#Associations

2024-07-24

Fifth transnational ADDTEX meeting in Prato

From 1 to 5 July 2024, the fifth member meeting of ADDTEX took place in Prato at PIN s.c.r.l. Educational and Scientific Services for the University of Florence. Parallel to the meeting of the project partners and in the same building in Piazza Giovanni Ciardi, 25, PIN organised a textile innovation boot camp with students from Sweden, Spain, Romania, Ireland, Italy and Portugal.

Joint photo of the ADDTEX partners and the summer school students in front of the entrance to the PIN in Prato. Photo: ADDTEX, Alessandro de Rosa

Preparations for workshops and webinars are in full swing

The meeting of the ADDTEX project partners served to find out about the current results of the individual partners of the EU Erasmus+ project and to discuss further activities. Following the meetings in Terrassa, Spain, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, Limerick, Ireland and Athens, Greece, the fifth meeting took place in the Italian textile centre of Prato in Tuscany. The IVGT e.V. is one of the 12 ADDTEX partners as a major textile trade association in Germany and was once again present in Prato.

Summer school for students

The textile innovation bootcamp in the form of a summer school was organised by PIN and involved the participation of 25 students and 5 trainers from the universities of Boras (Sweden), UPC (Spain), PIN (Italy) and TUS (Ireland) and was offered as an in-depth supplement to the hackathons organised in May 2024.

The aim of the bootcamp was to foster innovation and collaboration and equip students with knowledge and skills to promote green, digital and smart transformation in the textile industry. The methodology used included face-to-face teaching, group work, company visits and field reports and was inspired by design thinking. Social moments were also incorporated to promote team spirit. This resulted in demonstrators made from materials such as sensor fabrics, e-textiles, knitwear and membranes, which were presented at the end together with exemplary business plans and marketing plans. In line with ADDTEX's focus, attention was paid to sustainability across the entire product life cycle through to recycling concepts. The students had acquired the necessary basic information in advance using the 45 training videos and training units from the free and public Smart, Digital and Green Skills Academy at https://addtex.eu.

Design Thinking

Design thinking is an interactive process that uses empathy to understand the users at the centre of the product or solution being developed. It is a solution-focused approach that allows people to develop a variety of ideas that can be quickly prototyped, tested and improved. For these reasons, it is often used by teams that want to innovate and solve complex challenges.

In the first phase of the bootcamp, students had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the design thinking process and learn about smart textiles, eco-design principles and digitalisation in manufacturing. They also had the opportunity to get in touch with real-life examples (Knitronix and Sensing Tex) and visit the companies Comistra and Rifinizione Nuove Fibre SpA, which are based in the Prato area.

Fabrizio Tesi from Comistra shows the Summer Scholl students recycled wool fibres. Photo: ADDTEX, Katja Brencic

In the second phase of the process, the students began the creation process of their product, also familiarising themselves with the Lego® Serious Play® method. In the third phase of the boot camp, ideas were developed and prototypes were built. Finally, the students were instructed on how to prepare their pitch, which was then delivered on the last day of the bootcamp. The pitches started with a short introduction about the team and the product and ended with the presentation of the business model. The different teams showed a high level of motivation at work and several brilliant ideas emerged. Overall, the bootcamp was a great success for the AddTex project.

Comistra is a recycling company that produces high-quality mechanical wool from textile waste. Photo: ADDTEX, Iris Schlomski

Among other things, a webinar is planned for September 2024 to present the results of the hackathons and the bootcamp.

www.ivgt.de

International practical experience for textile students

As part of the European Erasmus+ project AddTex, the partner institutions organised several hackathons simultaneously from 15 to 17 May 2024 at the universities in Borås (Sweden), UPC (Spain), PIN (Italy) and TUS (Ireland). The aim was to develop practical solutions to real challenges facing the textile industry. The German family-owned company Schmitz Textiles, a specialist in complete textile solutions for indoor and outdoor use, challenged students at the University of PIN in Prato to increase the recycled content of yarns for awning production to 100 per cent.

6th AddTex project partner meeting in Prague

On January 21 and 22, 2025, the 6th AddTex project partner meeting took place in Prague at the invitation of the Czech cluster for technical textiles CLUTEX. After an update on the activities of the eleven European partners, the IVGT presented a draft business model that will ensure sustainable activities beyond the end of the project.

Mongolia: Workshop on Italian textile technologies kicks off in Ulaanbaatar

The workshop dedicated to Italian textile technologies will kick off in Ulaanbaatar from 21 to 23 June 2026. Focused on the most advanced innovative solutions for the textile industry, the initiative will bring together 13 Italian textile machinery manufacturers, confirming the growing interest in strengthening industrial cooperation between the two countries and highlighting Mongolia’s strategic importance for Italian textile machinery producers.

Towards pragmatic and harmonised labelling in the EU

EDANA, alongside 14 European associations, urges the European Commission and Member States to adopt a pragmatic approach for the future harmonised packaging labels, in line with the EU’s agenda for the EU Single Market, simplification and competitiveness. The system should rely on text-free pictograms, available in achromatic or monochromatic versions matching the packaging palette, with the possibility of using digital labelling as a core element. Our associations represent manufacturers of consumer goods across Europe.

Textile PRO Forum calls for greater harmonisation of textile EPR systems across Europe

The Textile PRO Forum has published a new analysis highlighting the need for greater harmonisation of textile Extended Producer Responsibility systems across Europe. The document, Toward harmonised Textile EPR Systems in Europe: analysis and recommendations, presents the results of work carried out by Workstream 1 of the Textile PRO Forum, led by Dr. Eng. Viola Corbellini, Strategic Development and Innovation Expert at Erion Textiles, and Eng. Luca Campadello, General Director at Erion Textiles. The workstream focused on reducing administrative burden for textile producers by identifying areas where procedures could be better aligned across countries.

Mario Jorge Machado re-elected President of EURATEX

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation.

2026 general meeting of the Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen at ITA

The Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen e. V. (proRWTH) looked back on a successful year of support at their 2026 general meeting. The meeting took place at Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen and was combined with a joint session of the Executive Board and the Administrative Board. Before the general meeting began, participants were given a guided tour of ITA, providing them with fascinating insights into current research and development topics in textile engineering.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Footwear innovation enabled by warp knitting technology– insights from New Balance

The future of the athletic shoe is increasingly being shaped on warp knitting machines. For KARL MAYER, the footwear industry is one of the most important growth markets – and one of the sectors where innovative textiles can realize their full potential. In his keynote address at the opening of KARL MAYER’s TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER in Obertshausen in April, Vishnu Prakash Muthusamy, Senior Textile and Materials Engineer at New Balance, explained the opportunities that warp knitting technology opens up for performance, sustainability, and faster development processes, and why textile manufacturers are transitioning from suppliers to development partners.