We have embraced a closed loop process in our production which leads to our huge savings on resources. This not only reduces resource consumption but also minimises the environmental impact associated with waste disposal. We are also incorporating the use of solar power in our production facility to run our various machines.

Our clients are brands that have the need to use sustainable materials in the manufacture of apparel, upholstery and footwear. We have just concluded our prototyping phase and are now entering the pilot stage of our business. Here, we intend to send samples of our material for testing to fashion brands and designers first in order to establish certain qualities of the fabric as we head into commercial sale of the fabric for different uses.

Growing up in a farming community, I witnessed firsthand the struggles farmers faced with declining yields, soil degradation, and unpredictable weather patterns. These challenges made it increasingly difficult for farmers to provide for their families and sustain their livelihoods.

The fashion industry is considerably young in Kenya despite a rich fashion culture. Production of garments and textiles within the country has not been scaled up significantly which leaves huge pockets of opportunities to build from. This was a key factor for us to focus on the fashion industry while making a social impact to small holder farmers in rural Kenya.

The new European laws are definitely a sign that we as a society are heading in the right direction. We are aware that it might take some time to get to a more balanced chapter in the textiles industry, but we are thrilled to know that we are indeed moving forward. Being a part of the change, a part of the solution, feels like we are playing our part in history.

Recycling is very important for us. We are the only denim company which has joined the Circular Textile Days and share our recycling visions. We have had our own recycling factory for over 25 years. Every day we collect 40 tonnes of waste, with 20 tonnes coming from our own denim factory. We also buy waste from other textile mills.

For circularity reasons we are working on turning our Slow Patterns collection into a monomaterial, made completely from local wool. The obstacle lies in still finding a weaving mill that uses wool on a jacquard loom as a warp. Most factories replaced wool completely through acrylic or polyester fibres, since they are easier to handle in the warp and with lower costs. Moreover, we want to offer our expertise and experience in natural dyes and sampling to other companies, and are happy to find new collaborators/partners.

OrtaNow also holds new generation icons including: high performance Tencel lyocell in the weft to supreme softness and recovery—perfect for the coveted legging and slim style denim look, unisex stretch with clear twill line, and raw look performance stretch-engineered with ultimate fibre blends ensuring longevity for use and performance.

The dyeing is integrated within the making of the bio-textile, thus leading to a unique design language. The dyeing becomes the designing, which gives room for surprising patterns and playfulness.

We do not want to put pressure on ourselves to offer something new to the market every time. We are constantly researching and developing out of ecological awareness. Due to the real environmental issues we are facing, we are committed to sustainability, and that's why we continue to seek solutions to meet the market's needs and our customers’ requirements.

We call for more collaboration between brands who have capital and their suppliers who need capital to make investments to address things like greenhouse gas emissions or water usage. For instance, brands could help suppliers access cheaper capital via guarantees or volume commitments.

Within the fragmented textiles industry, it is important to work with each sector in order to develop the business because we do not just make pulp, we engage. We like to call it encompass marketing, where you have to look at all the players within the circle, fibre producers, spinners, knitters, weavers, brands, collectors and even NGOs, associations and financial community.

Our goal is to achieve a completely transparent, 100% European production process, enabling us to close the loop within Europe. To achieve this, there are two key conditions: favourable framework conditions that allow for competitive production, and a well-established supply chain that supports this goal and purchases the fibres.

What we see happening is that a lot of brands hide behind the fact that they do not know where their cotton comes from. The upcoming due diligence legislation somehow stops them from taking action, and puts them in a waiting mode. The focus on circularity and recycling seems to temper the urgency to make cotton more sustainable. Recycling seems to be the golden bullet, forgetting about cotton farmers.

Agroecology is already here and delivering both in terms of farmer income and yield. PAN UK supports nearly 10,000 small scale organic cotton growers in Benin, and thanks to training and support they have very similar yields to their conventional neighbours, but make around 3x as much through lower input costs. Farmers don’t have to choose between their health, the environment and profits, it's perfectly possible to have all three.

Colonialism is indeed all about power – and this point is central to the book. When it comes to climate change, knowledge is power, but the architecture of knowledge that underpins sustainability thinking fundamentally benefits the rich world to the detriment of the rest of it.

The future is defined by our present as our past has set the ground to maintain a biodynamic balance for our future. Education is a continuous journey that starts early on; laws are a warning, but as we all know, having made a law you find your way around it. Education was either taught to you from an early age or you are unlikely to learn it when you grow up.

In fact, in the last few collections we have included few but very targeted novelties. We study the market well thanks to specialised consultants and only include what is necessary in the collection. This is because we don't want to overproduce and because we are a small company, and we offer few things but of very high quality.

At Isko, we believe that the right path is to build true circular economy initiatives and embed this into the business. Designing products that are made from recycled materials and that can be recycled again is a big part of that. But also designing products that look great, have amazing performance and that are especially long-lasting, is so important.

Traceability and Digital Product Passport (DPP) are two other crucial aspects of the future legislation. Both aim to inform and educate consumers about social and environmental values by ensuring that fabric and garment producers provide reliable, transparent, and accessible data on their activities, sourcing, and impacts.