Interviews

Almost nothing has changed in the production of indigo for over a century. But now, French biotech innovator Synovance is producing dyes from microorganisms using industrial waste as raw material. Co-Founder and COO Efi Lioliou explains how the company has been able to produce sustainable dyes using biochemical methods.

All things cotton and the global market scenario from regenerative to organic, the urgent imperative to go sustainable and more is what Ben Eaves, Director of Liverpool Cotton Brokers Ltd, discusses in this freewheeling tete-a-tete with texfash.com.

A volatile commodity, the global trading of cotton has seen more than its share of turbulence. Ben Eaves, Director of Liverpool Cotton Brokers Ltd, elaborates on the situation and how it is impacting the world of textiles.

Armed with the vision to see fashion invest in farming and set the template for radical supply chain transparency across the world, UK-based start-up, Materra’s mission thus is to make farmers the stewards of the land, give nature a voice and make cotton a real force for good. texfash.com talks to one of the three Co-Founders and CSO Edward Hill.

The first event created especially for functional fabrics for sports, fashion and work clothing, the two-day Performance Days fair in Munich is all set to open on 20 March. texfash.com in conversation with Chief Executive Officer Marco Weichert.  

The UK discards 1 million tonnes of textiles every year, with about a third ending up in landfill or incineration, and the football sector is a big contributor to this. Lindsay Pressdee, Senior Lecturer in Department of Materials Faculty of Science and Engineering at University of Manchester, talks about the urgent need to tackle sportswear garment waste on a footing at par with fast fashion.

Swedish nonprofit Axfoundation has been running the Swedish Wool Initiative, which aims for zero wool waste. The project has launched the Swedish Wool Standard, the first Swedish classification system for wool. Johan Sidenmark, Project Manager, Circular Economy, speaks at length about Swedish wool, and the Standard in particular.

Swedish gamechanger TreeToTextile was recently awarded the ITMF Start-up Award for creating a biobased textile fibre through an innovative chemical process that refines cellulose from wood and other cellulosic sources. Chief Executive Officer Roxana Barbieru talks alternative fibres.

OnceMore—the world’s first large-scale process for recycling blended fabrics—uses a proprietery process that combines post-consumer textile waste with renewable wood from responsibly managed forests to produce high-quality textile pulp. Åsa Degerman, Project Leader for OnceMore at forest industry group Södra talks recycling.

The Reet Aus mission is to minimise the ecological footprint of the fashion industry by applying industrial upcycling — producing clothing from pre-production leftover fabrics. texfash.com talks to the visionary designer to know more.