MATERIALS MATTER: Future Fabrics Expo at the Textile Exchange Conference
COLORADO, USA | 14-18 NOVEMBER 2022
We are delighted to be a Supporting Organisation this week at the Textile Exchange 20th Anniversary Conference: Materials Matter – a pathway to positive impact.
Hosted in Colorado, we are here showcasing a curated selection of must-see sustainably and responsibly produced materials and innovations, all from our extensive collection at the Future Fabrics Expo.
Our partnership with the conference aims to generate industry awareness about the increasing imperative for fashion to become planet positive and to highlight the revolutionary material solutions that are already commercially available.
As Textile Exchange moves into a new era (it was announced at the conference this week that Claire Bergkamp will take the reins as catalyst and CEO from Founder La Rhea Pepper), we are excited for the new emphasis placed on moving away from acknowledging that action is needed and instead towards scaling the solutions that can drive positive environmental change. This theme took centre stage on day two, which also reaffirmed that we cannot address impacts on climate, water, soil health, biodiversity, land use and communities in silos – climate change and biodiversity loss that affect our ecosystems are deeply interconnected both in their causes, but also in their solutions.
We are proud to highlight below pioneering and featured Exhibitors at our stand in Colorado this year – be sure to create an account and visit their pages on our Future Fabrics VIRTUAL Expo to discover their range of innovative materials!
BANANATEX®
Bananatex® is the world’s first durable, technical fabric made purely from Abacá banana plants. Cultivated in the Philippine highlands within a natural ecosystem of sustainable mixed agriculture and forestry, the plant is self-sufficient, requires no pesticides, fertilizer or extra water. These qualities have allowed it to contribute to reforestation in areas once eroded due to monocultural palm plantations, whilst enhancing biodiversity and the economic prosperity of its farmers.
Since its launch in October 2018 Bananatex® has won a variety of international sustainability and design awards and is officially Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold, the most advanced standard for products that are safe, circular and responsibly made, globally. Bananatex® was developed by Swiss bag brand and material innovators QWSTION in collaboration with a yarn specialist and a weaving partner in Taiwan.
VENTILE® by Stotz & Co. AG
Ventile® fabrics are technologically unique as they are spun in such a way that the tightly woven fibres create a finished fabric able to withstand harsh weather conditions. Now produced in Switzerland, Ventile® fabric was first developed by scientists at the Shirley Institute in Manchester in the 1930s. Originally created during WW2 to help save the lives of Air Force pilots flying over the Atlantic during wartime, the fabric was designed to be cool and comfortable on land yet warm and impenetrable if it came into contact with water.
This innovative technology helped Ventile® to carve out a reputation as the world’s most effective, natural, all-weather cotton textile. Today, Ventile® supply fabric to a range of customers from outdoor performance garment manufacturers to high fashion clothing brands. In 2021 Ventile® re-affirmed its sustainability agenda with a move to PFC-free fabrications.
RECYCTEX®
RECYCTEX® is a textile innovation company founded in 2014 by Steven Chueng that focuses on the research, development and production of recycled fabric and bio-based fabric. Since 2007, the founder and his team have been studying transforming rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) yarns into recycled fabric. In 2014, RECYCTEX® was the first company to turn recycled nylon yarns partially made from discarded fishing nets into woven fabric and the first company in China to use chemically-recycled polyester yarns for the ultra-light high-density recycled fabric. In 2017, the company integrated 100% bio-based and 100% biodegradable material (polylactic acid known as PLA) for woven fabric into their product offering.
The ReTraze™ raw material brand was founded in 2019, which stands for high quality recycled and fully traceable materials in forms of recycled nylon and rPET, upcycling from abandoned ghost fishing nets, plastic bottles collected from sea islands and high mountains. In 2021, in response to the rising demand for vegan leather alternatives, Steven and his team developed BioPlanTex™, a new leather alternative material made from hemp and PLA.
Keep an eye out on our social media channels to stay up to date with the latest conference updates!
