World Cotton Day — held annually on 7 October — is an opportunity to highlight the role of cotton in creating jobs and maintaining economic stability in cotton-producing countries, says the World Trade Organization. As the week unfolds, this edition of Spotlight looks at the global cotton industry through different prisms.

The last few years have seen a deluge of reports about the subject of rampant dumping of textile waste in a number of African countries. While the resultant outrage is understandable, and even justified, the broader public discourse has virtually ignored the other side of textile waste exports: the second-hand clothing sector that both provides affordable fashion and supports livelihoods. Not all textile imports are waste, and the viewpoints of African traders have been lost in the din whipped up by Western activists. This series is about those unheard voices.

This 18 July ‘Millionendorf’ will see a robust congregation of the fashion fraternity as it heads to Munich Fabric Start for three days to learn and discover fresh perspectives on the business of fashion. Fostering an environment of growth, exploration, and staying at the forefront of positive change, the trade show will reflect the cultural and design zeitgeist of the times as it showcases sustainability, recyclability, innovations in fabric, other textile materials, biobased textiles, bioengineered solutions and lots more as it strives to keep up with the ever-increasing pace and demands, redefining approach to textile procurement and collaboration.