From the Sector

China in-store 2023, an official satellite of EuroShop, has drawn to a successful close at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) on 1 December. Over three days 103 exhibitors presented innovative store design and retail solutions attracting almost 14,000 professional visitors.

This year the trade fair focused on high-quality in-store solutions for the first time, offering many inspiring solutions and store-fitting concepts targeted specifically at retailers intending to open premium stores in China or overseas. The Designer Village showcased concepts by leading designers revolving around Visual Merchandising and storefront design solutions. At the “Retail Forum” and “Design Forum” 46 industry experts presented the latest retail and store design trends such as lightweight construction of commercial spaces. The renowned ERDA China Award recognised outstanding store design concepts.

The latest retail technologies on display at China in‑store 2023 included amongst others digital display mannequins, virtual dressers, dynamic lighting systems with shopper identification and AI-based smart shelving and ESL. All of these solutions help retailers improve the in-store user experience, above all of the younger generation.

The next China in-store will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from 3 to 5 September 2024.

The 14th in-store asia will be held in Mumbai from 1 June to 3 June 2023. The trade exhibition for retail resources and investment in store design, VM and in-store marketing gathers decision-makers from more than 7,500 retail companies, consultants, service providers, and manufacturers, bringing together over 100 exhibitors.

Since 2018, in-store asia has been a member of the international trade fair family of EuroShop in Düsseldorf. It assembles all leading retail solutions providers from India and other countries under one roof. Here decision-makers from retail, including branded product producers, retail consultants as well as providers of services and solutions for retail, store designers, architects and VM experts come together.

The 3-day event includes not only the Expo area but also a wide range of side events comprising a Convention with over 30 speakers, the presentation of the coveted VM & RD Retail Design Awards as well as the VM Challenge, a live shop window challenge for top-notch visual merchandisers that is unique for India. Furthermore, the Retail Technology Pavilion will present new tools, for instance for retail management and customer tracking as well as solutions revolving around AI & virtual reality, NFTs, smart checkout all the way down to store management, retail security and payment. Celebrating a premiere here will be the Start-up Hub, which will provide emerging, innovative companies with a stage to present themselves to the industry.

The Indian retail industry has changed drastically; being one of the fastest growing retail markets it has proven a key driver for the Indian economy. The Indian retail sector is forecast to continue posting enormous growth rates due to such factors as growing urbanisation, rising household incomes, better connected rural consumers and rising consumer spending.

• C.L.A.S.S. launches the Manifesto for Responsible Fashion and kicks off the CALL TO ACTION of C.L.A.S.S. ICON 2021
• What does it mean to be a “game changer” in green fashion?
• What are the false myths of eco-fashion and what are the guidelines for innovating while safeguarding the planet? And how do you tell the story behind a sustainable fashion collection?

An annual competition to reward a visionary creative who combines design, responsible innovation and communication, capable of raising contemporary consumer awareness of the new values of sustainable fashion. This is the Call to Action launched to find the C.L.A.S.S. ICON 2021 by Giusy Bettoni of C.L.A.S.S. in the Smart Voices panel "C.L.A.S.S. ICON: Award and Manifesto for Responsible Fashion", moderated by the green journalist Diana de Marsanich, and starring, on the 10th February, the fashion designer Gilberto Calzolari, recipient of the international award for creative visionaries in the world of fashion C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award 2020, and Federico Poletti, Marketing and Communication Director of WHITE SHOW.

C.L.A.S.S. Manifesto  

During the Smart Voice, the C.L.A.S.S. Manifesto for Responsible Fashion, the 2021 edition of the C.L.A.S.S. ICON competition and the Sustainability Formula were presented.

C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award is an international award for visionary creatives in the fashion world who are able to convey the values of sustainability not only to fashion professionals, but also to the wider public: consumers. "We created C.L.A.S.S. ICON to reward visionary designers who create their collections by combining design, innovation and responsibility and who are able to communicate the values behind their garments authentically and effectively to consumers. It's time for storymaking and storytelling to align, otherwise it's just greenwashing" says Giusy Bettoni.

From 15th of February to 15th of April it will be possible to apply by sending an email to classicon@classecohub.org, with a description and objectives of the brand, the sustainability values adopted and the strategy, the designer's profile, a photo-video story of the latest collection, and any previous awards won (all info on http://www.classecohub.org).

During the panel, designer Gilberto Calzolari, the first winner of the first C.L.A.S.S. ICON Award, shared his vision for responsible fashion and his current projects. "My brand is a laboratory of experimentation. I create fashion to open conversations and change the way people behave and think. My creativity, from the choice of fabrics and processes to the image I decide to communicate, are the weapons at my disposal. Since the beginning, I have been really excited to team up with C.L.A.S.S. in order to share a common and challenging journey, with the perspective to be part of a constantly growing network activating mutual support. I have always thought at my collections as a call to action for a better future and now more than ever my mission as C.L.A.S.S. ICON is to make people understand that commitment and sustainability can and must go hand in hand with beauty and elegance. The adage 'kalòs kai agathòs' is one of the classical teachings that should never be forgotten: aesthetics, in my opinion, is inseparable from ethics. That's why I don't just target professionals, but also the end consumer, fashionistas and beyond" says Gilberto.

"For the first edition of C.L.A.S.S. ICON in 2020 Gilberto was decreed as our chosen one, and the path together was sanctioned at that moment: the sharing of values and visions is an indissoluble bond that keeps us united over time. Like Gilberto, each ICON will be part of a community where together with C.L.A.S.S. will try to make a real smart fashion and above all create an important voice," says Giusy Bettoni.

In support of the C.L.A.S.S. ICON award, C.L.A.S.S. presented its Manifesto for Responsible Fashion, which summarises the values that C.L.A.S.S. has been researching, communicating and developing since 2007: the role of the ethical company and its transparent production, the importance of traceable and healthy products, with total respect for people and the environment. A commitment to a circular economy with a positive impact that also means safeguarding the seas, the ocean, the use of water, energy and resources.

"A Manifesto for fashion with the lowest possible impact on the planet and on people and animals’ health thanks to responsible innovation, perfectly up to the challenges of contemporary lifestyle. This is why I created the Sustainability Formula, which only exists when there is design, responsible innovation and we are able to track and measure the impact of products and processes and communicate the new values in an appropriate way. In a word, when there is knowledge" concludes Giusy Bettoni.
 
F = D x I x S x C
F= Fashion
D=Design
S=Sustainability
C=Communication

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, will be presenting its innovative and sustainable denim solutions for manufacturers and brands at DenimsandJeans Vietnam 2018, on June 27 and 28.
From fiber to finish, Archroma offers a scope of possibilities for effects and colors, from the authentic roots of indigo to the most innovative and eco-advanced solutions. Archroma is a recognized leader in integrated solutions, offering best-in-class auxiliaries for bespoke process packages.
Visitors will be able to discover solutions designed to make denim in a more sustainable and responsible way, in particular:
DENISOL®, BRINGING INDIGO BACK TO ITS ROOTS - NOW ANILINE-FREE*
Archroma’s Denisol® range is a newly developed pre-reduced liquid indigo solution that is manufactured in Archroma’s award winning ‘zero liquid discharge’ manufacturing plant in Pakistan.

• Denisol® Indigo 30 liq is compliant with major official eco-standards and requirements from retailers, brands and fashion leading companies and helps to produce fabrics suitable for current eco-labeling such as bluesign® and GOTS.
• Responding to demands for a non-toxic alternative to the dyes that are used for the iconic and traditional indigo blue that consumers associate with denim and jeans, Archroma just announced the upcoming new Denisol® Pure Indigo 30.

ADVANCED DENIM, TOWARDS WATERLESS DENIM DYEING
Consider this: The water needed to produce one pair of jeans is said to be ~ 11'000 liters(1). With approximately 167 million pairs of jeans produced monthly(2), that is 1,837,000,000,000 liters of water consumed every month in the process! Based on the Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing processes, Archroma’s multi-awarded ADVANCED DENIM, dyeing technology allows savings of up to 92% in water, 87% in cotton waste and 30% in energy, compared to a conventional denim dyeing process.
The technology has been adopted by brands like Patagonia and received the prestigious 2012 ICIS Innovation Award and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit Award.

• Optisul® C, “soft colors” made easy
  Colors other than blue have been tricky to achieve in the past. With Optisul® C dyes, denim manufacturers can expand their color horizons with this range of six dyes especially designed to produce soft denim colors in continuous dyeing processes, as well as on coating and printing. Optisul® C affinity-free, sulfide-free dyes can easily be combined with each other to create garments suitable for wash-down treatments in a wide array of easily achievable and reproducible soft colors. They are suitable for GOTS and bluesign® approval.
• Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes
  Archroma’s Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues are a collection of vibrant, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes. These best-in-class dyes and their auxiliaries bring out the best of indigo, improve workability, dyeing consistency and process safety.
  They can be combined with Denisol® Indigo 30 liq in bottoming/topping manufacturing routes for avant-garde blue styles. At the booth, Archroma will display an “illustration collection” of exciting indigo casts.
• Diresul® blacks & greys, a universe of greys and deep black and navies.
  Archroma’s dye portfolio of conventional and black Diresul® specialties allow to create a universe of greys and deep black and navies. From superficial to solid blacks for both extreme wash-down and stay black effects.

EARTHCOLORS, TRACEABLE FROM NATURE TO FASHION
As consumers increasingly aspire to functional, beautiful and meaningful clothing, brands and manufacturers are increasingly interested in the environmental impact of the denim industry. Archroma has placed sustainability at the heart of its innovation process to create products and processes that improve the industry’s sustainability.
The EarthColors patented range of “biosynthetic” dyes for cotton and cellulose-based fabrics, which are made from waste left over by the agricultural and herbal industry after extraction, such as almond shells, saw palmetto, or rosemary leaves. The latest NFC technology used on the end-product hangtags enables transparency and traceability through the supply chain to consumers.
The EarthColors allow to produce the earth tones that are coming strong: red, brown and green colors. They have been adopted by brands such as Patagonia, Kathmandu and G-Star, and won an OutDoor Industry Award 2017.

SOLUTION PACKAGES FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Brand owners and retailers around the world are taking action to evaluate the environmental impact of textile treatment, dyeing and finishing processes in response to consumer concerns.

Archroma recently introduced the ONE WAY Process Simulator, the last update of a calculation tool that supports its ONE WAY Sustainability Service introduced back in 2012. The new, online software can be used to mimic and compare products and processes, and thus calculate the ecological and economical profile of the final end-product.
Archroma’s portfolio of ZDHC MRSL-compliant chemicals and dyes is integrated into the ONE WAY calculation tool since 2013.
“Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand,” says Paul O’Prey, Head of Sales, Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, Archroma, Vietnam. “While developing new products and services, we always consider the environmental impact so they are as sustainable as possible. This can be seen in our innovative and eco-advance products, such as the water-saving ADVANCED DENIM and the aniline-free* Denisol® Pure Indigo.”