FUTURE FABRICS EXPO 2023
Pioneers since 2011, the annual Future Fabrics Expo aims to showcase the material solutions that place the preservation and regeneration of nature, climate and biodiversity at centre stage.
The largest dedicated showcase for sourcing certified, sustainable material solutions for a planet positive fashion future returned to Magazine London, 26-28th June 2023, set on over 3200 sqm.
The fashion and textile industries are currently responsible for significant impacts upon the planet, its people and nature. However, fashion can and should be part of the solution, representing a powerful force for positive change. With materials being responsible for the majority of a fashion product’s environmental impact, the Future Fabrics Expo is an essential resource of sourcing solutions for brands.
LEARNING BY SOURCING
In addition to the showcase, the Future Fabrics Expo is an educational platform for visitors to learn by sourcing, with the aim to galvanise the industry around the critical imperative for sourcing responsibly and operating within planetary boundaries:
- 10,000+ materials and solutions were on display
- More best-practice exhibitors, mills & suppliers in a multitude of fibre categories showed effective solutions throughout the supply chain
- Innovation Hub featured emerging, cutting-edge materials and technologies representing the Material Revolution
- Solutions Area featured Content Partners of Future Fabrics Expo 2023, presenting their solutions to address the most pressing key environmental issues around climate, biodiversity, soil and oceans
- The popular FFE Seminar Series featured the voices of global thought leaders and industry vanguards
- Knowledge sharing & educational content displayed throughout the venue for visitors to learn by sourcing
- NEW for 2023: Revival of the UK Textile Supply Chain, a new Home & Interiors dedicated display, and a next gen Packaging Solutions area.
Drawing upon the voices of the world’s leading industry experts, innovators and thought-leaders, our Seminar Series aims to inspire and urge our listeners to take action by working with the solutions presented at FFE – many of which span the long and complex textile supply chain – in order to lower impacts on climate, biodiversity, soil and the oceans.
“Materials need designers, designers need materials. We need to be able to work together to be able to think about what it looks like when we consider nature and an equity at the core of design practice. We still have a long way to go and we‘ve got to be really honest about that but we’ve never been in a more important position, never been more visible, and now actually we’ve never had more choice in how we can consider materials beyond a convention.”
- Dilys Williams, Centre for Sustainable Fashion
“Next Gen Fibres: Here Now” supported by Laudes Foundation and powered by Canopy and Fashion for Good. This Solutions display highlighted the latest innovation research and opportunities in next generation feedstocks and fibres (including agro-residues), for the future of fashion.
“Biodiversity Applied”, supported by LVMH, showcased the action-oriented projects the Group has taken to ambitiously address three key pillars – Regenerate, Circulate, Innovate – with the aim to protect ecosystems and preserve biodiversity within and outside the fashion supply chain.
Innovation Hub: For 2023 our partnership with Parley for the Oceans continued across our Innovation Hub, which featured emerging, cutting-edge materials and technologies representing the Material Revolution of the future.
Regenerative Agriculture Area: Since 2019, the Future Fabrics Expo has been showcasing advancements of regenerative agriculture solutions for fashion. This year, the Regenerative Agriculture Area continued to communicate how the fashion supply chain can create positive impacts in biodiversity, climate change and soil health through regenerative outcomes. The Regenerative Agriculture Area featured various companies and organisations producing and working with regenerative agriculture practices infiltrating the fashion design space.
Bast Fibres Area, featuring Fibral; The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp; and a dedicated Hemp Hub. Fibral is an international Material Alliance that brings together companies and individuals that create innovative materials out of ancient, underrepresented and novel plant-based sources. The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp (formerly known as CELC) is the only European agro-industrial organisation that brings together all players in the European Flax-Linen and Hemp value chain.
Packaging Solutions supported by Canopy: New to the Expo this year was a dedicated Packaging Solutions installation supported by Canopy. The display aimed to inspire and educate the industry to rethink the materiality of packaging; our unsustainable dependency of forests as feedstocks; and how we can innovate to redesign systems and shift to low-impact, circular solutions – with the goal to protect Ancient and Endangered Forests. The display showcased innovative Next Gen material solutions from Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative.
The Future Fabrics Virtual Expo is an online sourcing tool for brands to discover a curated range of fabrics from our showcase.
For up to 6 months after the Expo (depending on ticket type), those who purchased a Future Fabrics Expo 2023 ticket will gain continued access to the Future Fabrics Virtual Expo to be able to view their saved materials on their profile, continue to source fabrics with sustainability background information and explore educational resources – all rigorously researched by The Sustainable Angle.
Click here to read the summary wrap up for the Future Fabrics Expo 2023!
For further FFE 2023 announcements and to keep up to date with our other initiatives throughout the year, sign up to our mailer at the bottom of this page and follow us on our social media channels.
Book a Future Fabrics Expo tailored workshop in our London Showroom by emailing us to info@thesustainableangle.org
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