Regenerative Agriculture

A start-up straddling two continents is spinning an all-new yarn from a 100% biodegradable and 100% recyclable, regenerative but sadly forgotten tree that since time immemorial has been growing unabashed in the wild.

As the Regenerative Agriculture & Textiles Summit 2023 gets going today at Washington DC to discuss ways and means to accelerate regenerative agriculture practices through collaborative efforts, Inka Sachse, Project Manager, Standards & Outreach at Aid by Trade Foundation, talks about how these two days will try to understand stakeholder challenges, drive solutions and build partnerships across industries.

One of the greatest untapped opportunities lies in large companies partnering with social entrepreneurs who have already created strong sustainability practices. The challenges and solutions to a regenerative model that affect a food crop may be similar to those for a fashion crop, and there can be many wonderful forms for these partnerships, says Rebecca Ballard, Sustainable Fashion Advisor at Rebecca Ballard Advisory.

Stakeholders from raw material supply chains of cotton, leather (bovine, caprine, ovine), cashmere and wool can apply for the Regenerative Fund for Nature for grants ranging from $120,000 to $620,000 with a project duration of 3–5 years.

The 2023 Innovation Showcase of the forthcoming Regenerative Agriculture and Textiles Summit has four finalists. The two-day Summit gets under way in Washington DC, US on 14 November.

Textile Exchange has come up with the Regenerative Agriculture Outcome Framework, perhaps the first ever open-source, documented framework that lays out key indicators that make for a regenerative system, encouraging collaboration by including expectations for both brands and growers.

The just released Australian Cotton Sustainability Update 2022 has revealed some critical findings and suggests the way ahead on how it can cotton on to better sustainable ways and profitability with people and planet at centrestage.

Since 2018, Denim Première Vision has been touring Europe’s capitals. Come Wednesday--31 May, the denim community will converge on Arena Berlin. A key person making all this happen is Lorenza Martello, Denim Product Manager at Denim Première Vision. Martello talks fabrics, trends and innovations with texfash.com.

Fashion and lifestyle brand conglomerate VF Corporation is rolling out collections that take advantage of regeneratively-sourced natural rubber, made possible through its pilot programme in Thailand with regenerative design firm, Terra Genesis.

The Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and luxury conglomerate LVMH have announced a major project aimed at developing sustainable cotton production in Africa in a regenerative agroforestry system.