MILAN - Zara owner Inditex and denim technology firm Jeanologia have teamed up to develop a new industrial pretreatment aimed at reducing microfibre shedding from textiles. The 'Air Fiber Washer' claims to be the first industrial air system to…
Milan – Italian denim manufacturer Candiani has again won the Sustainable Innovation Award at the giant ITMA trade event in Italy. Candiani, which won the same award at the last event in 2019 in Barcelona, took the honour this time for the company's…
LONDON – Sustainability in British textile supply chains and environmental considerations around packaging are among the new themes to be explored at this year's Sustainable Angle and Future Fabrics Expo. The show has also partnered with non-profits…
MILAN - The 19th edition of ITMA - the world’s largest textile and garment technology trade event - has opened at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre in the Italian city of Milan. Featuring more than 1,700 exhibitors from 47 countries, the event…
LONDON – The number of B Corp certified apparel companies has surpassed 250 for the first time, following a surge in early 2023 as a growing number of organisations seek to evidence an ethical approach to business operations. With 14 clothing firms…
MILAN – Andrea Rosso, sustainability ambassador for Italian fashion brand Diesel, has been announced as the opening keynote speaker for day two of Planet Textiles 2023. Rosso will be sharing his journey into sustainability, Diesel's approach to…
STOCKHOLM – A Swedish blockchain company has bought online fashion brand BLK DNM known for its denim, leather, and tailored clothing as it looks to ‘inspire more responsible behaviours’ in the fashion industry. The IT firm ChromaWay, which created…
GREEN ISLAND – Textile innovator Ecovative has raised over US$30 million after closing a series E round of funding to scale its mycelium-based technology that’s used to make textile and leather alternatives. The fundraising round was led by Viking…
SINGAPORE – The Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI) has teamed up with Together for Sustainability (TfS) a member-driven initiative that aims to raise CSR standards throughout the chemical industry. The two organisations will now…
BERGAMO – A new pilot project claims to have successfully produced new garments from recycled polyester recovered from post-consumer textile waste. Italian synthetic fibre producer Radici Group teamed up with Austrian textile recycling machinery…
LOS ANGELES – Ambercycle, the US company that separates polyester-blended materials and chemically recycles them to yield virgin-grade product, has formed a new strategic partnership with Taiwan-based Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation. The two…
NEW YORK - Gen Z consumers have been taking to social media to express concern over the fashion industry’s impact on the environment, from textile waste to pollution and CO2 emissions, a recent report has revealed. AI-enabled consumer intelligence…
SALT LAKE CITY / ALAMEDA - Outdoor brand WNDR Alpine has launched a new range of activewear featuring microalgae-based moisture-wicking which claims to offer an 80% lower carbon footprint. WNDR Alpine, which was launched by the biotechnology company…
DHAKA - Bangladesh's garment industry needs to transform itself with a focus on reducing negative impacts on the environment and its workers if it is to survive, according to a new report from PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC). The country is the world's…
STUTTGART – The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has launched a 'world-first' initiative with the European Space Agency (ESA) and artificial intelligence (AI) company Marple to use remote satellite monitoring in organic cotton certification.…
MILAN – The Armani Group has launched a new project on regenerative cotton in southern Italy to improve landscape diversity, save water, improve soils and encourage biodiversity. The luxury fashion house will work with King Charles III’s Sustainable…
ABIDJAN – A new joint initiative from Cotton made in Africa and the African Cotton Foundation was founded at a recent meeting in the Ivory Coast that hosted over 40 agricultural advisors from Africa. The new ‘Innovations Club’ aims to find the most…
TÜBINGEN – Italian synthetic yarn supplier Fulgar and textile chemical supplier CHT say they’ve joined forces to lower the environmental impact of dyeing nylon. Using 100% bio-based nylon from castor oil and recycled nylon yarns, together with…
SAN FRANCISCO – New analysis from the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) initiative has put a new figure on the size of the fashion industry's carbon footprint which claims to be the most accurate produced to date. Climate change consultant Michael…
OBERTSHAUSEN –Sporting goods retailer Decathlon has teamed up with its suppliers to develop a swimsuit fabric without elastane that is designed for circularity. The retailer has collaborated with machinery manufacturer, the Karl Mayer Group, and…
STOCKHOLM – Swedish chemicals company OrganoClick has launched a new bio-based, biodegradable PFAS-free waterproof coating for textiles under its OrganoTex brand. It says the product, which is also free of fossil-based plastics and synthetic waxes,…
VALENCIA – Denim production technology firm Jeanologia has teamed up with chemical management experts GoBlu to launch a new verification system for its environmental impact measuring tool (EIM). The project was piloted by a group of industry experts…
SPONSORED CONTENT : Diresul® Evolution Black liq is Archroma’s ground-breaking black dyestuff which sets new standards in the industry, offering not only exceptional color performance in terms of its unique shade and wash-down effects, but also…
CLERMONT-FERRAND – Biotech company, Carbios, has secured over €150 million (US$160M) towards the building of the ‘world’s first’ polyester (PET) bio-recycling plant, through French government support and its partnership with global synthetic fibre…
NEW YORK - A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to set out a roadmap for sustainability and circularity in the global textile value chain. It focuses on three priority areas which it says are key to driving forward…
SPONSORED CONTENT – Ninety percent of business leaders think sustainability is important. And, in 2022, 79% of executives say that their companies are very concerned about climate change – up 10% since 2021. In addition, 37% have tied executive…
BRUSSELS - The Euratex textile industry trade body has issued a warning after members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to back the European Union's (EU) Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and to take its proposals even…
DHAKA - Swedish fashion giant H&M has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) towards a circular and climate neutral garment sector in Bangladesh. Helena Helmersson, CEO…
BRUSSELS - Members of the European Parliament have given their backing to the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (EU CSDD) directive which would make companies liable for human rights and environmental issues in their global supply chains. A…
CHICAGO – Global fashion brands are failing to make progress on transitioning towards a more circular economy, according to the third edition of the Circular Fashion Index (CFX), produced by consulting firm Kearney. Some 200 global brands have been…
BRUSSELS - The Policy Hub industry initiative has launched a new report in a bid to support the transition towards a more circular textiles industry in the European Union (EU). Written by consultants Eunomia, it focuses on the role of extended…
NEW YORK – The Accelerating Circularity initiative is to launch a textile-to-textile recycling playbook at this month's Circularity 23 conference in Seattle. It says the playbook is designed as an introductory guide to implement circular systems to…
LONDON / Zurich – CottonConnect has linked up with DNA-marking specialist Haelixa for a partnership which combines their digital and physical traceability solutions. The partnership, launched with yarn from a Cotton Connect pilot project in…
PHNOM PENH - A new initiative has been launched to reduce the 140,000 tonnes of textile waste produced by the Cambodian garment industry every year. The Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) initiative and the German development agency GIZ are recuiting…
DARWIN - Environmentalists in Australia are claiming a partial victory after a company backed down from its plans to clear nearly 1,000 hectares of tropical savanna to grow cotton in the face of a legal challenge. However, they fear a new…
SAN FRANCISCO – The AFIRM Group has launched in-depth new guidance on the phase-out of PFAS chemicals in the global clothing and footwear supply chains. A new 14-page document has been published that includes a harmonised implementation and…
AUCKLAND - New Zealand government-owned company AsureQuality is no longer a certifier of responsible animal fibre (RAF) standards for the Textile Exchange industry body. AsureQuality's accreditation to administer the Responsible Wool Standard 2.2…
ANN ARBOR – US research firm Kraig Labs has spun its first composite bio-engineered spider silk and Pima cotton yarn as it looks to advance the genetics and robustness of its technology for future textile manufacture. The production of these…
AMSTERDAM – The International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry has reached over 200 signatories. The legally binding agreement between garment brands and global trade unions, IndustriALL Global Union, and UNI Global…
HERZOGENAURACH – Sportswear giant Adidas has been urged to share the proceeds of its defunct 'Yeezy' partnership with Kanye West with some of the workers who made the products. The company was left with Yeezy shoes worth US$1.3 billion after cutting…
PARIS – Representatives from 11 European cities have signed a declaration aiming to slow down the fashion industry in an effort to reduce its social and environmental impacts. The declaration calls on the European Union, the G7 and OECD to impose…
MALMO - As online retailers fight back against excessive returns, Swedish fashion e-tailer Boozt.com has blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items because of the cost and damage to the environment. Boozt said the customers had been…
SINGAPORE – Specialty textile chemical supplier DyStar says its new cationisation pre-treatment of dyed warp for the production of indigo and coloured denim dramatically reduces water and energy use. It’s claimed the new pre-treatment means that…
LOGANHOLME – Australian textile recycler, BlockTexx, has teamed up with the HELP Enterprises social initiative as it looks to convert 50,000 tonnes of textiles into new raw materials over the next four years. The partnership has already seen HELP…
BRUSSELS - The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is urging MEPs to back the latest version of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (EU CSDD) directive at a key meeting next week. The legislation, which would make companies liable for human…
GOTHENBURG - Safer chemicals NGO ChemSec has identified the companies who are the biggest producers of PFAS substances - the so-called 'forever chemicals' used to make textiles stain- and waterproof. ChemSec has also revealed the scale of the…
PERTH - Wealthy G20 countries collectively import US$148 billion worth of apparel and US$13 billion worth of textiles at risk of being produced by forced labour every year, according to a new report. The Walk Free Foundation's latest Global Slavery…
ARTEIXO - Inditex's second-hand platform, Zara Pre-Owned, is set to expand into continental Europe by the end of 2023, after a successful launch in the UK in 2022. The peer-to-peer fashion resale platform is reportedly focused on expanding the…
BERKELEY— The US-based Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) non-profit has expanded its YESS (Yarn Ethically and Sustainably Sourced) project, which aims to eliminate forced labour in the cotton industry, to India. RSN, which earlier this year carried…
MILAN – More new speakers have been announced for the forthcoming Planet Textiles event which opens on June 12th in the Congress Centre at ITMA 2023 in Milan. They include Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute; Evan McCauley, VP for…
SAN DIEGO - Bio-based synthetic textiles and blended fibres containing synthetics do not degrade in the ocean as quickly as has been claimed, according to a new scientific study. Researchers at the University of California San Diego's Scripps…
GLOBAL - The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has launched the world’s first science-based targets for nature, with Swedish fashion giant H&M and French luxury groups Kering and LVMH among the first signatories. SBTN, a coalition of nearly 50…
AHRENSBURG – Textile recycling specialist Soex will take back used workwear from Germany-based rental service DBL-Böge to save some 25 tonnes of clothing from being incinerated per year. Old and discarded workwear from DBL Böge is grouped by colour…
HERZOGENAURACH - Sportswear company Puma made seven out of 10 products from 'better' materials last year, according to the company’s new 2022 sustainability report. These materials included cotton and viscose from certified sources, as well as…
BERGAMO – Italian chemical supplier Erca has teamed up with Patagonia and zip supplier YKK to use its textile auxiliaries derived from waste vegetable oil to aid in polyester dyeing. The Italian company’s ‘Revecol’ branded chemical range – used as…
WASHINGTON DC - The American Apparel & Footwear Association industry body, which represents more than 1,000 brands, has called for new incentives to promote environmentally-friendly textile imports into the US. Beth Hughes, vice president, trade and…
NEW YORK CITY – Industry stakeholders and United Nations representatives will meet at the upcoming UN Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network annual meeting in New York to focus on how fashion can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals…
NEW YORK – The Eileen Fisher Foundation has set up a web-based resource to track proposed and existing environmental legislation in Europe and the USA that will impact the fashion sector. Integrated within the US retailer’s ‘Hey Fashion’ online…
SINGAPORE - Viscose giant Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) has "categorically refuted" claims in a new report linking it to deforestation in its supply chain and to a huge new pulp plant in Indonesia which environmentalists say could threaten tropical…
PERTH – Bio-materials company Nanollose, which uses microbes to make cellulosic fibres, has received a tax incentive rebate from the Australian government as part of the government’s research and development (R&D) tax incentive programme. The…
LONDON– ASOS has launched its first rental service with rental marketplace Hirestreet, as the rental apparel market in the UK is forecasted to grow significantly in the next three years Selected from the clothing company’s homegrown brands, the…
COIMBATORE - The Good Fashion Fund - an investment programme set up by Fashion for Good and the Laudes Foundation - has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to help textile factories become more sustainable in India. It focuses on the city of…
PARIS - H&M CEO Helena Helmersson has been appointed the new co-chair of the Fashion Pact, succeeding the initiative's co-founder, François-Henri Pinault, the chairman and CEO of Kering. Pinault launched the Fashion Pact, which aims to mitigate…
ZURICH – After working closely together over the past five years, ZDHC and Oeko-Tex have signed a formal agreement to create a ‘cohesive approach’ to sustainable chemical and product management across global textile value chains. New criteria will…
JAKARTA - Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), the world's largest producer of viscose fibre, is accused of "hidden links" to a huge new pulp plant in Indonesia which could threaten tropical rainforests, in a new report from Greenpeace. The 'Pulping Borneo'…
MUMBAI - Ultra fast fashion brand Shein is set to begin trading in India again after partnering with retail conglomerate Reliance Retail, three years after its app was banned from the country. The clothing company is expected to operate through the…
MUMBAI – Indian viscose manufacturer Birla Cellulose has partnered with blockchain specialist TextileGenesis to track and verify the use of sustainable fibres in its supply chain. Birla Cellulose, the pulp and fibre business of the Aditya Birla…
MILAN – More new speakers have been announced for the forthcoming Planet Textiles event which kicks off on June 12th in the Congress Centre at ITMA 2023 in Milan. They include Zubeida Zwavel, executive director of Centre for African Resource…
PARIS - NGOs have launched new legal action in France calling for a judicial investigation into whether fashion brands are benefiting from the use of forced labour in China's cotton industry. It comes after the French national anti-terror…
AUGUSTA - The US state of Maine, which was the first to introduce a ban on products containing PFAS, is set to push back new reporting requirements for manufacturers. Maine's PFAS law, passed in 2021, doesn't apply until 2030 but it required…
VANCOUVER / SYDNEY – Canadian athleticwear brand Lululemon has launched a multi-year partnership with Australian recycling company Samsara Eco. The partnership, which aims to "infinitely recycle" nylon and polyester from apparel waste, represents…
BRUSSELS - Faster progress is needed on reducing both consumption and waste to achieve a more circular economy in the European Union (EU), according to a new report. The European Commission’s revised circular economy monitoring framework - published…
ROSEVILLE - IOAS (International Organic Accreditation Service) has lifted the suspension of organic cotton certification body Control Union (CU) India. CU India was suspended from testing and sampling Indian organic textile products in March because…
AMSTERDAM – Japanese company Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo, has become the 58th company to sign the Pakistan Accord. As an early signatory, Fast Retailing says that the commitment “underlines its ongoing commitment to ensuring worker health and…
LOS ANGELES – Sportswear giant Nike is facing a lawsuit after laboratory analysis of an Air Jordan duffle bag found its water-resistant coating contained PFAS. The Ecological Alliance consumer group is suing the company because the bag did not carry…
PORTO – A Portuguese company known for using technology to detect real-time textile defects on circular knitting machines has introduced a new tool for textile traceability.Smartex, which supplies hardware and software solutions to textile…
AMSTERDAM - Negotiations to set up a successor organisation to the former Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile (AGT) have ended in failure. The Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER) confirmed that the talks had ended…
LAMESA – The Textile Exchange industry body has released the first draft of its plans to move its material-specific certificates towards a single unified standard. The non-profit, which began a comprehensive revision of its standards framework in…
AMSTERDAM – ZDHC has issued a warning that some individuals and related organisations in Brazil have been ‘actively and repeatedly representing themselves as ZDHC and offering solutions in the ZDHC name’ – although these unnamed parties have no…
ROTHERHAM - Xeros Technology Group, a manufacturer of textile technologies, has signed a 10-year worldwide non-exclusive license and distribution agreement for its garment finishing technology with KRM Tekstil Boya San, a Turkish specialist in…
WASHINGTON DC - Forced labour in the Xinjiang region's cotton industry will be harder to eradicate than in Uzbekistan because of China's economic might and political aims, according to a leading expert. Adrian Zenz, director in China studies at the…
SAN FRANCISCO – Technology firm Bold Metrics has partnered with Pact apparel in the USA to use its artificial intelligence (AI) platform to lower average return rates and to help apparel brands meet sustainability targets.The company says it’s now…
STOCKHOLM – Fashion brand H&M has beaten off a proposed class action in the US by two shoppers who claimed the fast fashion company misled them and others about the sustainability of its 'Conscious Choice' fashion line. US District Court Judge…
WASHINGTON – The animal rights organisation PETA has submitted a formal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) and Responsible Animal Fibre standards that are controlled by US-based not-for-profit…
MILAN - Luxury fashion house Gucci has reportedly deleted its claim of becoming “entirely carbon neutral” from its website and is no longer working with South Pole, the Swiss carbon credit consultancy it partnered with on the commitment. Gucci,…
SPONSORED CONTENT – The fashion industry is undergoing a significant shift in sustainability practices due to increasing buyer scrutiny over ethical manufacturing and new regulations on production standards. Yet forty-five percent of global supply…
SAN FRANCISCO – Higg, the technology partner of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, is rebranding under a new name - Worldly - under which it will release new products which are not part of the Higg Index suite of tools. CEO Jason Kibbey said part of…
ST LOUIS – A US consumer has filed a complaint in a district court in Missouri that accuses Nike of product greenwash in the US state. The lawsuit says that “to increase profits and to gain an advantage over its lawfully acting competitors, Nike…
BRUSSELS - Member states of the European Union are reportedly poised to back calls for a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing to reduce the amount of waste produced by the fashion and textiles industry. Several leading brands and retailers have…
LONDON - The Better Cotton initiative is urging the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to be flexible in its review of its 'Green Guides' which aim to help companies avoid making misleading environmental claims to consumers Better Cotton welcomes the…
BRUSSELS - More needs to be done to address power imbalances in garment value chains, according to a new report released by the Fair-Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth. The report, titled Fair Purchasing…
PERTH – Australian textile innovator Nanollose has filed a new patent application for what it deems a key breakthrough in its work to produce microbial cellulose from organic food and beverage waste. The application - entitled '‘Method for…
HELSINKI - Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä have developed a method for corporations to calculate their biodiversity footprint which they plan to make freely available to all companies and organisations. The researchers drew up the…
BANGKOK – A recycled acrylic fibre made by Thai Acrylic Fibre Co. Ltd that contains 75% recycled content has been certified to the Global Recycled Standard and is said to meet Bluesign Approved criteria. Previously, the company’s ‘Regel’ acrylic…
ELGIN - Scottish cashmere brand Johnstons of Elgin has become the latest in the fashion industry to be awarded B Corp status in recognition of its efforts to reduce its social and environmental impacts. B Corporations, of which there are more than…
NUREMBERG - Workers' rights activists are today protesting outside of Adidas's annual general meeting (AGM) in Germany to call on shareholders of the sportswear giant to take steps to protect workers in its supply chain. Protesters were urging the…
BRUSSELS - The European Parliament has comprehensively backed proposals to restrict companies from greenwashing and encourage them to make more durable and sustainable products. By 544 votes to 18, and 17 abstentions, a plenary session of the…
JAKARTA - The Life and Building Safety (LABS) initiative is expected to benefit another 275,000 workers after it expanded its operations to Indonesia. Currently operational in India, Vietnam, and Cambodia, LABS says that the expansion into Indonesia…
MILAN – More new speakers have been announced in the lead up to the opening of the 11th edition of Planet Textiles, which kicks off on June 12th at ITMA 2023 in Milan. Alessia Scroccaro, sustainability specialist, at the Benetton Group will be…
LOS ANGELES – US apparel brand Outerknown had joined the small number of apparel brands to have achieved Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) status for products. ROC status means a garment was made with organic cotton from farms working towards the…