LATEST UPDATE

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2026 Ready to Showcase Intelligent and Sustainable Manufacturing

Emerging technologies for textile-reinforced composites, textile recycling, digital platforms and automation solutions will feature at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2026, gathering the textile machinery industry in Shanghai this November. A dedicated Research and Innovation area will bring together leading Chinese universities to present embodied robots, intelligent inspection technologies and artificial intelligence development platforms.

Top Stories
 
CIRCULARITY / RECYCLING / SECONDS / WASTE

Fashion Has Discarded 110 Million Tonnes of Textile Fibre a Year with No Biological Recovery Path, Case Studies Find

Completed case studies from a multi-year programme have shown that biological decomposition processes, including enzymatic hydrolysis, bacterial fermentation, and microbial activity, can convert discarded textile waste into biodegradable and biocompatible materials. Pilots in Ghana, the Netherlands, and Germany have mapped a pathway that routes fashion's discards through breakdown processes rather than landfill or incineration.

 
FLASHPOINT: CLIMATE
Material Innovation / Bezos Fund

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

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.

 
 
 
FOCUS: COTTON

Climate Pressure Forces a Reckoning Across Pakistan's Cotton Belt

Fragmented pilot projects have long defined regenerative agriculture efforts in Pakistan's cotton sector, but mounting climate and market pressures are exposing the limits of that approach. Drawing on a recent industry roundtable, Abou Bakar, Country Representative – Pakistan, CottonConnect, explains what a coordinated national framework would look like, and why farmer incentives and traceability now sit at the centre of that conversation.

 
 
 
SPOTLIGHT EDITIONS: SELECT 4
 

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Arushi Chowdhury Khanna
Arushi Chowdhury Khanna
Founder
LoomKatha
Not every artisan is an entrepreneur. There are vast numbers of exceptionally skilled artisans who simply do not have the bandwidth to create social media content, handle complex paperwork or the financial acumen required to run a business. Yet, they are very talented and their work is refined and beautiful. In this category, are artisans who are senior in age, women artisans who juggle traditional gender roles with their work and those who would not be considered literate by conventional definition.

"Quote Unquote"

Olga IF
Olga IF
Founder
Modavision
A very important element is audience participation through real-time voting. In a certain sense, real people become part of the process of international recognition of designers, rather than only closed professional industry structures. Another important factor is the idea of healthy creative interaction between countries. This interaction is not built around commercial pressure but around cultural expression and design vision, creating a space of respect and mutual interest between participants.
 
 
FOCUS: LEATHER

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.