It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable
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TOP STORY
Handmade India / Dyes & Labour

2 October 2026

 8 minutes

Fashion's Appetite for Handmade Irregularity Must Extend to the Labour behind It

Colours drawn from plants shift with season, soil, water and temperature, asking makers to work with a living material and its variations instead of a fixed industrial formula.

Growing commercial interest in traditional techniques has turned handmade irregularity into a marketable quality, yet the labour and knowledge behind it often go unexamined. Sayali Goyal, a textile visual artist, discusses natural dyes, mechanisation and the line between inspiration and extraction, and why communities should have a say in how their knowledge is represented and sold.

  • Subir Ghosh
 Interview
Latest: Updates
Other Top Stories
Biomaterials / Labels and Trust Interview
Replacing fossil inputs with plant-derived carbon can reduce dependence on non-renewable resources, but the gain is only as credible as the evidence offered to support it.

Bio-Based Textiles Need Honest Labels before Their Green Claims Can Be Trusted

  • Subir Ghosh

1 October 2026
Handmade India / Dokha Story First Person
A tradition kept exactly as it was can survive in archives, but one allowed to change its form can remain part of how people dress and earn.

A Himalayan Winter Garment Sheds Its Wool and Finds a New Life

  • Tapan Sharma

30 September 2026
 
ITMA 2027
CIRCULARITY / RECYCLING / SECONDS / WASTE
Each new collection triggers the emissions-heavy stages of yarn spinning, fabric knitting and chemical dyeing, and rapid style turnover multiplies those stages faster than material efficiency can absorb.

Recycling Cannot Repair What the Production Phase Has Already Locked In

The environmental debate around fast fashion has long turned on a single question: cotton or polyester, which is greener. A comprehensive lifecycle assessment now suggests the question itself was misplaced. Tracing garments from raw material through disposal, the research finds transport mode and garment lifespan reshape emissions by margins that no fibre substitution can match.

Subir Ghosh
The convergence of textile and electronic waste streams creates a category of refuse that neither industry can process cleanly, exposing gaps in regulation, disposal and material recovery.

The Coming Age of Smart Garments Demands a New Waste Doctrine

  • Ian Williams
  • Christina Webb
  • Stephen Beeby
 Commentary

26 August 2026
Distinctiveness has a ceiling that few briefs account for, and understanding where that ceiling sits matters more than chasing novelty without any restraint.

The Design Instinct Upcycled Fashion Brands Need to Unlearn

  • Special Correspondent
 Analysis

30 June 2026
 
FLASHPOINT: CLIMATE
Material Innovation / Bezos Fund
The funding signals a research-led push to make alternative materials commercially usable, not merely experimental answers to fashion’s environmental footprint or laboratory curiosity.

The Race to Reinvent What We Wear Gets $34 Million from Bezos Earth Fund

  • Staff Writer
 Update

27 April 2026

Breakthrough textile materials have received $34 million in new Bezos Earth Fund grants, backing research into bacterial fibres, spider-silk-inspired biodegradable materials, coloured cotton and cotton seedbank restoration. The funding targets materials that can match rayon, silk and cotton while improving cost, performance and environmental outcomes across fashion and textile supply chains.

Climate Action / Ethiopia Project
Ethiopia's garment sector is entering a new phase, where climate resilience, cleaner production and worker advancement are becoming central to industrial strategy.

Climate Resilience and Workplace Safety Drive New ILO-Japan Programme for Ethiopian Garment Factories

  • Staff Writer
 Update

1 April 2026

Climate resilience, productivity and workplace safety are being advanced across Ethiopia's leather, textile and garment sector through a new ILO-Japan joint initiative. The one-year programme targets 40 factories across five cities, integrating Japanese expertise, digitalised safety tools and a women's leadership development programme to drive sustainable and inclusive industrial growth.

 
COLUMNS
 
Gone with the Seam
EXCLUSIVES
 
FOCUS: COTTON
Translating sustainability ambitions into practical tools and shared knowledge is what allows smallholder farmers and manufacturers to keep pace with growing environmental and sustainability requirements across the value chain.

SWITCH-Asia Project Ends With 36 Sourcing Commitments and 50,000 Young Consumers Engaged Across India

A four-year European Union-funded project coordinated by Fairtrade International has concluded after reaching more than 9,500 cotton farmers and 700 textile manufacturers across India, with a primary focus on Tamil Nadu. The initiative delivered digital sustainability tools, capacity-building programmes, and market links between Indian suppliers and European buyers.

Staff Writer
 
 
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SPOTLIGHT EDITIONS: SELECT 4
State of Leather 2024 21 Oct 2024
Has to be Leather All the Way!
 

Highlights: Sea Change

"Quote Unquote"

Pankaj Kabutarwala
Pankaj Kabutarwala
Founder/Owner
Piccion
The characteristics of the yarn have a direct impact on the softness, stretch, recovery, comfort and overall performance of the finished garment. Even small differences in yarn behaviour can affect the final product, so understanding how different yarns respond during knitting, dyeing and finishing is very important.
MORE: How Changing Indian Bodies and Tastes Are Redrawing Intimatewear Manufacturing

"Quote Unquote"

Abou Bakar
Abou Bakar
Country Representative – Pakistan
CottonConnect
In Pakistan, as with many other cotton-growing regions, climate-related disruptions are currently the strongest driver of regenerative agriculture adoption, as farmers face more extreme weather events, water scarcity, declining soil health, and fluctuating yields. However, these challenges are directly linked to declining competitiveness. Reduced productivity and inconsistent cotton quality can impact farmers' profitability and the sector's ability to meet market demand.
MORE: Climate Pressure Forces a Reckoning Across Pakistan's Cotton Belt
 
 
FOCUS: LEATHER
The new organisational structure is completed by a strongly product- and project-oriented operational model, with three event managers.

Major Reorganisation Positions Fierecongressi as a More Competitive Force in Global Exhibition Markets

A major internal reorganisation, aligned with a growth strategy and a substantial infrastructure investment programme, has reshaped Fierecongressi's operational model. The restructuring establishes a dedicated Internationalisation Area, merges two business units into a single Fairs Business Unit, and introduces a product-oriented structure to strengthen the company's competitive position in the global exhibition and congress market.

Staff Writer
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