[pageLogInLogOut]

#Sustainability

Petri Alava recognised among world’s top 50 digital retail leaders

Our Chief Executive, Petri Alava, has been unveiled among global digital commerce’s most influential individuals in The Tech List, the annual index published today by leading business intelligence site Retail Week.

The Tech List replaces The Tech 100 to exclusively celebrate the work of 50 – rather than 100 – digital retail leaders achieving demonstrable success by steering technological change.

The index has been determined with recommendations from industry specialists including NBK Retail Founder and Retail Analyst Natalie Berg, WARC Director of Insights Aditya Kishore, and True Executive Chair and Co-founder Matt Truman, alongside Retail Week’s team of expert journalists.

Petri Alava © 2022 Infinited Fiber
Petri Alava © 2022 Infinited Fiber


Leaders behind start-ups and disruptors, retailers and brands, investors, collaborators (third parties working with industry) and tech titans are celebrated for driving innovation in key areas such as stores, personalisation, payments, supply chain, social commerce and sustainability.

The Tech List is an essential read for retailers and brands looking for insights on the hottest digital trends, who to partner with and where to prioritise investment.

Produced in association with Braze, Emarsys, Fourth and Okta, The Tech List has greater female representation than ever before (36%) – compared with 32% last year – with Alibaba Group President of Core Domestic Commerce Trudy Dai, Olio Co-founders Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, and AiFi Co-founder Ying Zheng among those celebrated.



It also boasts greater global diversity with individuals profiled from across the UK, US, Europe, Japan, China and Israel, and is not limited to tech job titles, with chief operations officers, eCommerce directors, founders and chief executives featured in the index.

Retail Week Senior Commercial Content Editor Megan Dunsby, who oversees The Tech List, said: “The Tech List serves as the ultimate showcase of digital leaders that the industry should be working with, taking inspiration from and investing in.

© 2022 Infinited Fiber
© 2022 Infinited Fiber


Despite the challenging market conditions in which global retail finds itself, these digital leaders highlight the real progress being made to stay ahead of competitors, improve customer experiences, and overcome the various cost pressures and supply chain disruption beating down on industry.

It’s interesting to see the contrast between those leaders – typically those with bigger budgets – making headway with game-changing technologies such as drones, robotics and the metaverse, and those making necessity-driven investments to make their businesses simply run more efficiently.”



More News from TEXDATA International

#ITM 2026

ITM 2026: The new geography of textile production

New production hubs are emerging across North Africa and Central Asia, while Türkiye is accelerating its transformation toward higher-value, technology-driven and more sustainable textile manufacturing.

#Research & Development

“Production is a product”

From technical textiles and AI-driven robotics to the limitations of textile circularity: Professor Dr Thomas Gries looks back on more than two decades of development at ITA Aachen. In the interview, he explains why production technology remains a decisive success factor, discusses international collaborations and innovation ecosystems, and shares his views on the transformation of production landscapes and the challenges facing an increasingly regulated industry.

#Knitting & Hosiery

“We need to move away from the price trap and return to a value-driven mindset.”

With its new Textile Innovation Center, KARL MAYER is sending a strong signal for innovation, collaboration, and the future of textile applications. In this interview, Karl Josef Mayer discusses new opportunities in warp knitting, the processing of staple fibres, recycling, the changing role of machinery manufacturers, and why the textile industry must once again focus more strongly on the value of textiles. by Oliver Schmidt

#Associations

“Innovation, resilience and international experience remain the great strengths of the Swiss textile machinery industry”

Geopolitical uncertainty, growing competitive pressure from China, new free trade agreements and the shift towards a circular economy are currently reshaping the global textile industry. In this interview, Cornelia Buchwalder discusses the current mood within the Swiss textile machinery sector, the industry’s distinctive innovative strength, new market opportunities in India and Asia, and the technological trends that could shape the upcoming trade fair cycle leading up to ITMA 2027.

More News on Sustainability

#Research & Development

180 years of TESTEX: From Zurich silk testing to global certification

For 180 years, TESTEX has developed alongside the textile industry while maintaining the same underlying purpose: creating trust through independent and reliable measurement. Founded in Zurich in 1846 as the Zurich Silk Conditioning Institute, TESTEX has grown from a local institution serving the silk trade into an international Swiss testing and certification institute for textiles and leather.

#Sustainability

Cascale launches member-led process to shape 2030 strategy

Cascale has launched a member-led process to define the industry alliance’s strategic direction for the next decade. At the Cascale Annual Meeting 2026 in Athens, CEO Ying McGuire announced that members will contribute to an industry system map that will inform Cascale’s 10-year vision, its 2030 strategy and priorities for 2027. The new strategy is scheduled to be finalized in December.

#Sustainability

Jeanologia Sustainability Report highlights environmental impact of textile technologies

Jeanologia has published its Sustainability Report 2025, reporting a 13.64% reduction in its own carbon footprint and quantifying the environmental impact associated with the use of its technologies across the global textile industry. According to the company’s calculations, their use avoided the pollution of 21.52 million m³ of water and emissions of approximately 103,530 tonnes of CO₂ compared with conventional textile finishing processes.

#Sustainability

Global Standards announce launch of a new textile processing standard

The 14th September 2026 marks the public launch of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS), a new standard for the processing of textiles made from fibres certified to third-party standards recognised by GRTS and covering a broad range of plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic and recycled fibres.

Latest News

#Associations

HeiQ & Archroma and Lenzing & Armedangels win ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has named two industry partnerships as winners of the ITMF International Collaboration Awards 2026. The awards go to collaborations between HeiQ and Archroma as well as Lenzing and Armedangels, highlighting joint approaches to innovation and sustainability across different parts of the textile value chain.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Moving Advanced Recycling from Innovation to Implementation

The Advanced Recycling Conference 2026 explores technologies, markets, financing and scale-up of innovative recycling solutions for waste streams including mixed plastic waste, textiles and PVC. Europe’s chemical and materials sector faces growing pressure to close carbon loops, strengthen raw-material safety and resilience and meet increasingly ambitious EU recycling targets. Against this backdrop, the Advanced Recycling Conference (ARC) will bring together industry leaders, technology providers, researchers, innovators and policy-makers on 17–18 November 2026 in Cologne, Germany.

#Associations

German textile industry and retailers form alliance to shape textile EPR system

Germany’s textile and fashion industry and retail sector have joined forces to establish the “Alliance for Textile Circularity” (Allianz für textile Kreisläufe). Initiated by the German Textile and Fashion Industry Association (Gesamtverband textil+mode) and the German Retail Federation (HDE), the alliance aims to contribute industry expertise to the development of Germany’s future Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for textiles and footwear.

#Functional Fabrics

PERFORMANCE DAYS introduces Digital Design Journey with CLO and VIZOO

PERFORMANCE DAYS will introduce a new Digital Design Journey at its upcoming edition in Munich, connecting physical fabric sourcing with 3D product development. Supported by CLO and VIZOO, the installation will demonstrate how real performance fabrics can be digitized and incorporated into virtual garment development workflows.

TOP