It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable
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TOP STORY
Fibre Innovation / Red Sea Seaweed

19 December 2025

 6 minutes

Woven from the Red Sea: Saudi Arabia’s First Seaweed Fabric

Native seaweed species from the Red Sea are being developed into fabric prototypes with future commercial potential. The work highlights how regional resources can power globally relevant sustainable textiles.

An under-utilised local natural resource — the seaweed from the Red Sea — is being developed for the first time into an innovative, fully traceable sustainable fabric by the Fashion Commission of Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and fabric manufacturer Pyratex. Fiona Symes, Chief Operating Officer at KAUST Beacon Development (KBD), the consultancy arm at KAUST, shares details on the project.

  • Richa Bansal
 Interview
Latest: Updates
Tribute / Meher Castelino First Person
Meher

When a Chronicler Falls Silent, an Industry Remembers Its Own

  • Richa Bansal

18 December 2025
Heritage Crisis / Zari Work Feature
From Manish Malhotra’s bridal couture edit - 'Nooraniyat'. The embroidery boasts of age-old zardosi, badla, and of course signature sequins on modern silhouettes. Unfortunately, the precious metal heart of real zari is in crisis. With demand shrinking, costs climbing, and the younger generation turning away, the survival of this centuries-old craft hangs by a thread.

The Battle for Authentic Zari Reveals Deeper Faultlines in Indian Craftwork

  • Richa Bansal

3 December 2025
Other Top Stories
Machine Embroidery / Automation
Cornell’s OriStitch system uses embroidery and heat-shrink threads to transform flat fabrics into self-folding 3D forms.

OriStitch Points to a More Automated Future for Machine Embroidery

  • Staff Writer

15 December 2025
Luxury Fashion / Human Rights
Wider scrutiny

Widening Italian Investigation Flags Labour Abuses in Luxury Supply Chain

  • Staff Writer

8 December 2025
 
ITF Intertex Spain 2025
CIRCULARITY / RECYCLING / SECONDS / WASTE
Managing textile waste remains a global challenge. Most textile products are still incinerated or landfilled, and only a small share is recycled or reused

Researchers Develop New Method to Transform Textile Waste into Energy and Cement Binder

Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) are pioneering methods to convert textile waste into energy and high-performance cement alternatives — a dual breakthrough that could ease pressure on two of the world’s most resource-hungry sectors: textiles and construction.

Staff Writer
 
Morocco Fashion Tex 2026
FLASHPOINT: CLIMATE
GHG Emissions / Localisation
Industry groups have referenced the paper when examining how localised production and renewable energy could intersect with existing supplier networks and certification mechanisms for sustainable apparel manufacturing.

Lifecycle and Microfibre Assessment Finds Regional Manufacturing Can Outperform Global Polyester Supply Chains

  • Staff Writer
 Update

5 November 2025

Locally produced circular sportswear could have a smaller environmental footprint than a conventional polyester garment reference, a new lifecycle and microfibre assessment has modelled. Renewable-energy use, shorter transport routes, and circular design choices together could reduce climate impacts and microplastic emissions, the researchers have contended.

Climate Action / WRAP Roadmap
Collaboration between signatories, retailers, and charities has expanded reuse and recycling networks, capturing thousands of tonnes of textiles that would otherwise have become waste.

Circular Dreams at Risk: WRAP Sounds Alarm on Textile Growth Outpacing Climate Targets

  • Staff Writer
 Update

29 October 2025

Climate action NGO WRAP has unveiled a new UK Textiles Pact Roadmap to fast-track circularity and environmental progress across the industry. Despite per-tonne cuts in carbon and water use, soaring production volumes and linear business models threaten to erase those gains. The Roadmap strengthens collaboration, targets upstream emissions, and supports policy reforms for a resilient circular future.

 
COLUMNS
 
Saudi Fashion Tex 2026
EXCLUSIVES
 
FOCUS: COTTON
The rise in imports reflects short-term domestic supply constraints and competitive global prices, particularly for higher staple-length cotton.

‘MSP Isn’t Distorting Prices’: CCI Head on Imports, Yields, and the Road to Cotton Stability

The single largest cotton trading company and a public sector undertaking under the Union Ministry of Textiles, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), established in 1970, undertakes price support and commercial purchase operations to safeguard the economic interest of farmers in the cotton growing regions and to ensure its smooth supply to the textile industry. A Q&A with its Chairman-Cum-Managing Director, Lalit Kumar Gupta.

Richa Bansal
From sowing to spinning, every segment of India’s cotton value chain is under stress, affected by rising costs, outdated technology, and fragmented policy oversight across ministries.

Frayed Futures: India’s Cotton Crop Unspooling Fast

  • Richa Bansal
 Report

3 November 2025
 
 
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLES: MOST READ
 
SPOTLIGHT EDITIONS: SELECT 4
Cotton for Good 2024 7 Oct 2024
One Crop, One Fibre, Many Stories
State of Leather 2024 21 Oct 2024
Has to be Leather All the Way!
 

Highlights: Sea Change

"Quote Unquote"

Elisabetta Rocchi
Elisabetta Rocchi
Associate, Circular Products and Materials
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
By changing how companies engage with material composition, product consumption and disposal in innovative, inventive and more sustainable ways, they’ll be in a strong position to extract more value from the entire textile and footwear product lifecycle. Circular business approaches have the potential to dramatically shift how revenue growth both rewards and incentives businesses in the fashion and textile value chain by decoupling from resource use and delivering superior risk-adjusted returns with more efficient, more sustainable performance.
MORE: Fashion Can’t Spin Circularity Anymore Without Hard Evidence on the Table

"Quote Unquote"

Andrew Olah
Andrew Olah
Founder / Owner
Transformers Foundation / Kingpins Show
Suppliers are scared of the brands knowing what they think; so, they smile at the brands, invite them for lunch, and then tell us what they think of their behaviour, and we have more than 50 of these kinds of reactions—private concerns, and public smiles out of fear. That itself shows how unethical our industry is. People are frightened to tell the truth.
MORE: Fear of Speaking Out Keeps Denim Suppliers Silent on Unethical Brand Practices in Supply Chains
 
 
FOCUS: LEATHER
The AILPA 2025 exhibition underscored Kolkata’s emergence as a global platform connecting Indian manufacturers with international leather buyers.

India’s Leather Industry Repositions as Global Buyers Converge on Kolkata

Kolkata’s hosting of AILPA 2025 represented more than an industry event—it symbolised India’s recalibration within shifting global trade currents. Amid market disruptions and evolving tariff landscapes, the city emerged as a key platform connecting manufacturers and international buyers, highlighting the sector’s growing capability, design sophistication, and readiness for the premium export market.

Vasan Suri
Lineapelle 2025 demonstrated that the industry is ready to communicate in a different way. The collaboration between UNIC, Lineapelle, La Conceria, Is It Leather?, and voices like Volkan’s marks the beginning of a more open, consumer-connected era. But collaboration must extend to influencers, educators, and storytellers, people who can speak the language of the next generation of consumers.

The Power of Storytelling, Community and Leather’s Next Chapter

  • Blake Garavaglia
 Commentary

14 October 2025
 
 
ATTENTION: DENIM
 
COMPANY NEWS / PRESS RELEASES
 
Young India Fashion Survey 2025