Denim was in the limelight in Italy at the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award 2023 and Research & Innovation Award as concepts promoting sustainability, zero-waste production, reduction of water and energy consumption, and the like won the day.
- Italy-based Candiani SpA took the top honours for their innovative Candiani Custom project in Milan which consists of a complete micro factory that produces made-to-measure jeans on-demand. Customers can select from a selection of eco-friendly Candiani Denim fabrics.
- Candiani was nominated by ITMA 2023 exhibitor FKgroup for this year’s award for the cutting machine designed specifically for this project. The idea behind the concept of the urban micro factory is to leverage sustainable, zero-waste production.
- The two other finalists of the Industry Excellence category were Denim Moda Srl and the Italian vertically-integrated textile group Limonta SpA.
- Denim Moda was nominated by Jeanologia for the establishment of the Denim Moda Urban Factory.
- The urban factory in central Italy is equipped with Jeanologia garment finishing technologies as part of a full range of the latest equipment for the manufacturing of sustainable new denim and cotton products.
- Denim Moda provides its customers with the entire product realisation, starting from conception and design.
- Limonta was recognised for its new Bio-Freed dyeing system. Limonta collaborated with ITMA exhibitor, Navis TubeTex, and protein biochemicals company Modern Meadow on the development of the system.
- Through the elimination of several process steps found in conventional dyeing methods, the one-step continuous foam-based dyeing and coating process significantly reduces water consumption by 90% and lowers energy consumption by 67%.
The judges for the Industry Excellence Award were:
- Amina Razvi, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC),
- Dirk Vantyghem, Director General, The European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX),
- Ernesto Maurer, President, CEMATEX, and
- John Mowbray, Founder & Director, MCL News & Media.
Research & Innovation Excellence Award: The ITMA 2023 Research & Innovation Award encourages academic institutions to embark on research work that contributes to the future of the textile industry.
- The ITMA Research & Innovation (R&I) Excellence Award for Master’s students of institutions exhibiting in the Research & Innovation sector was bagged by Philipp Benjamin Weigel for his thesis: 'Numerical Simulation of the Structural and Pull-out Behavior of Parametrically Generated Profiled Carbon Polymer Yarns', under the supervision of Professor Chokri Cherif.
- First runner up: Eva Wingerath for the thesis: 'Life Cycle Assessment and Evaluation of Composite Pressure Vessel End-Of-Life Recycling'.
- Second runner up: Maryam Sodagar for the thesis: 'Banana Fibre as a Sustainable and Renewable Resource for Reinforcement of Polylactic Acid'.
- Both the students were nominated by the ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, and supervised by Professor Thomas Gries.
Panel of judges:
- Lutz Walter, Secretary-General, European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP),
- Prof Lieva Van Langenhove, General Secretary, Association of Universities for Textiles (AUTEX), and
- Johannes Diebel, Managing Director, Forschungskuratorium Textil e. V.
The ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award is a part of the series of activities promoting research and innovation at the exhibition.
About CEMATEX & ITMA: Headquartered in Brussels with a subsidiary in Singapore, ITMA Services is the appointed organiser of ITMA 2023 and future ITMA branded exhibitions.
- The owner of ITMA and ITMA ASIA, considered the ‘Olympics’ of textile machinery exhibitions, is the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (CEMATEX) which comprises national textile machinery associations from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- ITMA, held every four years in Europe, has a 73-year history of displaying the latest technology for every single work process of textile and garment making.
What they said:
CEMATEX launched the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award in 2015 to encourage and recognise the collaborative efforts of our exhibitors and their customers for the industry excellence category. Today, we are pleased to see another outstanding collaboration, and I would like to congratulate both Candiani and FKgroup for their innovative partnership. As the textile and fashion industry trends toward sustainability and circularity, we hope the Award will inspire more innovative efforts that result in business success, as well as benefit both planet and people.
— Ernesto Maurer
President
CEMATEX
Winning this award represents true recognition of the importance of research and development, as well as the investments and efforts required to make a positive change through better processes and products. Candiani won the award in 2019, and this additional recognition has become a sign of consistency towards our commitment to continuous, tangible improvements.
— Alberto Candiani
President
Candiani SpA
