enable products to be made out of post-consumer textile waste, TEXAID continues to expand its offering for in-store collection programs throughout Europe and the USA.

Technological progress often results from close collaboration, and industries that rely on continual improvement stand to benefit from the return to in-person business. Cinte Techtextil China’s first edition since eased pandemic measures is set to reflect a 27.9% increase in exhibitor numbers, with a rejuvenated international contingent further supplemented by the return of the European Zone. Taking place from 19 – 21 September across 40,000 sqm at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, the platform is expected to welcome buyers from across Asia, Europe, and beyond. Pre-registrations have doubled compared to the previous edition, and international buyers account for over 20% of the total.

The new zone, Marine Textile Zone, will be comprised of multiple Chinese green marine and nautical rope netting exhibitors, while also hosting the Technology Exchange Forum, and the awards ceremony of the Top 10 Suppliers in the China Rope Net Industry. Prominent exhibitors in this zone include Ropenet Group, Hunan Xinhai, and Zhejiang Four Brothers Rope.

Other domestic exhibitors, such as Shanghai Shenda Kebao New Materials, SIJIA New Material (Shanghai), Zhejiang Hailide New Material, and Zhejiang Jinda New Materials, will showcase products for applications in outdoor advertising, tents, boats, vehicles, environmental engineering, and much more.

Supplementing the fairground’s wide variety of domestic suppliers will be a much-increased showing of international exhibitors, with many to be found within hall E1’s European Zone. Several global industry leaders are featured in their categories below:

Nonwovens equipment

• Autefa Solutions, Germany: solutions provider for nonwovens lines and machines for carded-crosslapped needlepunching lines, spunlace lines and thermobonding lines.
• Dilo, Germany: in addition to offering general services, Dilo supplies opening and blending equipment, carding and airlay machines, and crosslapping and needling machines.
• Groz-Beckert, Germany: provider of industrial machine needles, precision parts and fine tools, as well as systems and services for the production and joining of textile fabrics.
• Reifenhäuser Reicofil, Germany: provider of innovative technologies and components for plastics extrusion, producing blown films, cast films, sheets as well as nonwovens.

Weaving equipment

• Itema, Italy: provider of advanced weaving machines, spare parts, and integrated services, specifically for rapier, air jet and projectile weft insertion technologies.
• Lindauer DORNIER, Germany: the company manufactures weaving machines, film stretching lines, and composite systems, also offering technical support and spare parts supply.
• Picanol, Belgium: producer and servicer of high-tech air jet and rapier weaving machines, with around 2,600 weaving mills utilising their systems worldwide.

Coating and lamination

• BRÜCKNER Textile Technologies, Germany: manufacturer of machines and lines for the coating and finishing of apparel fabric, technical textiles, nonwovens, glass fabrics and floor coverings.
• ROWA Lack, Germany: developer of high-quality materials and product solutions for the polymer industry, with applications including automotive, electrical engineering, construction, technical textiles, and medical technology.
• Stahl, the Netherlands: the Dutch company provides high quality coatings, dyes and process chemicals for leather, flexible coated substrates, textiles, films and foils, paper, and related products.

Fibre

• Monosuisse, Switzerland: with production sites in Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Mexico, and Germany, Monosuisse manufactures various precise, high-quality polymer monofilaments from 19µm to 3.00 mm in diameter.
• Perlon, Germany: specialised in the manufacture of synthetic filaments in diverse application areas, including paper machine clothing, dental care, and advanced technical textiles for agriculture, 3D printing, sports and leisure, home, and more.

Meanwhile, first-time exhibitors include Rökona (Germany), showcasing RE:SPACE, their range of recycled technical textiles; Testex AG (Switzerland), the official OEKO-TEX® representative in multiple countries including China; Hohenstein (Germany), the renowned testing laboratory and research institute; and zwissTEX (Germany), the knitted fabrics and lamination specialists. In addition, the returning Taiwan Pavilion is set to feature the debut of Shinih Enterprise Co Ltd (Taiwan China).

Beyond the innovation displayed at the booths, the fair’s programme is set to welcome global experts from various technical textile and nonwoven sub-sectors to offer specific insights and unveil innovations. Highlighted events include:

The 11th China International Nonwovens Conference
14 sessions cover topics such as the quality control of medical supplies; green development in technology and applications in the nonwovens industry; and the development and application of flashspun nonwovens in China.

Marine textiles and rope netting events
Events specific to this zone include the Top 10 Suppliers in the China Rope Net Industry; Conference on Textile Applications for Marine Engineering and Fisheries; and the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA) Rope Net Branch Council Meeting

"Nonwovens, Creating a Better Life” Innovation Showcase
Product display area showcasing around 100 nonwovens products with applications in five areas: medical and health, quality of life, human habitat, sustainable development, and innovative design.

Advanced Technical Textiles Industry Chain Synergistic Innovation Development Forum
Includes presentations from multiple key players in the technical textile industry, including Mr Steven Liu, Commercial Manager of Polymer Additives Business of Sanitized (China) Ltd.

‘Best of Bangladesh’ -- the first ever sole ‘Made in Bangladesh’ show in Europe -- aims to open the doors for Europe to experience what the Bangladeshi industries has to offer.

As Bangladesh celebrates five decades of strong ties with Europe, in order to further strengthen the ties and deepen collaborations with the partners across Europe, Bangladesh Apparel Exchange, supported by the Bangladesh Embassy in the Netherlands, is organizing the event in Amsterdam, Netherlands on September 4th and 5th, 2023.

The ‘Best of Bangladesh’ aims to serve as a dynamic platform to showcase the progress and potential across diverse sectors of Bangladesh economy, especially manufacturing.

A total of 40 Bangladeshi companies each of which is the country’s best from apparel, textile, leather, Agro, jute, handicrafts, pharmaceutical, light engineering, digital industry, FMCG and bicycle will showcase their sustainable and innovative products in the Best of Bangladesh.  

Bangladesh economy ranks as the world’s 37th largest now and it’s rapidly-expanding. The ‘Best of Bangladesh’ is being organized to accelerate interests and burgeoning engagements between the entrepreneurs and private sector entities on both European and Bangladeshi sides. The event has been structured to serve as a platform to showcase the multifaceted progress made and potential across diverse sectors of Bangladesh’s economy.

There will be an inaugural and 7 interactive panel sessions at the Best of Bangladesh on the topics ‘Bangladesh – Perspectives From An Emerging Economy’, ‘Bangladesh - Your Sustainable Sourcing Destination’, ‘Empowering the Future: Advancing Safety & Well-being for Garments Workforce in Bangladesh’, ‘Bangladesh Agro-Food: A Next Opportunity for Collaboration’, ‘Impact Investing - The Next Frontier’, ‘Sustainable Synergy: Circular Economy, Climate Action & Bangladesh’s Future’, and ‘Digitization and Digital Economy in Bangladesh’.

Avantium N.V., a leading technology provider in renewable chemistry, announces that it has signed an offtake agreement with Kvadrat A/S, a leader in design innovation, producing quality contemporary textiles and textile related products for architects, designers, and private consumers across the world.

Kvadrat will purchase the 100% plant-based and fully recyclable polymer PEF (polyethylene furanoate) from Avantium’s FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) Flagship Plant, currently under construction in Delfzijl (the Netherlands) and with commercial production set to start in 2024.

The offtake agreement shall offer Kvadrat the advantage of being first mover in creating PEF-based textiles for both commercial and residential interiors.

• Harmful PFAS chemicals, used in thousands of consumer products, are shaping up to be the big environmental and health threat of our time. The EU is now the first in the world to propose a broad ban on these chemicals.
• Consumer brands worth more than €130 billion support the ban on PFAS.  
• Investors with assets in PFAS-producing companies are calling for an end to production.

Many companies are taking a stand against PFAS chemicals as the EU invites the public to give its opinions on the proposed ban on these harmful chemicals.

108 companies dedicated to phasing out PFAS chemicals from products and processes have joined the PFAS Movement, an advocacy campaign initiated by environmental NGO ChemSec that calls for comprehensive regulation of PFAS in the EU. The members comprise many well-known brands, such as Inditex, Urbanears and the Cookware Company, representing various industries— fashion, home goods, food, and personal care. The members are worth more than €130 billion in total revenue.

“A European ban on PFAS chemicals will have huge repercussions for all manufacturing industries and require much work for companies in the global supply chain. However, some parts of the industry oppose this ban, claiming that the change is too big to be justified. That’s why the support for a ban from such influential consumer brands as those in the PFAS Movement is so important. It’s a strong sign that businesses want to eliminate PFAS chemicals in products and processes”, says Anne-Sofie Bäckar, Executive Director at ChemSec.

A Hollywood Helping Hand
ChemSec’s PFAS Movement is not only supported by the brands but also by Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo who became a PFAS activist after his involvement in the film Dark Waters. The film depicts the real-life events following the massive uncovering of PFAS contamination in the USA. As a result, several PFAS producers in the USA are now involved in multimillion-dollar lawsuits.

The health and environmental threats of PFAS, along with all the lawsuits, have also created attention among another influential group: institutional investors. Last year, 47 institutional investors with US$8 trillion in assets sent a letter to 54 chemical companies named by ChemSec, calling for them to halt the production of persistent “forever chemicals”.

The EU ban on PFAS
The proposed EU ban on PFAS is extensive and the first of its kind worldwide. The idea was initially initiated by Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, who have spent almost three years mapping the implications of a ban on PFAS chemicals in a dossier that expands over nearly 2000 pages. The proposal shows, among other things, that the emissions of PFAS were 75 000 tonnes in 2020. If this continues, the emissions are expected to sit at 4.4 million tonnes in 30 years. The emissions originate from the production and use of the many products that contain PFAS; furniture, cosmetics, electronics and many more.