Adopting a change in practices is often a struggle in fashion. In our experience, brands are interested in piloting new solutions and technologies. There needs to be more understanding of what the new legislation requires and how they may be held accountable.

By simply trying to map out procurement risks and existing knowledge on recyclability of materials or their provenance is a big chunk of work. If you realise that a material you are using now in your product will not meet ESPR requirements like durability and circularity, the time to act is relatively short.

Some of our early challenges also included making the product in powder form. Initially, KBCols used to give products in liquid form due to cost and operational benefits, but we soon realised the industry has been working with powder form of product predominantly and would prefer it in that form, also because it’s easier to mix the colours to create secondary shades that way.

Natural colours/organic bio-colours earlier used to be extracted from plants, animals, ores and insects. However, disadvantages like long time of cultivation, requirement of large cultivable land, dependence upon season and geographical conditions and reproducibility of shade have prompted scientists to look for alternatives.

In the absence of a commercial industry, conservation culling would still need to occur to manage the populations of certain species. A strictly regulated and ethical commercial industry has the ability to make use of kangaroos that would otherwise need to be discarded.

Getting to know about the industry and the stages of fabric production left me frustrated when realising how polluting our industry is; it made no sense to me. In my Master's degree, I started researching new materials, in particular biomaterials; it was then that I discovered the potential of seaweed. I was fashion and now I'm science.

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.

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.

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.

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.