Features
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Tuesday, 23 February 2021Textile chemical regulation continues to evolve
Although life as we know it has been placed on hold for much of the last year or so, the legislative wheels have continued to turn and, for those working at home without access to the usual company or multi-stakeholder meetings, there are a few… -
Tuesday, 16 February 2021Innovation - is there life after hype?
Fruit leathers, agri-tech, AI, blockchain - hardly a week goes by without these buzzwords appearing in the headlines. In recent years, a wave of textile innovators – all trying to disrupt the way the industry has been working for decades - has… -
Monday, 15 February 2021Sustainability made in Hong Kong
The H&M Foundation attracted headlines in the industry press recently when it announced that it was entering into a five-year partnership with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textile and Apparel (HKRITA). The non-profit, funded by the owners of… -
Friday, 12 February 2021Reinforcing the business case for 3D design
COVID-19 has forced companies and fashion educational institutions to view 3D design software as a vital tool with broader applications ranging from product design to end-consumer marketing. Meanwhile, barriers to adoption are on the decline,… -
Thursday, 11 February 2021Mixed response to forced labour fears in China
Three key export markets for China recently acted in very different ways – all aimed at putting pressure on Beijing - to growing concerns over the alleged use of forced labour involving incarcerated Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. Most… -
Thursday, 07 January 2021Time to champion cotton transparency
Certification and verification have been the bedrock of sustainable cotton for the past few years, with more standards and schemes appearing. Alongside them have come a proliferation of initiatives on transparency and traceability, some covering the… -
Wednesday, 06 January 2021Screening uncovers key chemical contaminants
The first results of a new screening tool for impurities found in bulk commodity chemicals used during textile wet processing has found heavy metals, phthalates and halogenated solvents are the primary contaminants. The screening tool, developed by… -
Tuesday, 05 January 2021Dealing with fashion’s overproduction problem
The mass production of too many cheap garments, many of which will never be worn or even purchased, has made fashion a “monstrous disposable industry”, in the words of designer Phoebe English. This problem is only set to worsen if you believe the… -
Tuesday, 05 January 2021Textile chemical giants launch new alliance
Leading textile chemical firms have come together in a new alliance to develop a globally harmonised chemical ‘sustainability standard’ along with screening tools that cover hazards through to environmental and social impacts. The new Sustainable… -
Monday, 04 January 2021BCI says lessons have been learned in Xinjiang
The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) has come under fire over its role in the Xinjiang region of China, amidst fears its 'better cotton' has been tarnished by the use of forced labour, but it says lessons have been learned. Brand after brand have… -
Wednesday, 23 December 2020Calls to replace synthetics with natural fibres 'naïve'
WAKEFIELD – Forget the one-dimensional debate on the straight replacement of synthetic fibres with new, natural or bio-based alternatives. It simply won’t happen, writes textile veteran Mick Siddons, who says there’s already a way to move towards… -
Wednesday, 23 December 2020Putting a number on fashion's carbon footprint
Bigger than the UK, Germany and France put together? More than aviation and maritime shipping combined? Eight per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions? No, wait, four per cent of the global total? Nobody denies that fashion has a carbon footprint… -
Wednesday, 23 December 2020Could indigenous Indian cotton boost sustainability?
The revival of indigenous desi cotton production in India could be a game changer for farmers and for the prospects for a more sustainable cotton industry, argues Rajeev Baruah, an expert on cotton based in Uttar Pradesh who’s previously advised the… -
Friday, 11 December 2020Back to the future for new Unifi CEO
Being appointed as the CEO of a large recycled polyester yarn producer in the middle of a global pandemic is not ideal timing – but Eddie Ingle says his decision to return to Greenboro-based Unifi was a no-brainer. Ingle, who first joined the… -
Friday, 11 December 2020Divisive mulesing debate goes around in circles
It’s 2020, and whilst progress reports for large parts of the industry will have unsurprisingly taken a nosedive, for animal welfare campaigners it’s been a year of marked progress. An increasing number of fashion firms have aligned in their efforts… -
Thursday, 10 December 2020Laudes Foundation backs drive for due diligence
New legislation which would make brands and retailers responsible for carrying out due diligence on social and environmental issues throughout their global supply chains is currently being considering by both the European Union and the German… -
Thursday, 10 December 2020COVID-19 asks questions of rental fashion
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact has threatened the long-term viability of rental fashion and raised questions of whether the business model is as financially viable as other circular business models that have similarly been touted for future… -
Monday, 07 December 2020Calls grow to extend science-based targets
GLOBAL - Growing calls are being made for science-based targets to be widened to include companies' impact on water, land, biodiversity and oceans – as well as climate change. Environmentalists have been inspired by the success of the Science-Based… -
Monday, 07 December 2020Fashion Pact director maps path ahead
As the Fashion Pact produces its first annual report, the initiative's executive director and secretary general Eva von Alvensleben gives Ecotextile News an update on how she rates its progress so far and maps the path ahead. Now representing a… -
Friday, 04 December 2020Should the SAC drop the Higg MSI single score?
[Originally published on December 1st 2020 in print Issue 100 of Ecotextile News] The news that the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) will ditch the aggregated single score used by the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) next month has… -
Friday, 23 October 2020Online platforms: the new textile industry police?
The big clothing retail platforms such as the likes of Amazon, Zalando, ASOS, Next, Ebay and Revolve, amongst others, could be a huge force for positive change in our industry – at a time when self-assessed ‘improvements’ may not be enough, argues… -
Thursday, 22 October 2020New EU chemicals strategy – what it means for textiles?
BRUSSELS – Less than 10 days ago, the European Commission published details of a new chemical strategy to control the production of hazardous chemicals and related pollution by progressively banning their use in consumer goods. Calling it a tough… -
Monday, 12 October 2020Wool Connect 2020 calls out elephants in the room
It might have been a little like letting loose a pack of wolves in a field of lambs. But the Wool Connect 2020 virtual conference – and to a lesser degree the Baltic Wool Conference – managed to call out the elephants in the room without breaking… -
Thursday, 06 August 2020Cleaning up the industry's act
With hygiene a top concern for customer uptake, an eco-cleaning and repair infrastructure is badly needed to loop garments into a circular economy. Traditional dry cleaning won’t cut it because clothing reuse business models ought to positively… -
Wednesday, 29 July 2020The United States of Amazon
One of the few firms to have seen profits leap during the coronavirus crisis, Amazon has never been stronger. With even greater clout in multichannel retail – including an ever-growing stake in fashion – the question lingers on whether the online… -
Wednesday, 29 July 2020Could COVID-19 help cotton find a future
Perhaps ironically, Sally Uren believes the current coronavirus pandemic could help the Cotton 2040 initiative find a way forward towards more sustainable practices in the medium to long term. “I think COVID-19 is shining a really bright light on… -
Wednesday, 06 May 2020Tough measures on fluorochemicals loom
Dark Waters, the film that tells the story of a lawyer, Robert Bilott, and his long struggle to hold DuPont accountable for leakages of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into the environment, and more disturbingly, its alleged attempts to cover up… -
Wednesday, 06 May 2020Reporting mechanisms fail on apparel transparency
Unfounded sustainability claims are constantly bandied around by companies looking to steal a march on competitors, without any fear of the damage this hollow rhetoric can do. Until reliable, consistent and transparent reporting can be implemented… -
Wednesday, 06 May 2020Standing tall
It was in Davos, the picturesque Swiss town dwarfed only by the vast stretches of mountain and woodland which surround it, that quite fittingly hosted the unveiling of environmental NGO Canopy’s new action plan, entitled Survival - A Pulp Thriller:… -
Friday, 13 March 2020The road to nowhere?
Selective ‘good-news-only’ environmental marketing and a focus on single issues risks sending the textile industry in completely the wrong direction, argues Phil Patterson. For example, recycled textile fibres are a great way to demonstrate that… -
Wednesday, 26 February 2020A second chance
Integrating repair services into a company’s operations, as well as including product care guidance, is a surefire way of extending any product’s lifespan. When executed well, such measures not only drive customer loyalty, but can safeguard brands… -
Tuesday, 04 February 2020Rooted in healthy soil
Wrangler’s Rooted Collection claims to be the world's first cotton sustainability programme to link individual farms with finished garments while revealing their reduced environmental impact in field-level detail. The denim brand is working with… -
Friday, 31 January 2020Is sharing caring?
Elaine O’Hare, senior associate at law firm Stevens & Bolton LLP, explains how brands can shout about sustainability innovations while still protecting their intellectual property. Fast fashion’s terrible reputation for ‘sustainability’ means there… -
Thursday, 19 December 2019Let’s talk …
Just as new technologies and communications are reducing the environmental impact of textile production – could the lives of garment workers benefit from similar advances? Recent news headlines show how environmental sustainability in the apparel… -
Wednesday, 11 December 2019Breaking Good
Chemistry is often maligned for its potential to be hazardous, when in reality it can be a key component of any new, emerging circular textile industry. Driven by the enormous quantities of textile waste the fashion industry produces, many brands… -
Wednesday, 04 December 2019Vanity versus veracity
Do pilot-scale environmental projects in the textile and fashion sectors always fly in the right direction so they can be scaled up for both maximum impact and commercial success? Phil Patterson argues that some, but not all, are simply vanity… -
Wednesday, 04 December 2019The nature of biodegradability
Silver bullet solutions capable of tackling overconsumption and waste are, unsurprisingly, few and far between. Increasingly, however, innovations are cropping up which look to offset concern and are ever-increasingly marketed as either bio-based,… -
Monday, 21 October 2019Red flags
Unless brands and retailers reconsider how they source and produce fast fashion, they’ll continue to cripple the most vulnerable workers in the supply chain, writes Chris Remington, upon the release of a new report. The story of how Turkey has grown… -
Thursday, 03 October 2019The guardian
Ma Jun, Environmentalist & Director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), was shocked to find some chemical giants don’t even know the names of their textile intermediate suppliers and says the NGO will continue to… -
Thursday, 03 October 2019The biology of textile dyeing
There’s been a lot of press talk about ‘new bio-synthetic dyes’ for the textile industry. But much of this news is often recycled, and inaccurate. So, what’s really going on? John Mowbray gives readers an insight into the current state of play. It’s… -
Tuesday, 03 September 2019All that can still be saved
Extinction Rebellion has, in its relatively short existence, become globally synonymous with climate activism. With its sights firmly on fashion’s environmentally harmful practices, the industry can expect more and more peaceful protests in the… -
Tuesday, 03 September 2019Major minor setbacks
With the cacophony of discussion around how to make fashion ‘sustainable’ and ‘circular’ it’s easy to lose sight of the sector’s other pressing issues. David Styles examines several recent child labour reports which urge the industry to act in… -
Monday, 05 August 2019Back to basics
Moves are underway by the fashion sector to design products with raw materials that can feed into a circular economy, but the problem of recycling potentially hazardous chemicals is often overlooked. The development of the circular economy is not… -
Monday, 05 August 2019We aren’t the robots
The massive scale and granularity of personalisation in online fashion retail will be impossible to manage without the help of artificial intelligence. But what does it mean for sustainability? John Mowbray talks to Arti Zeighami, head of AI and… -
Tuesday, 09 July 2019Traceability importance continues to grow
Authentication and traceability backbone solutions have become a key technology for many a brand to prevent not only product forgery, but also to prove the truthfulness of on- and off-product claims. Pamela Ravasio reports. What few people realise… -
Wednesday, 03 July 2019Transparency gets a reboot
Control Union criticised ‘dubious companies’ for the European Commission’s decision to withdraw its organic certification license in five key regions. But, with blockchain snapping at its heels, what does the future hold for traditional ‘physical’… -
Thursday, 13 June 2019Don't believe the hype
Every four years the ITMA exhibition opens its doors to a range of exciting new developments from textile machine builders, chemical companies, service providers, and anyone else involved in the textile industry. Over the past 20 or so years the… -
Thursday, 13 June 2019The rise of rental
Rental fashion offers perhaps the most disruptive alternative yet to the high volume, low price sales business model that has ruled the apparel industry for decades. Following the launch of its new apparel subscription service, David Styles caught… -
Thursday, 11 April 2019OECD forum offers frank assessment of garment sector
The fifth annual OECD forum on responsible supply chains in Paris offered up a frank assessment of the garment and footwear sectors. Key advances and achievements were tempered by stark warnings over persistent issues which plague the industry, such… -
Thursday, 11 April 2019Everlane outlines its 'sustainable' goals
Using radical supply chain transparency to guide its ‘anti-fast fashion’ business model, Kim Smith, Everlane’s head of apparel gave John Mowbray an insight into how the US retailer works. We first came across Everlane around eight years ago when our…
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