#Sustainability

2022-01-13

Fashionsustain is inviting guests to a new format: Frankfurt City Edition

In keeping with this season’s Change the set-up theme, Fashionsustain – Neonyt’s international conference format – is adapting the event to the current legislative framework and presenting a compact line-up focusing on the topics of sustainability, supply chains and retail on Wednesday, 19 January. In its hybrid City Edition, the conference will play host to a limited number of guests at the Danzig am Platz even location in the city centre of Frankfurt and will also be streamed live.

From 11:00 am until 2:00 pm on 19 January 2021, industry insiders will be shedding light on the current challenges facing the fashion industry in keynotes, deep dives and panel discussions and providing valuable forecasts and solutions.

Starting the ball rolling is neuroscientist Dr Maren Urner, with her keynote speech entitled Change the mindset. The focus here will be on the attitude-behaviour gap: a scientific phenomenon that involves consumers increasingly stating in studies that they attach importance to sustainability and are willing to spend more money on sustainably produced goods, yet other studies confirm that the price is still one of the most decisive purchasing criteria. This means that their actual consumer behaviour falls doesn’t live up to their good intentions. Dr Maren Urner will explain how to manage this dilemma and how our brains can be reprogrammed from powerlessness to sustainable action.

In the subsequent deep dive with Karin Ziegler from Blutsgeschwister and Lutz Dietzold from the German Design Council, she will be reflecting on why people act differently than they intend to and how our own attitudes will reflect our behaviour even more in the future.

Government-run certification label Grüner Knopf (Green Button) is inviting guests to a panel discussion: Sebastian Herold from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development will be joining Axel Schröder from Tchibo GmbH and Hannes Weber from Fond of to discuss where the Green Button stands two years after it was launched, how much progress has been made in terms of due diligence obligations from a company perspective and how this development will continue.

The fact that brands aren’t immune to the attitude-behaviour gap either is being proven by Christian Salewski from research start-up Flip. In his insight talk Sneaker Hunt – What happens to our old shoes?, he will be giving us a peek behind the scenes of one of the most hotly discussed videos in the industry last year: together with media such as NDR, Die Zeit and well-known celebrities, Flip has exposed the truth behind sneaker recycling and shown that they aren’t always recycled how the brands say they are.

The Fashionsustain City Edition will be rounded off with a panel discussion entitled Sustainability at the point of sale – How do I explain it to my customers? Tanja Kliewe-Meyer from Like a Bird, Marco Schütte from the EK Service Group and representatives of Handelsverband Hessen, the trade association for the German state of Hesse, will be discussing how the retail sector can pass on its knowledge and contribute to raising awareness among consumers and what that could mean for the rejuvenation of city centres.

The conference is aimed at a professional audience and will be held as an in-person event in German. The live stream will be offered in German and English. B2B visitors and press representatives can register to take part in person in advance on the website at www.fashionsustain.com. The event is taking place under Germany’s ‘2G+’ rule, meaning that only those who have been fully vaccinated or recently recovered plus tested will be able to attend. Participants are requested to bring the necessary documents as proof.

Fashionsustain will also be streamed live on www.fashionsustain.com and in Frankfurt Fashion Week’s digital FFW Studio: https://frankfurt.fashion/de/studio

Messe Frankfurt commits further to East Africa: three textiles trade fairs during Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week from 2027

Messe Frankfurt and its Texpertise Network continue their steady, successful trajectory in the region. As Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) opened today, Member of the Executive Board Detlef Braun announced that Messe Frankfurt is licencing its three leading international trade fair brands Texworld, Apparel Sourcing and Texprocess to Nairobi, Kenya for the first time in 2027. From now on, they will take place annually as part of the Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) Nairobi.

Speed and connectivity: Techtextil and Texprocess provided market-ready solutions for industries under pressure

With more than 36,000 visitors and 1,700 exhibitors from a total of 112 countries, Techtextil and Texprocess 2026 demonstrated how innovation comes into industrial use. The convergence of research, industry and application proved to be a breeding ground for new material solutions, manufacturing and processing technologies. Natural fibres, performance apparel, connected systems and AI-driven processing technologies emerged as key growth and future markets.

HKRITA signs MoU with Jeanologia and Looptworks to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) yesterday officially signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two key global partners, Jeanologia and Looptworks, to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem – a first-of-its-kind collaboration to accelerate the large-scale recycling of blended textiles.

Textile Exchange unveils agenda for 2026 conference in Vancouver

Textile Exchange has released the agenda for its 2026 Conference, which will take place from October 12–16 in Vancouver, Canada. Under the theme “The Implementation Era,” the event will focus on translating sustainability commitments into practical action and scaling solutions across businesses, supply systems, and landscapes.

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.

Results of the 38th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey

The global textile industry appears to be turning a corner, but this is more likely a fragile and possibly temporary improvement than the start of a durable recovery. According to the 38th ITMF Global Textile Industry Survey, conducted worldwide during the second half of May 2026, business sentiment, order intake, order backlogs and capacity utilization all improved versus March — yet every indicator remains weak by historical standards, and rising costs cast doubt on how long the upturn can last.

EDANA announces five new board members following 2026 Annual General Meeting

The EDANA Board of Governors is elected or re-elected at the Annual General Meeting by the member companies. The Governors are senior executives (business leaders) from member companies, based in different countries and representing different sectors of the nonwovens industry. The Board has central responsibility for guiding EDANA's overall strategy and approving its policies and priorities. It meets three times a year.

Cotton made in Africa partners receive top marks in independent verifications

Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) and CmiA Organic are two internationally recognised standards that aim to promote sustainable development in the African cotton sector south of the Sahara. To ensure the standards’ credibility among brands, retailers, and consumers, independent verifiers evaluate compliance on the ground. The verification results for 2025, now published in the Aggregated Verification & Implementation Report, were very strong: The verifiers awarded consistently very good remarks regarding management, people, prosperity, and the environment.

Bangladesh: Italian textile machinery mission stops in Dhaka and Chittagong

Technological upgrading and the transition toward higher value-added production are driving the new Italian industrial mission to Bangladesh. This year, the mission will split between the country’s two main manufacturing hubs, where Italian manufacturers will meet the leaders of the local textile supply chain in two strategic stages: July 7th in Dhaka and July 9th in Chittagong.