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The VF Corporation fashion giant has confirmed it will source all of its cotton from the US, Australia or certified environmental cotton sources by 2025, as it releases new goals on sustainability and transparency.

Through its newly-released 'Made for Change' report, VF - which owns brands such as The North Face, Timberland, Vans and Supreme - published 12 new goals on sustainability and responsibility in its supply chains.

It’s the first such report to be published by the US$9 billion business since 2018 and outlines how it aims to leverage its size and scale to help drive measurable progress on a range of environmental and social challenges faced by the whole apparel sector.

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  • Thursday, 11 April 2024

    Textile innovation - when good ideas go bad... Premium Article

    Phil Patterson argues that textile industry eco-innovators selling ineffective, badly marketed, or over-priced technology to shopkeepers is a badly flawed business model that works for no-one. It’s incredibly pleasing there’s so much work being done…
  • Tuesday, 09 April 2024

    Heads above the parapet in Myanmar Premium Article

    Journalists working for the Myanmar Labour News (MLN) website - which reports on conditions from inside the country's factories - recently revealed that reports of worker abuses had almost tripled in a year. In its annual report, MLN said it had…
  • Monday, 08 April 2024

    Cellulosic fibre suppliers take stock Premium Article

    Lenzing has paused production of its lyocell-based Tencel Refibra fibres from cotton waste due to a shortage of high-quality recycled pulp. This is a good example of how the infrastructure for the collection, sorting, and re-processing of…
  • Friday, 05 April 2024

    Due diligence - reversing the race to the bottom Premium Article

    Alexander Kohnstamm, executive director of Fair Wear, on why the textile sector urgently needs mandatory, OECD-based due diligence. The long-negotiated EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was put in jeopardy at the very last…
  • Thursday, 04 April 2024

    Impact per wear - forgotten fashion metric? Premium Article

    The relevance of impact per wear is increasing as faster fashion accelerates and more clothing is discarded earlier. Investor analyst Rogier van Mazijk takes a look at how and why this useful metric is often overlooked. The significant changes that…
  • Wednesday, 03 April 2024

    What's really going on in Chile's Atacama Desert? Premium Article

    Our correspondent Lavinia Muth visited Chile to report on the world’s biggest mountain of fashion waste but came away with a different perspective – and a very personal story. Reports of an ever-growing mountain of textile waste in Chile's Atacama…
  • Tuesday, 02 April 2024

    EU fabric suppliers: cautiously optimistic Premium Article

    MUNICH – While fabric suppliers at the Performance Days event in Munich remained cautious about sustainable innovation in the current uncertain economic climate, many remain optimistic that regulation around waste and the circular economy will still…
  • Thursday, 28 March 2024

    Bharat Tex - India's largest global textile event Premium Article

    Bringing together 3,500 exhibitors from across the entire value chain under one roof for the first time, the theme of Bharat Tex 2024 emphasised India’s capability to provide end-to-end textile solutions. Spread across nearly two million square feet…
  • Thursday, 28 March 2024

    Tracking sustainability through the supply chain Premium Article

    Despite ongoing political wrangling, the European Union’s (EU) Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) looks like it will finally make it into the statute book - albeit with significant concessions. But what’s this new directive…
  • Wednesday, 27 March 2024

    Are textile innovators hitting the wrong target? Premium Article

    Are fashion brands really the best customers for textile innovators, asks Katherine Albertson, a former project manager with a US bio-based materials pioneer. Renewcell’s declaration of bankruptcy was sad, but hardly shocking. That appears to be the…
  • Wednesday, 27 March 2024

    Fashion’s future fragmented fabric landscape Premium Article

    Last week’s Fashion for Good event in The Netherlands became a frontline for contrasting visions and opinions about the future of existing and next-generation materials used in the fashion sector. Will there be a return to natural fibres?…
  • Tuesday, 26 March 2024

    Renewcell - when risk doesn’t equal reward Premium Article

    With the deadline for offers for bankrupt textile-to-textile recycling pioneer Renewcell less than 48 hours away, Ecotextile News editor John Mowbray argues that the Swedish company's collapse was down to a failure by brands, investors and the…
  • Monday, 25 March 2024

    Haute couture capital sets sights on fast fashion Premium Article

    Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, co-founder of the 2BPolicy consultancy, considers the ambitions of Paris to move on from being the capital of fashion to become a beacon for fashion legislation. For nearly two decades, France has been toying with the idea…
  • Tuesday, 13 February 2024

    Spilling the dirt on compostable stretch denim Premium Article

    Italian textile manufacturer Candiani has shared details of an experiment to show off the compostable qualities of what it claims is the world's first biodegradable stretch denim. A visit to his local butcher in Milan gave Alberto Candiani the idea…
  • Monday, 12 February 2024

    California’s climate of disclosure Premium Article

    With California's newly-implemented climate disclosure laws said to be the most wide-ranging introduced so far, we take a look at what they will mean for businesses. There’s no doubt as to the alarming impact of climate change in the US state – with…
  • Saturday, 10 February 2024

    Why decarbonisation depends on data Premium Article

    HONG KONG – With 2024 already here, it’s too late for any one organisation to roll out a strategy that can guarantees the whole textile sector can reduce its carbon emissions by 45% in the next seven years – a figure called for by scientists if the…
  • Friday, 09 February 2024

    Fashion’s fake GHG emission claims Premium Article

    Lutz Walter, secretary general of the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles, outlines why the claim that the fashion industry is to blame for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions is wrong – and why this matters. Four years after…
  • Thursday, 08 February 2024

    'Industry first' microplastics test developed Premium Article

    Italian textile manufacturer Aquafil has developed what it claims is the first methodology to precisely measure the quality and quantity of microplastics released in the textile industry. The company says the method, developed in partnership with…
  • Wednesday, 07 February 2024

    New tool counts textile process CO2 emissions Premium Article

    A new tool from the Apparel Impact Institute will be able to help calculate the cumulative CO2 emissions for each process and sub-process from textile manufacturing – an industry first. On the 22nd February, we will broadcast the first of a 3-part…
  • Tuesday, 16 January 2024

    Brands' integrity on energy rated 'shallow' Premium Article

    BERLIN – The integrity of the renewable electricity commitments of fashion giants H&M, Zara owner Inditex, Nike, Gap and Lululemon has been found wanting by a new report from the New Climate Institute. The non-profit assessed brands' renewable…
  • Tuesday, 02 January 2024

    Regenerative cotton – don't believe all the hype Premium Article

    Simon Ferrigno argues that regenerative cotton is about local solutions, designed by and with local people, and sold at a price that they can live on. Not a system where cotton producers are constantly observed by new digital tools and data owners,…
  • Thursday, 21 December 2023

    Expert panel talks ESG in fashion Premium Article

    With environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment currently in the doldrums, a panel of experts explain what this could mean for the fashion and retail sectors after its politicisation in the USA; and after UK investors shy away from this…
  • Tuesday, 19 December 2023

    Blanket PFAS ban poses textiles conundrum Premium Article

    The world of eco-textiles is littered with issues that are not clear cut, where there are pluses and minuses, and where compromise rules as stakeholders seek a ‘least bad outcome’ or a reduced environmental impact. But, a blanket ban on PFAS would…
  • Monday, 11 December 2023

    Back to the future for cotton Premium Article

    David Styles speaks to a firm that works with the European Space Agency, Cotton made in Africa and a geospatial technology specialist to explore why satellite imagery is being used to remotely monitor cotton crops. Is this the next phase of the…
  • Thursday, 07 December 2023

    GFA Monitor - many voices, one mission Premium Article

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  • Wednesday, 06 December 2023

    New report links global brands to forced labour Premium Article

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  • Tuesday, 05 December 2023

    Woolly thinking? Premium Article

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  • Monday, 04 December 2023

    Are influencers authentic on sustainable fashion? Premium Article

    Influencing by definition is not new, but never before has it been so easy for an average “nobody” to join a social media platform, garner a following and turn themselves into a self-made ‘sustainable fashion influencer’. Tom Bithell explores. 
  • Monday, 04 December 2023

    A rallying cry for next gen materials Premium Article

    If it's true that you know who your real friends are when the chips are down, then Nicole Rycroft, the founder and executive director of Canopy, is a real friend of Renewcell, in particular, and the next gen materials sector in general,…
  • Friday, 01 December 2023

    Textile Exchange production report unpacked Premium Article

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  • Monday, 27 November 2023

    Ecosystex - bridging the innovation gap Premium Article

    More than 100 stakeholders from 16 countries converged on Barcelona for the first conference of the Ecosystex coalition of research and industry experts involved in EU-funded innovation projects for textile sustainability. Launched earlier this…
  • Tuesday, 21 November 2023

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  • Friday, 27 October 2023

    Q&A - next gen vs recycled leather Premium Article

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  • Thursday, 12 October 2023

    Managing customer allergies to textile chemicals Premium Article

    Managing customer allergies to minute quantities of textile chemicals is far from simple and the industry must accept that a zero issue situation is impossible. Sometimes it’s easy to establish cause and effect, sometimes it’s easy to conclusively…
  • Wednesday, 11 October 2023

    Why risk should equal reward for suppliers Premium Article

    The textile industry is made up of all sorts of manufacturers, each with their own focus and approach. On one end of the spectrum are smaller mills that operate under short-term goals, driven by immediate client needs, market trends and the…
  • Tuesday, 10 October 2023

    Regulation drives next gen fibre interest Premium Article

    An entirely new category of European-created textile fibres is rapidly emerging based on reclaiming textile waste and its global influence could be huge. At the same time, it’s claimed this move could go a considerable way towards reversing some of…
  • Monday, 09 October 2023

    The tough choices facing brands in Myanmar Premium Article

    As human rights continue to deteriorate in Myanmar, more and more global brands are putting a halt on sourcing from the country. But what about the garment workers left behind? Swedish fashion giant H&M finally announced that it is to stop sourcing…
  • Friday, 06 October 2023

    Independent Higg tools review unpacked Premium Article

    The much-anticipated, KPMG-led technical review of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition's Higg MSI and PM tools has been finally released. It was back in June 2022 that the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) announced it was commissioning an…
  • Friday, 25 August 2023

    Purifying the textile waste stream Premium Article

    Using artificial intelligence to extract trims, zips and buttons to create clean textile feedstock, a Belgian company at the recent ITMA in Milan may have solved how to close the gap between textile sorting and recycling. Although precise global…
  • Monday, 21 August 2023

    Brave new world(ly) - Higg rebrand interview Premium Article

    "You can't use that," laughs James Schaffer, after tripping over 'Worldly' - the rebranded new name of the Higg technology company which runs the Higg Index suite of tools for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and is now branching out with new…
  • Monday, 21 August 2023

    The loops of textile circularity Premium Article

    Various debates have cynically unpicked the efforts of brands and retailers in a bid to disprove the viability of the concept of circularity, or more so to uncover the true motives behind these circular endeavours.Often these reports and articles…
  • Thursday, 17 August 2023

    How Shein and Temu ‘evade restrictions’ Premium Article

    WASHINGTON – US legislators are concerned that Chinese ultra-fast fashion retailers, like Shein and Temu, are out-flanking the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) which bans imports from Xinjiang on the assumption they are made with forced…
  • Thursday, 17 August 2023

    Coercive cotton labour to persist in Xinjiang Premium Article

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  • Friday, 04 August 2023

    Shedding the textile microfibre narrative Premium Article

    When it comes to fibre fragmentation, the existing narrative suggests that recycled polyester fabrics fair worse than those made with virgin polyester. However, Dr Kelly Sheridan, co-author of a recent report from the Microfibre Consortium (TMC),…
  • Wednesday, 02 August 2023

    Interview: Textile fibre pollution Premium Article

    Nearly two decades have elapsed since UK researchers published a seminal paper on tiny particles polluting the oceans. David Styles asks professor Richard Thompson OBE – a prize winning scientist in this field – how he reflects on the intervening…
  • Monday, 31 July 2023

    Time out for sustainable textile materials? Premium Article

    The elusive pursuit of sustainable new materials is unfolding at a pace more tortoise than hare, says Rogier van Mazijk, fund manager at the Textile Innovation Fund, who also believes that while numerous innovation categories have demonstrated…
  • Wednesday, 26 July 2023

    Eco-dyeing and finishing advances Premium Article

    Phil Patterson gives readers an insight into new innovations in printing, dyeing and general textile wet processing innovations seen at ITMA – where for him – one particular energy-saving idea was worth the time and expense of travelling to the…
  • Tuesday, 25 July 2023

    Focus on emerging technologies at ITMA Premium Article

    Start-Up Valley, a new feature at the 2023 ITMA trade show, featured 16 emerging companies hoping to scale new and game changing solutions and technologies. They included Dublin-based Tailr which is working on ways to harness the power of artificial…
  • Monday, 24 July 2023

    Many ITMA visitors miss out at Planet Textiles Premium Article

    Tens of thousands of ITMA visitors missed the opportunity to engage with key stakeholders on environmental issues in Milan – but they won’t be able to turn a deaf ear forever. ITMA 2023 was billed as the most sustainable ITMA event yet – if such an…
  • Monday, 26 June 2023

    Designing out the waste Premium Article

    The fashion industry is big, bold, and as messy as ever, but today it's having to face its critics over the harm that it continues to cause through its wasteful actions. However, can the industry re-design itself to re-define itself, and can it turn…
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