WASHINGTON DC – The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has included restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for the first time as part of its latest restricted substance list (RSL). These PFAS restrictions are revealed…
BANGLEDESH - Unions are calling for a big wage increase for garment workers in Bangladesh which has been hit by its highest rate of inflation in 11 years. Bangladeshi affiliates of the IndustriALL global union are demanding that the minimum wage…
PORT-AU-PRINCE - More than 1,100 garment workers are sharing a US$1 million payout from Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein owner PVH following the closure of their factory a year ago. PVH, one of several brands which sourced from the Vald’or factory in…
ANN ARBOR — Researchers say a new project which uses photonic fibres to weave invisible and indelible sorting labels into fabric could be a game changer for textile recycling. A team at the University of Michigan (U-M) is working on the project…
LEEDS - Up to 17,847 tonnes of microfibres are being released into water streams from the washing of garments every year in the UK alone, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Leeds carried out tests which suggested the UK's…
CAMBRIDGE - Researchers at the University of Cambridge have launched a project to speed up the transition to close loop synthetic fibre recycling by the end of the decade. The university's Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development is to run…
PORTSMOUTH - Scientists at the University of Portsmouth have launched a research project to develop their ‘plastic-eating’ enzyme technology to target polyester textile waste. Researchers at the university’s Centre for Enzyme Innovation have already…
LUBBOCK - The Textile Exchange non-profit has updated the definition of its 'preferred' fibres and materials through which it hopes to help reduce the industry's impacts. Textile Exchange has been using the term 'preferred' since 2010 to provide the…
AMSTERDAM – The ZDHC Foundation, which works towards the zero discharge of hazardous chemicals, has announced a new programme which aims to identify preferred textile chemicals based on both performance and sustainability attributes. The ZDHC's new…
HONG KONG - The Eurofins Assurance network of companies has announced that it has become an approved trainer for the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM). The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), which owns the Higg Index suite of tools, has…
CORVALLIS - Microfibres from cotton - as well as synthetic textiles such as polyester - have been found to impact the behaviour and growth of water organisms, according to a new scientific study. It follows growing concern about microfibres from…
PHUKET - Better Cotton is staging its annual ‘innovations marketplace’ in Thailand to inspire progress and share best practices with its programme partners. The event, being held on Phuket from today until 8th February, will focus on new initiatives…
NEW YORK – US apparel firm Tapestry, which owns the Coach and Kate Spade brands, has announced new sustainability targets with the publication of its 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report. They include new science-based targets to reduce Scope 1, 2…
GOTHENBURG - Swedish brand Nudie Jeans has linked up with UK-based circular fashion hub Advanced Clothing Solutions (ACS) to expand its free repairs service. ACS, which becomes Nudie's first official circular partner, will now be able to offer…
WASHINGTON DC - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has extended a period of public consultation on a planned update to its official guidelines to help companies avoid accusations of greenwashing. The FTC's deadline for comments on the updated…
SAN FRANCISCO - Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co is now sourcing organic cotton directly from farmers in Pakistan as part of its membership of the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) initiative. Levi's is sourcing the cotton through Pakistan-based denim…
LONDON – Online retailer ASOS has linked up with workers' rights non-profit GoodWeave International in a bid to stamp out child, forced and bonded labour in its Indian supply chain. ASOS’s Indian suppliers will be required to undergo audits and…
YANGON - Two years on from the military coup in Myanmar, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has renewed its call on brands and retailers still sourcing from the country to reassess the human rights implications of their actions. ETI executive…
LONDON - A major new study on the microfibre impacts of the textile industry has concluded that changes in wet processing, such as dyeing, offer the most potential for tackling pollution. The 21-month research programme was led by the Forum for the…
MILAN – Registrations are now open for Planet Textiles 2023 which takes place at ITMA Milan in June where it will focus on sustainable innovations that aim to future proof global textile supply chains. The two-day sustainability event takes place on…
PARIS - French startup Ever Dye has raised €3.4 million (US$3.7m) in a seed funding round to develop its novel textile dyeing process which it says uses 15 times less energy than conventional dyeing. Ever Dye says the investment - led by Maki.vc and…
TORONTO - Outdoor apparel brand Canada Goose has announced the launch of its recommerce platform, Canada Goose Generations, through which it aims to keep its products in use for longer. The company says that potential consumer interest in the…
BRISBANE - Cotton farmers could do more to help prevent worker exploitation in the global garment industry, according to a new report funded by Australia's Cotton Research and Development Corporation. The study, by academics at the Queensland…
GENEVA - Testing, inspection and certification company SGS has extended its global microfibre testing services with five additional laboratories in Bangladesh, India, Turkey, the USA and Vietnam. The expansion carries the approval of The Microfibre…
SAN FRANCISCO – The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) has today announced that its Climate Solutions Portfolio is open to applications, and will prioritise innovative materials and products, energy efficiency technologies and solutions that enable the…
HULL - Safety clothing and footwear supplier ARCO has committed further funding to Teesside-based recycling start-up Stuff4Life to set up a new joint venture company which aims to create a circular supply chain for polyester. The new company -…
SAN FRANCISCO – The Remake workers’ rights NGO says that fashion brands and retailers should sign up to 'buyer codes of conduct' to protect the human rights of workers in their global supply chains. Many fashion companies have adopted supplier code…
TORONTO - Canadian researchers say they have developed a coating which could reduce the amount of microplastic fibres shed when washing synthetic fabrics by more than 90 per cent. The laundering of synthetic fabrics, including polyster, nylon,…
AMSTERDAM – Fashion for Good (FFG) has expanded its Sorting for Circularity project to the USA in a bid to better understand the country’s textile waste composition. In collaboration with brand partners Adidas, Inditex, Levi’s and H&M, the 18-month…
WASHINGTON – Four major fashion industry bodies have come together to issue joint guidelines on what they hope to see from new legislation aimed at advancing sustainability and social responsibility. The American Apparel and Footwear Association…
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has launched a new campaign – ReSet The Trend – which aims to engage Europeans in the battle against fast fashion and raise public awareness about the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Under the…
ST. GALLEN – A Swiss study into the annual flow of workwear through large-scale companies has highlighted greater potential for circularity, despite some firms having already adopted systems which substantially extend the lifecycle of garments.…
ESPOO - A European Union (EU) funded research project has been launched with the ambitious goal of developing new solutions to reduce textile waste by as much as 80 per cent. Led by the Finnish state-owned VTT Technical Research Centre, the…
BRUSSELS – A new report from the European Environment Agency that looks at Europe’s secondary market for raw materials, as part of the EU’s ambitions for a circular economy, finds the current structure for recycling textiles is not functioning well…
PITTSBURGH / MEMPHIS - Fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) has become a member of the US Cotton Trust Protocol in a bid to provide greater transparency of its sustainability progress. The company believes membership of the trust…
NEW YORK - Amer Sports, which owns brands including Arc’teryx, Salomon and Wilson, has linked up with traceability solutions provider Sourcemap to verify the company's entire chain of custody from raw material to finished product. Amer Sports will…
ZURICH - Chemical management specialist Oeko-Tex says that two pilot customers have already been certified to its new Organic Cotton label which launches in April. Indian textile supplier Milan Group and Turkish cotton producer Akasya have both been…
ONTARIO – Researchers at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, have developed a new grading system for textile waste to streamline sorting and promote circularity. With it, the academics estimate that more than half of textile waste produced in the…
NEW YORK - Fashion brand Ralph Lauren has launched a cashmere recycling programme in North America and Europe. Customers can request a printable, paid postage label from the Ralph Lauren website to send unwanted, 100 per cent cashmere items from any…
NEW SOUTH WALES – The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) has opened a draft of its 2023 National Wool Declaration (NWD) to industry feedback as it looks to ensure the framework best serves native stakeholders. With the NWD, AWEX aims to establish a…
PRATTELN – Specialty chemicals company Archroma has today launched FiberColours, a new range of sulphur dyes produced from textile waste materials. The company has introduced the patent-pending technology – which synthesises textiles in a reactor to…
LONDON – University of the Arts London, home to the London College of Fashion, has introduced Re-Use units to its campuses as it seeks to instil in students a focus on circularity. The facilities have been designed so that students can easily…
MISSISSAUGA — Canadian imports of apparel suspected to have been made with forced and child labour have increased by 67 per cent over the last decade to Can$10.7 billion (US$8m) a year, according to a new report. World Vision Canada's Supply Chain…
DHAKA - The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is linking up with the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) for the fourth edition of the Sustainable Apparel Forum where industry stakeholders will exchange ideas on how best to advance sustainability.…
BRIGHTON – British fashion brand Jigsaw has launched a new in-house repair service which will be free to customers for up to year from a purchase. It’s the latest circular initiative to complement the company’s ‘Jigsaw Forever’ sustainable fashion…
YANGON - Fashion brands are failing to protect the workers who make their clothes in Myanmar from labour and human rights abuses ranging from inhumane working conditions and wage theft to violence, arbitrary arrest and even murder, according to a…
DUBAI – Middle Eastern fashion retailer Level Shoes has partnered with circular solutions provider Reflaunt to get a foothold of the secondhand fashion market with its own takeback and resale service. The Dubai-based business, of the Chalhoub Group,…
KARACHI - Leading global brands on the steering committee of the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry have confirmed their commitment to a new programme in Pakistan. H&M, Zara owner Inditex, Bestseller, C&A,…
ARTEIXO – Spanish fashion conglomerate Inditex has extended its long-standing partnership with native charity Caritas by committing €8.5 million (US$9.2m) to support its various work streams. The sum will be deployed over the coming three years, and…
BRIGHTON – British fashion brand Lucy & Yak has launched a new takeback initiative through which customers can return unwanted items in exchange for discounts redeemable against future purchases. It is the latest in a string of sustainability…
BARCELONA – Spanish fashion brand Mango has launched its first denim collection designed with circularity criteria. The range, which features women’s jackets, trousers and jumpsuits, is made entirely from cotton to improve its recyclability and…
LONDON – Childrenswear brand Britannical London has launched a new donations service through which customers are incentivised to offload unwanted coats with the promise of discounts. The Re:Coat initiative is deemed complementary to the British…
LONDON – Fashion care and repair specialist Clothes Doctor has secured a £1 million investment, which will be used to make new hires as it scales its operations. The burgeoning British business offers a range of ‘sustainable’ laundry products, in…
BARCELONA – Deadstock fabrics marketplace Recovo has teamed up with material innovator PersiSkin to promote the company’s animal leather alternative on its platform. Recovo’s site – which convenes fashion brands and designers on its site to promote…
LONDON – The British High Court has ruled against human rights campaigners that said the UK authorities were allowing the import of cotton textiles made in the Xinjiang region of China that are associated with forced labour. The case against the UK…
HAMBURG – German retailers Otto Group and Tchibo have announced their commitment to the new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry in Pakistan. The International Accord was first launched in Bangladesh in 2021…
PUNE – IndustriALL Global Union has praised the “healthy industrial relations” on show in India’s Pune region which resulted in nine collective bargaining agreements being struck with multinational companies throughout 2022, including one with Avery…
WINNIPEG – A new report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) highlights the continuing year-on-year rise in the adoption of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) among cotton growers. The global trend is attributed…
VANCOUVER – Canadian footwear start-up Grounded People, which uses only recycled, vegan materials in its products, has secured CAN$2.5 million in funding from Vancouver’s Right Season Investments Corporation. The shoe brand, launched in late 2021,…
BRUSSELS – A study commissioned by an arm of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) has estimated that the environmental impact of sorting and reusing garments is 70 times lower than manufacturing new ones. Lifecycle assessments…
ADLINGTON – British textile dyeing and finishing specialist Pincroft has adopted US machinery manufacturer Baldwin’s TexCoat G4. The non-contact textile finishing equipment uses precision spray technology to offer single- or double-sided treatment…
LONDON – The Vivienne Westwood Foundation has launched in memory of the late fashion designer. The initiative will continue Westwood’s activism with four overarching aims: to halt climate change, stop war, defend human rights and protest capitalism.…
SURREY – Scientists have used pyrolysis to carbonise textile microfibres released during laundering to break down the fibres into carbon nanomaterials and hydrogen gas, which can then be upcycled into brand new products. “By controlling the…
NEW YORK – US fashion retailer J.Crew has launched a resale platform in partnership with secondhand specialists ThredUp. J.Crew is leveraging ThredUp’s resale-as-a-service (RaaS) proprietary platform for its Clean Out programme to enable its…
STOCKHOLM – Renfro Brands, a socks and legwear manufacturing firm for brands including New Balance, has announced a partnership with traceability solutions provider TrusTrace. TrusTrace is a blockchain-powered collaborative platform that helps…
PARIS – A project led by French textile innovator Fairbrics is the recipient of a €22 million (US$23.8) investment led by the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. The consortium is testing the commercial feasibility of Fairbric’s…
CHELTENHAM – British fashion brand Hera has launched an online clothing donation service in partnership with The Salvation Army. Donations will be managed by The Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL), an arm of the charity which promotes the reuse…
GRAN CANARIA – The European Fashion Alliance (EFA), a collective of 29 member organisations, has put forward a package of measures and actions it believes could accelerate sustainability efforts on the continent. Representatives from the likes of…
ZURICH – Luxury fashion giant Hugo Boss has launched its first product made using HeiQ’s innovative AeoniQ yarn. Introduced around a year ago, AeoniQ is described as a new class of cellulosic biopolymer-based filament and has been tipped to one day…
MILAN – Planet Textiles, the international sustainability conference will return this summer at the world’s largest textile industry trade fair, ITMA. Following on from the previous Planet Textiles held pre-pandemic at ITMA 2019 in Barcelona, this…
SINGAPORE - Traceability solutions specialist FibreTrace has launched a new digital platform - free of charge until the end of this year - which it says will map the global textile supply chain from fibre to retail. Called FibreTrace Mapped, the…
HERZOGENAURACH – Sportswear giant Adidas was the victim of a hoax today with the release of a fake press release claiming the company had appointed a Cambodian former garment worker and trade union leader as its co-CEO. Various international media…
BRUSSELS - Some 300 textile industry plants in the European Union (EU) will have to comply with new legal norms adopted under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive to reduce their environmental impact. The requirements, which will also affect 3,000…
MADRID – Leading fashion firms have united to launch the Association for Textile Waste Management in Spain. Decathlon, H&M, Mango, Inditex, IKEA, Kiabi and Tendam are founding members of the association, which has been established in anticipation of…
BARCELONA - Spanish head and neckwear brand Buff has become the latest fashion industry company to be awarded B Corporation certification. B Corps, of which there are more than 6,000 globally, are subjected to rigorous assessments which measure…
PEARL RIVER — Sustainable technology company Anellotech has announced plans to begin advanced lab testing for its innovative recycling solution which claims to efficiently recycle mixed waste textiles. Anellotech's 'Tex-TCat' solution makes use of…
LONDON - The shareholder meetings of retailers in the textile industry are too focused on governance, to the exclusion of environmental and social proposals, according to a new study by the Planet Tracker financial think tank. Researchers examined…
CLERMONT-FERRAND – Recycling innovator Carbios has strengthened its collaboration with biological solutions provider Novozymes to secure the long-term supply of its PET-degrading enzymes. Carbios is to start production at what will be the world’s…
WEST SACRAMENTO - Carbon negative materials innovator Origin Materials has announced a key finance deal for what it describes as the company's first 'world-scale' manufacturing facility. Origin, which produces carbon negative raw materials from…
AMSTERDAM - The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has revealed that the results of its much-anticipated third party review of the Higg Index suite of tools are not expected before the middle of this year. The SAC last year confirmed the planned…
LONDON – Britain’s Sellier Knightsbridge has acquired fellow luxury resale specialist Worn in a bid to become the country’s leader in the field. The agreement will see Worn’s network of buyers and sellers onboarded to Sellier’s similar site, which…
PHNOM PENH - A Cambodian human rights NGO has been questioned by police over the sharing of a music video that features a deadly government crackdown of a garment workers’ protest in 2014. The Licadho civil society organisation shared rapper Kea…
MIDDLEFIELD – Denim apparel group Citizens of Humanity has partnered with regenerative agriculture specialist Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) in a commitment to adopt cotton grown using regenerative farming practices. Over the next harvest season,…
NORTHAMPTON - The Leather UK trade body has launched a new project aimed at highlighting the material's 'sustainability' benefits to consumers. The ‘Leather for Life’ swing tag project is a new labelling initiative which stresses leather's…
SHREWSBURY - Ethical fashion group Refined Brands, which owns Celtic & Co and Frugi, has acquired Shropshire brand Turtle Doves, which specialises in recycled cashmere. Turtle Doves was founded in 2009 by Kate and Graham Holbrook, and uses…
SYLHET - British International Investment (BII), the development finance arm of the UK government, has agreed a US$52 million loan to fund a cotton spinning mill, to be housed in a LEED-certified green building, in Bangladesh. The DBL Group, one of…
WASHINGTON DC - The US and Japan have announced the formation of a task force aimed at protecting human rights in supply chains amid concerns about China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region which produces a fifth of the world's…
NEW YORK – Traceability platform Sourcemap has joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Innovators Community, an invite-only group of solution providers brought together to advance industry infrastructure. Sourcemap’s tool enables users –…
ZURICH - Chemical management specialist Oeko-Tex has confirmed that the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) will no longer be allowed in textiles, leather and footwear under its Standard 100, Leather Standard and Eco Passport…
SPONSORED CONTENT - Saco Green is one of the leading sustainability companies in the textile industry, based in Shanghai, China. Over the years, the firm has invested in optimizing what it says is a “transparent, sustainable” supply chain for all…
ARLINGTON – New research from the Better Buying Institute (BBI) claims to confirm a link between fashion brands' purchasing practices and human rights violations in supply chain factories. Buyer purchasing practices have the most known impacts on…
BEDFORD - Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Conagen says it has successfully scaled up the production of its laboratory-made Tyrian purple textile pigment which is traditionally made from the mucus of murex sea snails. Conagen says its…
ABERDEEN – Garment factories in Bangladesh say they are struggling to pay their workers the minimum wage because many global brands aren't paying more to reflect soaring costs, according to a new study. The team at the University of Aberdeen, which…
ZÜRICH – Turkish yarn manufacturer Damteks Textiles has partnered with traceability solutions provider Haelixa to verify the sustainability credentials of its recycled materials to customers. Haelixa embeds DNA markers at the fibre level to…
SALFORD - The majority of British consumers don't believe that companies' environmental claims are credible with fashion brands regarded as among the least trustworthy, according to a new survey. The poll of 1,682 adults across the UK by consultants…
NEW YORK - New York has become the latest US state to ban the manufacture and sale of garments and textiles that contain PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Governor Kathy Hochul has now signed off on Senate bill S6291A which was…
ADELAIDE – Researchers at an Australian university have found that more than 70 per cent of microplastic pollution found in freshwater streams was caused by textile fibres. Scientists at Flinders University in Adelaide took samples from eight…
AMSTERDAM – Sustainable denim brand Kings of Indigo, which filed for bankruptcy in November, has been taken over by Kathrin and Sebastian Proft, the owners of three sustainable fashion companies in Germany and Austria. The entrepreneurial couple…
PARIS - French fashion group SMCP, which owns brands Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and De Fursac, is to ban items made with down and feathers. The group has committed, through its four brands, to having completely eliminated duck and goose feathers…
AMSTERDAM - The Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) initiative has begun preparations to extend its work to support farmers in India and Pakistan to a third country, Turkey. The OCA is seeking local experts with which to partner up on an initial three…