texfash

As one of the biggest events to be held in Latin America, PI Apparel Medellin this year is significant both for the region itself as well as the overall global context in which it is set to kick off on Wednesday. Two people in the thick and thin of things set the tone: Carmen Caballero, President of ProColombia, and Monica Afonso, Conference Producer at PI Apparel.

About a decade or so ago, Colombian textile giant Fabricato was fast receding into oblivion and irrelevance, and many doubted if the company could live to see its centenary in 2020. But Fabricato turned it all around. Sales Director Giorgio Lignarolo sheds sheds more light on how Fabricato did it.

In July, Zero Waste Europe highlighted the emissions gap that apparel industry giants will face if no urgent action is taken by governments to prevent overproduction. The EU is yet to set concrete measures on textile waste prevention, thereby cancelling out any progress towards sustainability. The report raised questions. Theresa Mörsen, Waste & Resources Policy Officer at Zero Waste Europe, throws light on the subject.

How are DPPs going to affect the trade process? Will countries that export textiles and/or apparel to the EU see a slowdown? Or perhaps, import too. What is it that they should do? Most important, how and where do they get started? Will we see teething problems, or will those problems persist over time? There’s an urgent need for questions to be answered. texfash.com explores.

Can digital product passports or DPPs help the textiles industry meet climate goals? Some key stakeholders surmise that DPPs have a better chance of being effective if clear and cut aggressive targets are set, aligned with the 2050 climate goals.

As part of a broader objective, the EU Textiles Strategy came up with the digital product passport (DPP) for the textiles sector by introducing the concept through the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). texfash.com talks to some players in the business of solutions to get a feel of the pulse.

There has been somewhat of a deluge of sustainability legislations in the US, EU and UK, all of which have a bearing on manufacturing companies in the Global South. A recent report has attempted to provide valuable insights and guidance for companies operating in the apparel value chain. A riveting conversation with members of the organisations which were behind the report.

The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA) is calling out the emotive misinformation by animal activist groups harming the $200 million sector and also highlighting the need for greater awareness around the benefits of managing an overabundant species. texfash.com talks to its President, Ray Borda, to know more.

Major Western brands, under refractory pressure from zealous animal welfare and social welfare groups based in the US, have shunned kangaroo leather. What now begs attention is how the Australian meat/leather industry should grapple with a ban that is bound to have a far-reaching adverse impact. And, what would be conservation's answers?

The Finnish city of Lahti, some 100-odd km to the north of capital Helsinki, has made stupendous progress through its incentive-based collection of textile waste, and has now launched a design competition on how to tackle discarded textiles.