From the Sector

• Lectra’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting held on April 29 appointed two new Directors, Ross McInnes and Hélène Viot Poirier, for a four-year term.
• They both become members of Lectra’s Audit Committee, Nominations Committee and Strategic Committee. Hélène Viot Poirier also becomes a member of the new CSR Committee.

 A major global player in the fashion, automotive and furniture markets, Lectra designs industrial intelligence solutions – software, equipment, data and services – that enable the digital transformation of its customers.
 
In 2017, Lectra launched its Lectra 4.0 strategy with the aim of making the company a key Industry 4.0 player in its markets by 2030. As part of its 2017-2019 roadmap, Lectra successfully integrated key technologies for Industry 4.0 and software solutions in SaaS mode into its offers. The company’s 2020-2022 roadmap should enable it to leverage the full potential of its new offers while ensuring the sustainable and profitable growth of its business.
 
Daniel Harari, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lectra, says: “We are delighted to welcome Ross McInnes and Hélène Viot Poirier to Lectra’s Board of Directors. Through Ross McInnes’ appointment, we will benefit from his extensive experience as a director of listed companies and his knowledge of Lectra’s challenges, as well as his expertise in strategy, management, finance, and governance. Hélène Viot Poirier has extensive knowledge of the digital world and the fashion market. Her appointment will enable the Board of Directors to benefit from her expertise in acquisition strategy, management and the development of environmentally responsible products”.
 
In the last five years, Ross McInnes has been a member of Lectra’s Board of Directors, and a member of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Strategic Committee. This first mandate came to an end in April 2020. Ross McInnes is a graduate of the University of Oxford.
 
Since 2020, as an Independent Senior Advisor, she has supported strategic internal and external growth projects in the fashion, digital and consumer goods sectors. Hélène Viot Poirier is a graduate of HEC Paris.

This collaborative and educational project showcases the use of waste as a resource and prolonging the life of the garment through color. It came to life thanks to key brands who donated items that were then transformed by Officina39’s Recycrom™ applications into a renewed head-to-toe look that was then displayed as an art installation.

What’s the Recipe for change? For Officina39 and Adriana Galijasevic’s Cocircular Lab, this question gives shape to the collaborative and educational project Circular Explorations, specially presented at Amsterdam Denim Days Festival on April 22-23.

Sharing ground values and a common view on the fashion of tomorrow, Officina39, Italian based Chemistry plus Creativity company for the textile sector, joined hands with Adriana Galijasevic’s Cocircular Lab and influential brands to celebrate the importance of an ongoing commitment towards circularity.

Several donated items – overstock, second-grade production or damaged, unsold pieces – were updated with newly developed applications made with Officina39’s Recycrom™, the one-of-a-kind, patented dyestuffs range made from textile waste. This Circular Explorations capsule is displayed at Denim Days Festival as an art installation, not only to dress people but also to get them acquainted with circularity because they are an important player in closing the loop.

The Recipe for change that emerges from this color research is based on important values and keywords:

• Consciousness – awareness of oneself and one's surroundings
• Courage – the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.
• Creativity – the power to imagine and produce new possibilities.
• Connection – a relationship in which a person or thing is linked or associated with something else, the act or state of connecting.
• Collaboration – the act of working together for a common goal.

Combined together, they produce CHANGE, which is a driving force for a better tomorrow.

This collaborative and innovative project that addresses circularity is also in direct support of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular number 12-Responsible Consumption and Production, number 9-Industry innovation & Infrastructure and number 17-Partnership for the Goals.

On the 25th of March ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei invited its strategic European partners to the Triennale Design Museum for the first ROICA™ Summit, with the aim of sharing its global strategy and to consolidate relationships that are key to the Asahi Kasei global vision of its fiber and business.

Among the speakers Senior Executive Manager Mr. Shinichiro Haga and its successor Mr. Takehiro Kamiyama, who will take on the new role after more than thirty years in the Asahi Kasei Corporation and more than three years at ROICA™. Together they opened the floor by explaining the ROICA™ business strategy, which is based on three main steps:

1. Continue to speed up ROICA™ responsible innovation  
2. Continue to speed up ROICA™ international partnerships with a strong focus on responsible innovation
3. Continue to push a new generation of communication where its story making will align with an authentic and consumer driven storytelling based on values.

Then, Mr. Shinohe Hiroaki Chief Marketing Officer Europe, introduced the new production strategy at global level  together with  its program of partnerships, plus the marketing and communication programs for the next year and beyond in synergy with Giusy Bettoni at C.L.A.S.S.

“We are extremely pleased to be here with our European partners, thanking them for the continuous valuable cooperations that made ROICA™ so special, and sharing with them which will be our next steps in order to be leading responsible innovation. This is a very precious moment, during which we are able to talk face to face and install long-lasting relationships, with the aim of supporting the apparel industry by making premium stretch becoming a key player for wellbeing values, which are extremely precious for the contemporary consumer. And this will be part of sport, lingerie, hosiery , fashion and swimwear wardrobes thanks to the ROICA™ special new generation of premium stretch innovations” affirms Shinohe Hiroaki.

Through the collaboration Payal Pratap and Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei show a new way of making fashion, based on merging craft & tech, cutting-edge materials and deeply rooted optimism in troubled times.

With a strong focus on prints, the designer, Payal Pratap, has worked on hand-painted artworks which have then been digitized. The designs capture detailed elements and a three-dimensional depth and texture from the age-old crafts of Batik, plus powerful imagery and minute detailing from the ancient craft of Chintz printing. Batik was named after the Javanese words “Amba” which means to write and “Titik”, which translates to a dot or a point, while Chintz comes from the Hindi word “Cheent”, meaning spotted or speckled.  Both these techniques and crafts have been used in a contemporary context while creating the art works.

The prints encompass flora and fauna, bringing nature from the outside to the inside through the use of extensive flower, leaf, tree, vine and bird motifs, as an ode to sustainability. Placement prints have been engineered to make tailored jackets and structured pieces. A timeless collection comprising experimental pieces that blend the far east with India. A collection signaling holiday with a burst of colour. Bemberg™ in various avatars ranging from satins, muslins, mulmul, and silk blends have been used to create a collection with fluid drapes as well as structure.

The fabric takes printing and colour beautifully and has a slight sheen and glazed feel which resonates with chintz. The colour palette ranges from indigos, browns, rust, to burgundy brick and gold. Furthermore, Bemberg™ is an inherently sustainable ingredient, since it is made with cotton linters, pre-consumer materials derived from the cotton oil industry, and converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process. Coming from nature and going back towards nature, the Bemberg™ fiber is also biodegradable and compostable.

• Hundreds of designers, brands, creators, e-com platforms, manufacturers, and virtual fashion pioneers expected to attend VIP events at Kornit’s headquarters, R&D and production centers, and in major venues of Tel Aviv     
• Kornit will unveil future technologies and solutions, including the revolutionary Kornit Apollo fully-digital mass production direct-to-garment (DTG) platform – considered a future game-changer for the mainstream mass production of fashion and apparel, a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity – constrained today by antiquated, analog, and polluting methods of production
• Mass production of textile, traditionally off-shored, is going through an accelerated shift to near-shore production, significantly shorter production runs, lean-to-no inventory risk, and unlimited creativity and flexibility for designers and creators – all possible with Kornit’s new solution for mass production
• Kornit will also unveil its Kornit Atlas MAX Poly – predicted to transform the multi-billion-dollar professional and recreational sports apparel and teamwear markets, suffering today from major limitations with mass customization of polyester

Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT) (“Kornit”), a worldwide market leader in sustainable, on-demand digital fashionx and textile production, announced today the Company will present the convergence of design, technology, and sustainable fashion at Kornit Fashion Week Tel Aviv 2022, April 3rd – 6th. Rewriting the rules for fashion and textiles, the transformative event will unveil vibrant runway collections together with game-changing industry-first product and technology introductions that bring digital production to the mainstream.

The four-day event is attended by some of the top designers, retailers, brands, fulfillers, and ecommerce players, in addition to global investors and press – and will include exclusive VIP experiences demonstrating the confluence of the design, technology, and fashion worlds. Together, these three elements are central to Kornit’s 4.0 strategy, bringing sustainable, on-demand fashion to the mainstream with end-to-end workflow solutions.

Kornit Fashion Week Tel Aviv 2022

Kornit Fashion Week features an immersive runway showcase produced by worldwide fashion icon, producer, director, and entrepreneur Motty Reif. The week follows successful Kornit events in 2021 across Los Angeles, New York, Milan, and Tel Aviv – displaying the creative freedom associated with sustainable, on-demand fashion fulfillment. Attendees will experience runway events showcasing designer creativity across a broad array of collections. These fascinating collections were created in just a few weeks, unlike typical fashion and textile production processes that take over six months.

Industry-First Introductions

Looking behind the scenes at Kornit Fashion Week, attendees will witness Kornit’s disruptive mass production technology in action. Unveiled for the first time, the Kornit Apollo direct-to-garment (DTG) system addresses accelerated post-pandemic market trends for streamlined supply chains and production nearshoring. Demonstrated at an exclusive VIP event, Kornit Apollo features the Company’s proven MAX technology offering the highest retail quality combined with full automation control and integrated smart curing processes, utilizing functionality from Lichtenau, Germany-based Tesoma (Kornit’s recently announced acquisition). The solution is the most comprehensive digital, single-step end-to-end system for nearshore short-and-medium-runs mass production and offers optimal TCO and highest output per operator. The result far surpasses performance of screen printing and analog techniques. With early customer engagements in the second half of 2022, the system will be available mid-2023.

Physical and Virtual Worlds

Kornit enables customers to exchange supply chain headaches and materials waste for unsurpassed creativity and a frictionless pixel-to-parcel-to-doorstep production experience. Supported by the KornitX workflow solution, customers have access to a scalable and modular ecosystem for on-demand decorated apparel and textiles. Supporting diverse supply chain models, the infrastructure-agnostic system enables on-demand, automated production, end-to-end from initial order to package delivery.

• Kornit Digital Introduces High-Volume Digital Production Solution for Vibrant Decorative Designs on Polyester and Polyester-Blended Apparel
• Kornit Atlas MAX Poly to Transform Professional and Recreational Sportswear, Teamwear, and Sports Brands; Injecting Life into Apparel with Power of Design Across Full Color Gamut

Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT) (“Kornit”), a worldwide market leader in sustainable, on-demand digital fashionx and textile production, introduced today its distinctive Kornit Atlas MAX Poly system – an industry-first direct-to-garment (DTG) solution delivering superior-quality digital decoration for vibrant, colorful design on polyester and poly-blended apparel.

Kornit’s Atlas MAX Poly capitalizes on the demand for fashionable, unique sportswear and apparel. As the industry emerges from a post-pandemic environment in which athletic and leisurewear became mainstream, there is increasing demand for apparel combining polyester and poly-blends with vivid designs across a range of colors. Atlas MAX Poly can transform the multi-billion-dollar professional and recreational sports apparel and teamwear markets, limited today by limitations in mass customization of polyester.

“Kornit Atlas MAX Poly is a game-changer,” said Omer Kulka, Chief Marketing Officer at Kornit Digital. “As fashion and sports apparel merge, there’s new opportunity for innovative fashion on polyester, currently the fastest-growing textile vertical. For the first time, recreational sportswear, promotional, and sports brands can embrace vibrant and colorful design with Kornit’s proven MAX technology – setting superior quality standards for on-demand production previously not possible.”

Unveiled during Kornit Fashion Week Tel Aviv 2022, Atlas MAX Poly incorporates Kornit’s field-proven MAX technology for high-quality premium decoration, process automation, and smart autonomous quality control. With Kornit’s XDi decorative applications, Atlas MAX Poly enables endless designs and creativity on polyester, and empowers new styles for multiple effects and unlimited combinations such as emulating threadless embroidery, high-density vinyl, screen transfer emulations, and 3D effects.

The solution is compatible with mesh and plain fabrics, including brushed polyester, while maintaining durability and breathability. It brings the highest throughput for on-demand polyester decoration, reducing total cost of ownership to drive profitability. Customers gain competitive advantage via Pantone color-matching and a wide color gamut including neon colors for bright and vibrant impressions, using single-step mechanisms minimizing production footprints while maximizing versatility.

Beyond superior quality, graphics, color, and application variety, Kornit Atlas MAX Poly offers efficient, reliable, profitable end-to-end polyester production via:

• Kornit’s ActiveLoad automated garment-loading and pallet adjustment for repeatable, high-quality output with minimal errors reducing time and waste, eliminating operator ramp-up and boosting throughput up to 20%.
• Seamless integration with KornitX Global Fulfillment Network, enabling a pixel-to-parcel-to-doorstep experience. This unleashes untapped demand for polyester short-run production, personalization, and disruptive direct-to-fan and direct-to-recreational business models.
• Integration with KornitX’s workflow ecosystem and Kornit Konnect™ dashboard, optimizing process visibility and control, adding data-driven insights for production floor efficiencies.

The winner of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition was announced during a webinar broadcast on March 30 at 4pm attended by Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub, Anna Detheridge, President of Connecting Cultures, Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts, Stefania Ricci, Director of the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.
 
Vishal Tolambia, 24, a graduate with an MA in Fashion Futures from the London College of Fashion and in Fashion Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology India, is a Fashion Sustainability researcher and a multidisciplinary designer. In 2021, Vishal founded the organization Humanity-Centred Designs (HCD) with the aim of transforming "human-centred design into humanity-centred designs through sustainable practices to foster the Fashion Industry."
 
In his communication project, the "Fashion Affair" video proposes a speculative view of fashion dating - derived from dating apps - a tool to effectively evaluate brands and their products, in the form of augmented reality. The consumer is not only informed in real time about the brand and supply chain, but the app also becomes a platform for matching products based on individual sustainability goals and commitments. "Fashion Affair" also won the special social media contest open to the public among the finalists selected by the jury for being the most voted project by Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S.' profile.
 
Vishal ranked first among the finalists selected by the international jury composed of:
- Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
- Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
- Rita Airaghi, Director, Gianfranco Ferré Research Center            
- Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
- Jeanine Ballone, Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
- Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
- Chiara Luisi, Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
- Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Sustainable Strategies, Council of Fashion Designers of America
- Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
- Renata Molho, journalist and fashion writer, former editor-in-chief of L'Uomo Vogue and editor-at-large of L'Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia, Casa Vogue
- Stefania Ricci, Director, Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

• March 16-18, 2022, Istanbul Expo Center
• Successful start of Texhibition, Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair with over 10,000 visitors from 63 countries
• More than 160 exhibitors presented fabrics, yarns and accessories on approx. 5,000 square meters in the Istanbul Expo Center
• Intensive order activity in a professional trade fair atmosphere of over 1billion US$
• The organizer's objective: to double the area and number of exhibitors for the second event in September

With over 10,000 visitors, the premiere event of Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair, organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (ITHIB) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) from March 16th to 18th, 2022 has successfully started.

İTHİB President Ahmet Öksüz: "Our exhibition platforms Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair and IFCO, Istanbul Fashion Connection, which was launched by our sister association IHKIB in February, play an important role in making Istanbul the fashion center of the Turkish textile and clothing industry. For the follow-up event to Texhibition in September this year, we expect the number of exhibitors and space to double."

The consistently positive feedback from the exhibitors underscores this expectation, as does the great interest shown by international visitors, including those from Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

The Turkish textile industry started with an export target of US$ 15 billion in 2022. The exhibition organizers assume that their platforms will contribute US$ 1 billion. Turkey is one of the most important procurement markets for the European textile industry and is becoming even more important in the course of the global supply chain problem and is now one of the top 3 most interesting procurement locations with its low prices, good quality products, reliable suppliers and short delivery times.

Exhibitors
On offer were high-quality and innovative fabrics from the weaving sector, including Kipaş Textiles, BTD Textile, Özdoku, Bossa and Yünsa; knitters like Gülle, Saka, Örkumod or İskur showed their current collections; yarn market leaders such as Korteks, Tepa and Gama were present, as were Şimşek Ege, EMR Zippers, Çağ-Tek and Öz-El Lastik for the accessories sector. A total of 166 exhibiting companies presented themselves in clearly structured segments in a professional trade fair atmosphere.

Frame program
In the Texhibition Forum, experts discussed the topics Sustainability, New Trends, Supply Chain and GMO-Free Cotton giving an outlook on the upcoming trends and developments in the Turkish textile industry. All events were heavily frequented by visitors.

Next Texhibition September 21-23, 2022

According to the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development, the fashion and textile industry represents one of the major polluters of water in the world, with an estimated 93 billion cubic metres of water used per year.

On the occasion of Water Day, C.L.A.S.S. CEO and Founder Giusy Bettoni talked to Sensil® BioCare, Kornit, Ecoalf and Unesco on how their strategies and processes can preserve our most precious, yet limited resource.

Key Takeaways from the Speakers:
"The ocean is absolutely crucial for the survival of this planet, since it almost covers 71 percent of its surface. Writer Arthur Clarke once said: how inappropriate is to call this planet earth, when it is clearly planet ocean."
- Francesca Santoro, Programme Specialist at IOC UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe

"Sensil® BioCare is our solution to reduce the persistence of textile waste in the ocean. We embedded technology in it so that if any microfiber is released in the washing, they will break down faster than conventional nylon. Based on an external study, we have seen an almost 60 percent microplastic reduction in two years"
- Michelle Lea, Vice President Global Marketing at Nilit

"When it comes to our printing processes, almost no water is in use and the waste is minimal. We have never seen this before in this industry. Based on LCA tests, when compared to screen printing our "Atlas Max" printer saves up to 93 percent of water, while the "Presto" printer saves up to 95 percent of water".
- Michal Arbel, Sustainability Communication Lead at Kornit Digital

"One of the most important projects of the company is Upcycling the Oceans, with the aim of tackling the marine litter in collaboration with the fishing sector. Last year, we collected 300 tons of litter from the seabed, and we promoted circular economy by transforming the waste in products."
- Irene Diez, Director at Ecoalf Foundation

For its 2021 Green Collection, the Italian luxury hosiery brand Sarah Borghi presents a broadened product offer in terms of colors and categories, meeting the needs of a stylish, yet sustainable consumer. By mixing fashion, quality, innovation and research, the tights and stockings powerhouse continues its development in the journey towards a conscious future.

A decisive step has been added to the brand’s history thanks to the publication of the Integrated Report by Gizeta Calze. Sarah Borghi is one of the first Italian companies in the hosiery sector to include sustainability throughout its business model. A commitment of responsibility and transparency on a path that has been carried on for years and that, today more than ever, becomes of the utmost importance, as stated by Luca Marzocchi, CEO of Gizeta Calze. The Integrated Report provides a complete view of the business strategy, operating model and governance, which combines financial information with sustainability insights, conceived as complementary to other strategies and, indeed, essential for increasing business value.

The collection presents a range of versatile, colorful products combined with extra-luxury comfort and designed for every type of woman: from seductive tights to everyday socks, together with knee- highs, up to athleisure with leggings.
 
The collection features two new generation materials. One is Amni Soul Eco®, a biodegradable in anaerobic conditions polyamide 6.6 yarn that degrades in around 5 years* after disposing of in landfill, developed by SOLVAY and produced and distributed by FULGAR. The other is ROICA™ V550 by leading fiber manufacturer Asahi Kasei, a premium sustainable stretch yarn boasting the Gold Level Material Health Certificate by Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute** as it has been evaluated for impact on human and environmental health. Moreover, it smartly breaks down without releasing harmful substances in the environment according to Hohenstein Environment Compatibility Certification. Key elements that makes ROICA™ V550 a precious choice when it comes to Circular Economy material approach.

*Reference System: ASTM D5511 - Standard Test Method for the Determination of Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastics Under High-solids Anaerobic Digestion Conditions
** The Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute, a non -profit organization, administer the Cradle-to-Cradle Certified™ Product Standard. It was created to bring about a new industrial revolution that turns the making of things into a positive force of society, economy and the planet. The Cradle-to-Cradle Certified Product Standard™ provides designers and manufacturers with criteria and requirements for continually improving what products are made of and how they are made aiming to achieve a circular economy approach.