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2023 Special: The Most Popular Writings of the Year

As 2023 bids adieu, texfash.com looks back at the last 361 days — how we grew our tribe of readers from a few hundreds to now in thousands. A heartfelt thank you! We do hope you will continue to support an endeavour that talks textiles-fashion-footwear-accessories through the prism of sustainability, for the planet and its people. We will be back in action on 2 January 2024. Till then stay happy, stay safe. Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Glorious New Year!

~ The texfash.com Team

Best of 2023 : Editor's Picks

Rant Control / Climate Truths

15 November 2023

 5 minutes

Fashion’s North-South Dilemma is a Tussle Between First World Problems and Third World Realities

The world has still not come to a definitive conclusion—41 gruelling years since the 1992 Rio Summit—as to who should take the blame and who should shoulder the financial burden.

A just-published report on the fashion industry's approach to the climate crisis finds that the Science-Based Targets (SBTs) are a cudgel to browbeat the Global South. The report raises important questions, and also triggers the need to expand the North-South divide debate.

  • Subir Ghosh
 Analysis
Made in India / Natural Dyes Interview
The late Ann Shankar, a keen student of textile history, visited libraries in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi and in England to compile a list of over 500 plants that had been recorded by the British botanists, whose parts were used as textile dyes. During this study, she was aghast to learn that her direct ancestor, the first Governor-General of India, had ordered this study in order to transfer the intellectual property of Indian dyers to England. She used her inheritance to support BioDye when it was started.

Synthetic Dyes are Designed to be Recalcitrant, With Most Being Non-Biodegradable

  • Richa Bansal

18 April 2023
Rant Control / Materials Benchmark Analysis
The Materials Benchmark report has an intrinsic drawback—the data comes from what brands and manufacturers themselves have to say. Were there to be independent audits, the numbers would probably plummet. But that's just an argument.

Tardy Fashion: Both Brands and Manufacturers Remain High on Words, Low on Action

  • Subir Ghosh

13 December 2023
Climate Crisis / Carbon Colonialism Interview
Thick black smoke is seen coming out from a chimney of a garment factory in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. An investigation by the Unearthed team of Greenpeace and Daily Mail last year unravelled a scandal in Cambodia wherein off-cuts from clothing factories that supply leading western brands were being used to fuel brick-kilns—exposing bonded workers to toxic fumes. The investigation took off from the 'Hot Trends' study of Laurie Parsons.

Joining the Dots: Sustainability Strategy Reflects the Colonial Logic of the Global Economy

  • Subir Ghosh

1 June 2023
K-Leather / Industry Scan Commentary
A kangaroo mob scouring for water during a drought. Kangaroo populations often dip during druoughts.

As US Activists Make Brands Dance to Anti-Leather Tune, Kangaroo Conservation Takes a Hit

  • Subir Ghosh

2 August 2023
 
 

Top 2023 : Specials

Country Overview / Colombia
As Colombia evolves, it looks forward to making the best out of its Promotion Trade Agreement with the United States, always keeping in mind the need to have a level-playing field based on principles of sustainability; for example, it looks forward to reducing inequity, and social, economic, and gender gaps, with the whole purpose being to achieve total peace in Colombia.

For Colombia's Textiles-Fashion Industry Sustainability Is Not a Plus, but a Must

  • Subir Ghosh
 Interview

2 May 2023

Spearheading the promotion of the textiles & fashion industry of Colombia is ProColombia, under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. The organisation's expansive mandate includes boosting international tourism, foreign investments and non-traditional exports. Carmen Caballero, ProColombia's President, tells texfash.com how the country is working to ramp up its textiles & fashion industry.

The 'Proposal for a Directive on Green Claims' promises that businesses will benefit, as those that make a genuine effort to improve the environmental sustainability of their products will be more easily recognised and rewarded by consumers and able to boost their sales — rather than face unfair competition.

Europe Gets Closer to Outlawing Malaise of Greenwashing

  • Special Correspondent
 Report

23 March 2023
With a 4% share of the global trade in textiles and apparel, the Indian market, with a diverse, huge and complicated value chain—employs a humungous 45 million people, the size of a country in some parts of the globe!

…And Miles to Go…

  • Richa Bansal
 Report

7 April 2023
Phycolabs
Untreated industrial wastewater is released into Dhaka’s waters. Only 556 out of 2,220 factories in the industrial district of Gazipur have effluent treatment plants. Of these, fewer than 1% use or maintain the treatment plants, according to industry experts.

Garment Industry in Bangladesh Struggles to Contain Pollution

  • SM Najmus Sakib
 Report

17 January 2023
 
 

Select 2023 : Spotlight

Lessons from that Day Rana Plaza @ 10

Moving On: Green Garments Are the Face of Bangladesh’s Apparel Industry Today

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the apex trade body in Bangladesh representing its readymade garments industry, particularly the woven garments, knitwear and sweater sub-sectors, has realigned its vision with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and even emerged with a new logo, coded as 'nine-dots'.

The times they are a changing and Bangladesh continues to adopt advanced apparel manufacturing technology. Undoubtedly, if this country wishes to remain competitive at this critical juncture of its journey, the apparel sector needs to take the lead in innovation, exhorts Abdullah Hil Rakib, Director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Turn of Events / MFS SS24 / IV Feature
A qualitative roster of innovative designers will showcase their most inspiring range of products. From animal skin to leftover fresh fruit juice to fungi and roots, the effort is to use, recycle or reuse from nature to create something new.

Pushing the Frontiers of Innovation: In the Name of Sustainability

  • Special Correspondent

19 January 2023
Turn of Events / MFS SS24 / III Feature
The 1000 square metres Keyhouse at the Munich Fabric Start that gets under way at the Bavarian capital on 24 January will showcase some sparkling minds and their sustainable and innovative products. This collage features the works of Savine Schoorl, Mehdi Mashayekhi and Camille Champion

Pushing the Frontiers of Innovation: Diverse Weaves with Paper, Wood and Hair

  • Special Correspondent

18 January 2023
Sector Browser / Fabric Outlook / II Feature
Algaeing works on formulating eco-positive, scalable solutions for manufacturing fibres and dyeing fabrics. Algaeing's patented algae-powered technology works towards a triple good solution: for planet, for industry, and for skin.

Making a Showcase at an Event

  • Subir Ghosh

11 July 2023
Turn of Events / MFS SS24 / I Report
The intertwined subjects of digitisation and sustainability probably would be traversing the length and breadth of the exhibition area.

Munich Fabric Start Set to Rock in Trends for Spring-Summer ‘24

  • Special Correspondent

16 January 2023
 
 

Best of 2023 : Observer

SecondHand / Indonesia Crackdown
Towards the end of March, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan (left) and SME Minister Teten Masduki made a bonfire of over 7,300 bales of imported used clothing. The market value of the used clothing destroyed was about 80 billion rupiah ($5.3 million),

Reuters Scoop on Recycling Leads to Indonesian Backlash Against Second-Hand Clothing

  • Subir Ghosh
 Report

5 April 2023

How a government-led movement against second-hand clothing in Indonesia will eventually pan out, time will tell, what cannot be negated is that this practice of thrifting could well emerge as a way of life to deal with economic challenges, or even a means to express issues of identity and social responsibility toward the environment.

Random images from Shein India's Instagram account. The online fast fashion retailer was immensely popular among Indian women, especially youngsters, for its stylish wears.
The DuPont Washington Works plant which was responsible for air and water contamination in Parkersburg, West Virginia, US.
The KVIC is a statutory body established in 1956 by an Act of Parliament, and is charged with the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of programmes for the development of khadi and other village industries in India's rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary. Khadi is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mohandas K Gandhi as swadeshi (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent.
Large companies will have to adopt and put into effect a transition plan for climate change mitigation. The agreement lays emphasis on access to justice of persons affected.
 
 

Top 2023 : Updates

Certifications / Organic India

7 March 2023

 1 minute

IOAS Suspends Control Union India for Irregularities in Certification Process

The blame for the low level of 'data confidence' in organic cotton numbers lies primarily with one country: India.

The IOAS has suspended the accreditation of Control Union (CU) India from testing and sampling of Indian organic textile products on charges of irregularities.

  • Staff Writer
Update
Going Circular / Breakthrough
A cotton knit fabric dyed blue and washed 10 times to simulate worn garments is enzymatically degraded to a slurry of fine fibres and "blue glucose" syrup that are separated by filtration — both of these separated fractions have potential recycle value.

Breakthrough Moment: Researchers Separate Cotton from Polyester in Blended Fabric

  • Special Correspondent

21 March 2023
SecondHand / Ground Truth
Textile waste being pulled from the ground at Jogoo Road in Nairobi.

EU Nations Dump 37 million tonnes of Junk Plastic Clothing in Kenya… Every Year!

  • Staff Writer

17 February 2023
Denim Tech / Indigo Dyeing
PureDenim and Sonovia have been working closely for the past 12 months on the development and scale-up of the D(y)ENIM technology and are targeting to rope in the world's leading mid-market and luxury brands to become users of the technology in 2024.

World's Greenest & “Revolutionary” Indigo Dyeing Technology to be Installed Later This Year

  • Special Correspondent

28 February 2023
Nanotechnology / Waterproof Membranes
Shaped as a mesh, the interconnected and porous nanofibres generate enormous surface area for their volume, resulting in a waterproof material with the highest level of air permeability.

Nibertex Unveils Revolutionary PFAS, PFC-Free Waterproof Breathable Membrane

  • Special Correspondent

6 July 2023
 
 

Select 2023 : Climate

Traceability / China Platform
Models present green textile creations during the launch event in Shanghai.

China Launches Textile Traceability Platform to Align with Dual Carbon Strategy

  • Staff Writer
 Update

4 April 2023

The launch of the 'Reborn - China Fibre Zero Carbon Action 2023 — Sustainable Textiles Credible Platform' will now allow consumers in China to trace the process through the entire textiles and apparel industry chain from fibre to end-products.

The VF Foundation is focusing investments on circular and regenerative practices in fashion and apparel, including promising innovations to reduce textile waste, support local farmers and fuel green jobs as a transformative solution.
An estimated $1 trillion is required to finance the decarbonisation of the fashion industry by 2050, and bringing together a diverse range of actors from across the value chain is critical to enabling solutions.
Oil containers unload at the terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Brands have been slow to cut out fossil fuel derived fibres such as virgin polyester, and overwhelmingly, major fashion companies are providing no more than lip service when it comes to increasing product circularity at scale and tackling overproduction.
Sufficient investment and support for cotton producers is needed to maintain production in a sustainable way, without which cotton’s future will be highly questionable, especially compared to more reliably produced, but environmentally poor, synthetic fibres.
 
 

Top 2023 : Columns

Best Practices / Textile Manufacturing

24 January 2023

 6 minutes

Reducing the Environmental Impact of a Textile Dye House

The textile industry continues to experience a paradigm shift where short-term greed and profiteering are more important than the proper care of our planet, our people, and our products.

A collaborative system that reintegrates manufacturing into product and process development is critical to help the global textile industry emerge as a better steward of our planet, our people, and our products. And, there are many small and incremental steps that can be taken without major capital investments to improve safety and reduce the negative environmental impacts of existing textile manufacturing and wet processing facilities.

  • Charles W Stewart
 Commentary
Luxury Markets / Career Options Commentary
Until the turn of the 19th century, fashion belonged to the luxury world, simply because only a handful of the socially rich could afford to discard their clothes even before they were worn out or could buy new ones even when they did not have the necessity. In the 20th century, fashion and luxury started to diverge. The overlap between fashion and luxury is very small. Fashion would like to think of itself as belonging to the world of luxury in order to improve its status.

Lured by the Luxe? Why Not Make it a Career?

  • Abhay Gupta

9 March 2023
Luxury Markets / Brand Strategies Commentary
Working in the business of luxury is like being in an orchestra where various functions work together creating something beautiful and unique that is par excellence.

So, What Does it Take to Become a Luxury Brand Manager?

  • Abhay Gupta

10 March 2023
Quake Aftermath / Turkish Industry Commentary
The 1290 textile mills in the worst hit areas employ as many as 350,000 workers, with the total export share from this region at 2.55% in the apparel sector and 32.1% in the textiles sector. The total production capacity of the apparel sector is 9%.

Coping with the Fallout: Turkish Textiles Industry Needs Business

  • Cem Altan

23 March 2023
Going Circular / Ideas for Future Commentary
The challenges that companies have to tackle on their journey to circularity are rooted in the individual structure of each value chain. It requires a thorough understanding of the interactions between the various value chain aspects, raw materials, design, production/manufacturing, distribution, consumption, collection, and recycling, and how they impact the overall product circularity.

Measuring Circularity — What Does it Mean in Practical Terms?

  • Mateusz Wielopolski

14 February 2023
 
 

Best of 2023 : Exclusives

Fashion Accessories / Buttons
Ecuador exports between 700 and 1,200 tonnes of corozo blanks per year. In 2011, the demand for the corozo skyrocketed, with 2,000 tonnes (about 1.5 billion blanks) exported. The goal is for demand to return to these levels because it helps people not to cut down the forests where corozo grows wild, since they can live on what the forest offers them.

A Rainforest, Palm Trees and Blanks that Make for Buttons

  • Richa Bansal
 Feature

2 January 2023

A rainforest nut that falls off a huge palm tree provides an organic alternative to the ubiquitous button required by the fashion industry as a necessary accessory and at times even an embellishment. Ecuador-based Trafino SA is one of the largest enterprises in the business of exporting these ‘blanks’ made from the tagua nut. texfash.com talks to its Executive President Ignacio Maya to know more. 

The existing problems in the quality of sustainability reporting means that investors lack a reliable overview of sustainability-related risks to which companies are exposed.
BioDye can dye most of the Pantone shades and meet the fastness criteria too. Their natural dyed textiles can compete with synthetic dyes in range and performance.
Cork, the raw material used is CO2 negative in its production process. What’s more is that Primal Soles reuses the material by actively taking back used insoles and reintroducing them into the production cycle so that they don’t end up in landfill wastes. This way it creates a completely circular ecosystem that benefits both the customer as much as the planet.

Sole of the Matter: It’s All Cork

  • Richa Bansal
 Feature

13 February 2023
The C2C Certified Gold cashmere sweater of Ralph Lauren was analysed through a multi-step certification process, reimagining every component of the iconic sweater, from the cashmere fiber to the rich dyes used in the label. Each garment is made with regenerative soil and water practices and can be recycled into a future one.
 
 

Select 2023 : Others

Sewing Tech / Ditto Platform

10 February 2023

 3 minutes

Joann and Singer Launch Digital Pattern Projection, the First Disruptive Sewing Technology in 160 Years

Ditto works by attaching a small digital projector to a tension rod, which is set up vertically between the floor and the ceiling. Using the Ditto app, sewists calibrate the projector to the cutting mat within minutes, then choose a pattern on dittopatterns.com, add their measurements, and customize the design and project.

Algorithmic intelligence with digital projection will now help sewists to make patterns paperless, customisable, and adaptable to specific body measurements — all in real time. Specialty craft retailer Joann and sewing machine major Singer collaborated with sewists throughout the three-year development process.

  • Staff Writer
Update
CITI Awards / First Edition
Pratibha Syntex Ltd emerged as the winner in the category 'Progress Towards Sustainability'.

India's First Textile Sustainability Awards Given Away by CITI

  • Staff Writer

17 March 2023
Smart Textiles / Infant Care
Sibei Xia, assistant professor in the Department of Textiles, Apparel Design and Merchandising, received a grant from the Provost’s Fund for Innovation in Research to develop thermochromic clothing to track newborns’ temperatures.

Researcher Develops Smart Textile that Detects Fever in Infants

  • Staff Writer

24 January 2023
Fast Fashion / ReSet the Trend
Under the motto #ReFashionNow, the campaign attempts to address this problem, raising awareness about the environmental, social, economic and health-related benefits of transforming the textiles sector and the opportunities that sustainable fashion opens up for both businesses and consumers.

EU Launches Instagram-Driven #RefashionNow Campaign for Youngsters and Influencers to Reset Fast Fashion

  • Special Correspondent

26 January 2023
Textile Waste / Chemical Sorting
The separation of individual materials from waste fabrics is accomplished by manual sorting, largely depending on human labour. This method has low accuracy and is unreliable and in turn fails to collect homogeneous materials, which is often critical for further steps of recycling.

Chemical Sorting Breakthrough: Korea Team Separates Polyester, Commercial Operations Planned for 2025

  • Staff Writer

23 March 2023
 
 

Top 2023 : Releases

EMPEL technology uses advanced green chemistry devoid of PFAS and a specialized manufacturing process that allows the chemistry to penetrate the yarn and encapsulate it with a water-repellent layer through molecular cross-linking.

YKK Launches New Water-Repellant Zipper Designed to Work in Circular Systems

Atlanta, GA, U.S.: YKK announces the release of its new DynaPel water-repellant zipper featuring GTT EMPEL technology. Designed to be compatible with garment recycling systems, DynaPel uses EMPEL technology instead of the standard PU film to achieve its water repellency. The lack of a PU film helps

Andrea Incontri’s new collection begins with tailoring – jackets, trousers, coats in full, tonal colours, as well as in houndstooth check or tweed – and ends with workwear, particularly overalls, garment-dyed canvas skirts and jackets with contrasting stitching.
The marquee launch in Kochi turned into a huge spectacle as actor Honey Rose, unveiled the never seen before 6000 sq.ft Pookalam installation made with more than 8000 clothes.
The finale of the conference was a fashion showcase that featured four collections made from traditional fabrics.
Bamboo Rose's Multi-Enterprise Platform and suite of connected business process applications will help Hunkemöller digitize product development processes to improve transparency to downstream teams, suppliers, and logistics partners.