Interviews

Can market forces help prevent tragedies such as Rana Plaza? Not really, say Professors Vinod Singhal and Brian Jacobs as they explain that in terms of sourcing strategy, most firms are going to continue to search for the lowest costs even as the larger idea of responsible sourcing has gained traction following an increase in activists and watchdogs as also the ubiquity of 24/7 news and social media.  

The Rana Plaza disaster of March 2013 exposed many faultlines in the fashion ecosystem. That tectonic day threw up a whole lot of issues that were furiously debated the world over. One critical issue was the seemingly confrontational interface between business and human rights. In this freewheeling conversation, Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Sanchita Banerjee Saxena, IHRB Research Fellow and Director at the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, talk about the lessons for business and human rights.

As a leading international trade fair with participants from 129 nations, Heimtextil 2023 was a global stage where textile sustainability was holistically mapped — with products and innovations that have shown that scalable and sustainable innovations are not a contradiction in terms. Olaf Schmidt, Vice-President (Textiles & Textile Technologies) at Messe Frankfurt talks to texfash.com

Inspiring new products, innovative content and future-oriented themes is what Munich Fabric Start promises, even in these times of uncertainty. Frank Junker, Creative Director & Partner, Munich Fabric Start Exhibitions GmbH elaborates in this one-on-one with texfash.com.

Fifteen years ago, when Fashion Takes Action (FTA) was established as a non-profit, ‘sustainability’ as a term wasn’t in vogue. Now while some brands are clearly leaders and taking big risks and others are much slower to engage, what has worsened is that there are brands not genuinely invested in making change and are marketing to consumers as if they are. This increased level of greenwashing ultimately affects those who are on the right track. Kelly Drennan, Founding Executive Director of FTA, talks to texfash.com on their agenda for sustainability.

The Swiss textile recycling project Texcircle, which ended a month ago, showed exactly how a group of organisations can make it work together by contributing their own know-how, efforts, finances and materials. Tina Tomovic, Senior Research Associate of the project at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which helmed the project, and Prof Brigitt Egloff tell texfash.com how the project worked, and what should be the way forward for textile recycling.

The much-awaited VORN – The Berlin Fashion Hub kicked off last month. The Hub intends to become just that—a hub—for positive change in the fashion industry. The Hub would be a physical and digital space to create, communicate and teach collaboratively. Marte Hentschel, Co-CEO (Operations & Business Development), tells texfash.com what the Hub will look like.

The idea of Stony Creek Colors (SCC) took roots when Founder and CEO Sarah Bellos understood the difficulties that brands face when trying to integrate plant-based dyes into their designs. Today, SCC produces the world's only 100% certified plant-based indigo. An in-depth interview with Bellos about dyes, transparency and climate change.

As the versatile denim continues to evolve as a key player in the fashion industry, the two-day Denim Première Vision beginning 23 November at Milano has been dynamically designed to serve as a natural link between the different elements of the value chain and a strong fashion attitude. Fabio Adami Dalla Val, Show Manager, Denim Première Vision talks to texfash.com.

The STeP EcoLab is a four-year project funded by the European Union under the SWITCH Asia II Programme. The Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) is a project partner with its key competences: sustainable value chains, hand- and footprint assessments, multi-stakeholder engagement, as well as participatory strategy development and design and communication. Project Manager Pawel Zylka talks cashmere and herders.