MUNICH FABRIC START’s Post

📰 The fashion industry is turning to circularity. Discover the latest news on sustainability in fashion ⬇️: 🇪🇸🔄 Inditex, CEPSA, Mahou San Miguel, Pascual, and other big Spanish enterprises have joined the Circular Economy program of PATIO Innovation & Startup Campus, which aims to promote Circularity through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dsvct3DA 🇺🇳👕 The UNECE and ECLAC joined to create new measures to reduce the environmental impact of secondhand clothing, focusing on reducing textile waste and recycling. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dEJa59j7 🇪🇺💸 Euratex companies are required to remove the unfair competition that giant fast fashion companies Temu and Shein have due to their customs exception benefits.  🔗 https://lnkd.in/d3RCnxN8 🗑️👕 New research from NC State University discusses textile waste problems and recycling for the fashion industry, particularly the challenges that synthetic textiles pose when it comes to discarding and recycling. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dzzdSbjS ✅ Discover more news about the textile industry and circular economy following Recovo on Linkedin!

This week, our Head of Innovation, Lewis E. Shuler II, participated in a panel discussion, focused on how to make circular systems succeed, at the Future Fabrics Expo in London. During the panel it was highlighted that Paradise Textiles is a great example of a manufacturer that’s leading the change and working to lessen or ease the burden of implementation. It was also noted that, as an industry, we often assume that manufacturers as a stakeholder will just do what is needed for a brand, but clearly that has not always worked and it’s important for supply chain actors like Paradise, to be part of the conversation and part of the scaling journey. Lewis E. Shuler II shared examples of how Paradise Textiles is doing its part to be a pioneer in helping to create the collective change the industry needs: Bridging development into commercialization 1.    Innovators and fiber companies have focused on their technology, and we are working diligently to move these fibers into running fabrics and secure agreements with brands to switch to these preferred fibers. 2.    Incremental change is key. We are mindful that adopting sustainable products and practices is a journey, and that with each incremental change, we can help lessen impacts, whilst avoiding disrupting our brand partners’ operations or alienating their customers. 3.    As a manufacturer, we also have recycled fiber targets, so it’s important we are focused on the most progressive brands in this space, as it’s a reflection of our work too. 4.    Sudden, radical cost increases can be expensive and risky, which is why creative costing models across the entire value chain - to share the burden of higher costs - are important. 5.    Our point of view is lead the charge now, before regulations come into play; it’s a scramble for teams at brands to prepare for the regulations, which is why we are doing our part to ensure the supply chain side is set up for success. Textile recycling at our garment factories 1.    As we advocate for mono materials it becomes easier to manage off cuts at the garment factory. 2.    We work with a really high volume of materials that fit this bucket. 3.    Looking forward, we see big opportunities to manage post-industrial textile waste on site and turn it into new yarns, whilst complex blends will rely on our advanced recycling partners. Together, we look forward to making fashion fit for the future. #ThreadingtheFuture #ParadiseTextiles #Circularity

Sustainability in Fashion, is a challenge, being met, head-on. Everything for you, about it👇 1. What's driving the need for sustainable fashion? • Global population projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 • Increasing demand for clothing, especially in emerging markets • Current linear "take-make-dispose" model leading to overproduction and waste 2. How much overproduction exists in fashion? • Industry produces 100-150 billion garments annually, double since 2000 • 10-40% of produced garments never sold • Average person buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago, keeping items half as long 3. What are the environmental impacts? • Fashion industry accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions • 20% of global industrial water pollution from textile treatment and dyeing • 92 million tons of textile waste generated annually 4. What new regulations are coming? • EU's Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) in 2024 • Digital Product Passport initiative for traceability (2024-2027) • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws in UK and Europe 5. How are consumer attitudes changing? • 66% of global consumers willing to pay more for sustainable products • Growing demand for transparency in supply chains • Increasing interest in secondhand and rental fashion 6. What actions are brands taking? • Investing in circular economy initiatives and recycling programs • Developing innovative, sustainable materials • Setting ambitious carbon reduction targets • Improving supply chain transparency and traceability 7. What challenges remain? • Balancing sustainability with profitability and growth • Scaling up sustainable production methods • Educating consumers on sustainable choices • Addressing the complexity of global supply chains 8. How can the industry move forward? • Embrace circular design principles • Invest in technological innovations for recycling and production • Collaborate across the industry to set standards and share best practices • Engage consumers in the sustainability journey through education and transparency 9. How are the top 10 #Luxury Brands responding? There, you have reached the Carousel Viewing stage. A lot is going on and a lot needs work. 2030 Should be a good year to calibrate countries, brands, and government responses to #sustainability goals. #management

"What progress have we made towards industry alignment on sustainability?" This is how the Innovation Forum "Sustainable Apparel Conference" started this week in Amsterdam. And it was excellent with great introductory speech by Pascal Brun from Zalando! Some reflections from the many conferences and 1:1 during those 2 days: 🤝 "#Collaboration" and "#Partnerships" are on every sustainability professionals' lips. This is the way forward if we want to achieve decarbonization and halt biodiversity loss at scale. Beyond those statements, challenges are still there to get a whole industry to share sensitive data and efforts. But it was great to see leading european brands co-investing in material innovation technologies. 📜 European Regulations are about to succeed on making value chains more transparent where we have struggled for too long knowing where the garments we buy are made, by whom and in which conditions. The need for more information on environmental impact of apparel is driving this as part of the Green Deal, and this is a good news even if it means more work for brands. This is inevitably leading brands to transform the skills and capabilities of their teams as well as the relationship with their partners and the use of data & digital tools. 🗑 #Circularity has been front and center during this conference, and it is a good sign business models are evolving for more sobriety while keeping the consumers' excitement towards style. Combining sustainability, and the desire to reinvent our style is the challenge of circularity. Great insights from Laura Coppen and Anna Turrell around what's being achieved at H&M and Decathlon  ! 🖥 #Digitalization is a great lever for companies willing to decarbonize their supply chain, measure their progress towards their SBT or NetZero commitments, as well as complying with ecolabeling upcoming requirements. I have met with many companies developing groundbreaking solutions for traceability (Retraced, TrusTrace, TextileGenesis , Temera ) and product footprint measurements (FAIRLY MADE , Carbonfact). The digitalization of sustainability at fashion brands is happening and we should look at it as an opportunity to scale decarbonization. This sector is blooming with a lot of actors and brands have a hard time: - making sense of the needs of their internal stakeholders, - selecting the right partner addressing their needs but also with a chance to still be there in 5 years (as the market will inevitably consolidate), - getting the right environmental data (see #eQosphere solution Quantis) - and setting the appropriate data governance, processes and usage (reporting, ecodesign, portfolio management, etc.) throughout the organization This is the space where Quantis can help brands be future fit by advising them on the best way to go on their sustainability digitalization journey!

🔍 The fashion industry urgently needs sustainable materials to reduce its environmental impact, but finding investors for biomaterials is challenging, experts say. Companies like Modern Synthesis and Keel Labs are innovating with microbial cellulose and seaweed-based fibers, respectively, but scaling these solutions requires patient investment and long-term support. Addressing the environmental footprint of fashion necessitates collaboration between brands and material innovators. Read more here:

Innovation Forum insights – Switching gears to building circular economy within the apparel sector. Footprinting and circularity expert at Quantis Matthew Hawthorne, and the company's fashion and goods lead Luca Mosca, talk with me about the growing circular economy models developing in the apparel sector and what these transitions will look like in practice. They discuss sector-specific barriers to success and share step-by-step guidance on how business can lead the transition.

I am really happy to be part of it and to support Burberry evolution in this field, as Material Innovation could support the decarbonization process from raw materials source to textile production. #innovation #sustainability #circularfashion #sustainablefashion #materials #nextgenmaterials

Changing your perspective is essential to predict the future of building materials and ff&e. What if you had insight into the market in five years? How would you use that advantage in your favor? Like the built environment, the fashion industry is responsible for disproportionate carbon emissions. This is a real-life environmental problem, but it is also a marketing problem because, due to greenwashing, companies that make sustainable products aren't getting the credit they deserve. This fascinating @Vogue Business article sheds light on a groundbreaking capsule collection that hit Paris last month. Everloop, as it's known, is set to challenge conventional notions of sustainability in fashion. This collaboration between @Positive Materials, @Petratex, @PDS Ventures, and six next-gen materials startups is making waves at @Première Vision, Paris' premier fashion materials trade show. The goal is "to showcase that sustainable solutions across the supply chain are a reality today and not an abstract concept for the future." As I think about the companies I met at IBS 2024, I was struck by how few were leveraging sustainability in a meaningful and exciting way. The future of the built environment will be won not just by EPDs and sustainability claims; the victors will be the ones who know how to tell their stories in an exciting and seductive way. https://lnkd.in/etSG5Htd

This week, our Head of Innovation, Lewis E. Shuler II, participated in a panel discussion, focused on how to make circular systems succeed, at the Future Fabrics Expo in London. During the panel it was highlighted that Paradise Textiles - Alpine Group's material science and innovation hub - is a great example of a manufacturer that’s leading the change and working to lessen or ease the burden of implementation. It was also noted that, as an industry, we often assume that manufacturers as a stakeholder will just do what is needed for a brand, but clearly that has not always worked and it’s important for supply chain actors like Paradise, to be part of the conversation and part of the scaling journey. Lewis E. Shuler II shared examples of how Paradise Textiles is doing its part to be a pioneer in helping to create the collective change the industry needs: Bridging development into commercialization 1.    Innovators and fiber companies have focused on their technology, and we are working diligently to move these fibers into running fabrics and secure agreements with brands to switch to these preferred fibers. 2.    Incremental change is key. We are mindful that adopting sustainable products and practices is a journey, and that with each incremental change, we can help lessen impacts, whilst avoiding disrupting our brand partners’ operations or alienating their customers. 3.    As a manufacturer, we also have recycled fiber targets, so it’s important we are focused on the most progressive brands in this space, as it’s a reflection of our work too. 4.    Sudden, radical cost increases can be expensive and risky, which is why creative costing models across the entire value chain - to share the burden of higher costs - are important. 5.    Our point of view is lead the charge now, before regulations come into play; it’s a scramble for teams at brands to prepare for the regulations, which is why we are doing our part to ensure the supply chain side is set up for success. Textile recycling at our garment factories 1.    As we advocate for mono materials it becomes easier to manage off cuts at the garment factory. 2.    We work with a really high volume of materials that fit this bucket. 3.    Looking forward, we see big opportunities to manage post-industrial textile waste on site and turn it into new yarns, whilst complex blends will rely on our advanced recycling partners. Together, we look forward to making fashion fit for the future. #ThreadingtheFuture #ParadiseTextiles #Circularity

🚀 The Future of Textile Innovation 🌱 The textile industry is rapidly transforming, with innovations that not only enhance functionality but also prioritize sustainability. Here's a look at some of the key advancements: 🔹 Smart Textiles: From fabrics that monitor health to clothes that adjust temperature, smart textiles are merging fashion with technology. These fabrics are paving the way for a future where clothing can be more than just a fashion statement. 🔹 Bio-Fabrics: Made from natural resources like algae, mushrooms, and even pineapple leaves, bio-fabrics are offering eco-friendly alternatives to traditional materials, reducing the environmental impact of fashion production. 🔹 Recycled Materials: The rise of recycled textiles is helping to close the loop in the fashion industry. By reusing discarded clothing and materials, we are taking significant steps towards reducing waste and creating a circular economy. Technology is reshaping the way we think about fashion and sustainability. The future of textiles is not only about aesthetics but also about smart, sustainable solutions that improve our lives. #TextileInnovation #SmartFabrics #TechInFashion #SustainableFashion #CircularEconomy #BioFabrics