Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard’s imaginative act of moral courage is uplifting, but it would be naive and even harmful to expect many others to follow his example by voluntarily choosing a purpose other than the pursuit of profits.

The Autumn edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics and Yarn Expo, one of the biggest trade events in this part of the globe, has now been merged with the spring edition next year because of the pandemic situation in China. Wilmet Shea, Deputy General Manager of fair organiser Messe Frankfurt HK, talks threadbare about how trade event organisers are operating in these trying times and, of course, Intertextile Shanghai.

Away from petroleum-based fabrics, comes an innovation — a fibre made from polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic made from corn, under the brand name Highlact. Could it be the best material to replace polyester in terms of quality, cost and supply? texfash.com explores.

The inaugural Textile Printing & Sustainability Conference (TPS), organised by ESMA, looked at all critical factors and global trends which influence the textile market condition today and in the nearest future: customer-made fashion, responsible businesses, quality concerns, customisation and personalisation. ESMA Chief Executive Peter Buttiens talks about the key takeaways from TPS 2020 and how textile printing will change in the days to come.

Polybion creates Celium, a premium, high-performance biomaterial from fruit waste. A leather alternative available as fabric, albeit a lot more expensive, the company claims that Celium’s performance is almost equal to cowhide leather. Gabriela Irastorza Dragonné, Head of Communications & Culture at Polybion, tells texfash.com why investment, scaling and deployment are imperatives to help zero-carbon biomaterial companies to offer lower costs as time goes by.

When cutting-edge technology is applied to fruit waste it creates an all-new world of revolutionary, premium biomaterials — where performance meets possibility. The technology, modelled on nature’s own design, aims for an animal-free, more sustainable future — one cell at a time. And doing this is Mexico-headquartered Polybion as it moves from linear to circular, leftover to constructive, and from leather to Celium. texfash.com talks to Gabriela Irastorza Dragonné, the Head of Communications and Culture at Polybion to know more.The first part of an interview.

The Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week is Africa's largest trade show for fashion, sustainability and innovation. Here, Africa's fashion and manufacturing industry meets international investors and brands. In a run up to the eighth edition which gets under way on 4 November, Skander Negasi, Chief Executive Officer of organiser Trade and Fairs Consulting GmbH, speaks about prospects, problems and mitumba.

The Futurescan 5 conference last week was organised with the theme of 'Conscious Communities', revolving around environmental and resilient communities, societal and political communities, cultural and ethical communities, material and technological communities, and collaborative and participatory communities. A first-person account from the event.

The founder of outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, has given away his company in an effort to do  more for the planet. The Chouinard family has transferred ownership to two new entities: Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. Every dollar not reinvested back into Patagonia will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet.

Clothing retail chain H&M and sporting goods retail chain Decathlon have made commitments to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) promising to adjust or no longer use sustainability claims on their clothes and/or websites. The two chains have committed to informing consumers more clearly in order to minimise the risk of misleading practices involving sustainability claims.