WaterAid and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in partnership with HSBC, are supporting garment factories, tanneries and mills in China, India, Vietnam and Bangladesh to shift towards sustainability.

WaterAid, with support from HSBC, launched a new Sustainable Supply Chains Programme, which looks at how businesses can and should integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into their factories and worker communities. WWF, also backed by HSBC, introduced the Leather Buyers Platform, which focuses on mitigating the impact of leather production in India through collective action with 10 apparel and equestrian partners. In their efforts to scale up sustainability and promote good water governance, three new textile projects were launched in China, India and Vietnam in 2017. The collective action on textiles and apparel supply chains that WaterAid and WWF are taking drives a much-needed, integrated response to the environmental and social issues facing the fashion industry.

Read more at hsbc.com

Taylor Home & Fashions provides quality sustainable fabrics and yarns for apparel and home products. Its mission is to address BEAUTY-QUALITY-SUSTAINABILITY with no compromise. The company has worked tirelessly to develop some of the most sustainable processing practices in the industry and its focus is on the elimination of water in the coloration process.

GiDelaveTM yarns and fabrics create a paradigm shift in cellulosic yarn processing by utilising
a colour diffusion process that radically reduces water, chemical, infrastructure and energy consumption compared to traditional package dyeing practices. This process, which eliminates the need for a dye bath in the colouring of cellulosic fibres, uses 98 percent less water than fibre-reactive or indigo dyeing. Taylor Home & Fashions’ latest sustainable innovations, Eco-mélange™ and GreenSpun™, create a beautiful heather effect in a range of 100% bleachable and benzoyl peroxide-safe yarns and fabrics manufactured using a patent-pending blending process.

Read more about Taylor Home and Fashions at taylorhomeandfashions.com

RECYCTEX is a textile innovation company that works with more than 80 international brands, but also designers, providing them with sustainable fabric solutions.RECYCTEX’s core products include recycled fabric made from ghost fishing nets, plastic bottles, discarded clothing and textile waste. In other words, their products integrate recycled polyester, recycled nylon and recycled cotton, mixed with other sustainable materials.

More than a decade ago, RECYCTEX’s main team began an R&D process that led to the production of 100% recycled polyester fabric. Then, in 2014 it became the first company to use Italian recycled nylon yarn for woven materials, and in 2017 RECYCTEX successfully developed a 100% bio-based and biodegradable woven fabric that is widely used in sports, fashion wear and bags.

Read more about RECYCTEX

Quick-Med Technologies provides innovative green technologies that are efficient, effective and environmentally sustainable. The company’s product development services boast a full scientific team that includes microbiology and regulatory support. Its technologies are found in products ranging from textiles, to footwear, to medical wound care. For consumer goods the company offers a customised approach to building green technologies that improve and extend the freshness of products. Quick-Med Technologies’ expertise in the healthcare and apparel sector reflects its deep-seated commitment to safety and efficacy when supporting and delivering to its global customers.

Its newest platform technology is Oxi-Tex, which durably sequesters hydrogen peroxide into dry goods, including textiles, hard surfaces, foams, plastics and medical devices. Wound care products using this antimicrobial technology are already patented, FDA cleared and currently in use.

Circular Systems is a clean-tech materials company focused on the development of innovative circular and regenerative technologies that upgrade by-products into a resource. With its waste-to-fibre platforms, Texloop and Agraloop, in addition to its revolutionary new Orbital™ Hybrid Yarn technology, Circular Systems offers innovative solutions that execute the efficient management of textile, apparel and agricultural waste streams into high value products, including fibre, yarn and textiles.

Circular Systems’ Lightest Touch™ philosophy defines its mission to retain the maximum amount of embedded energy in waste inputs — to create the highest value outputs. The company strives to go beyond zero waste to achieve regenerative impacts for the benefit of people, the planet and industry. New systems design, deconstruction efficiency and advanced new materials strategies are being used to achieve this goal.

Read more about Circular Systems at circular-systems.com

circular.fashion is a sustainable change agency that creates product and system innovation
for a circular economy in fashion and textiles. The company provides a digital platform for circular design and closed loop recycling.

With a sleek, smart tracking solution the platform enables a transparent flow of information between material suppliers, brands, customers and recyclers to collaboratively realise a circular economy for fashion and textiles. The platform, available for purchase, features software, services and the following tools: Circular Material Database, Design Guidelines, Product Check, Circularity.ID, Customer Interface and Sorting Software. circular.fashion also offers consultancy, training and workshops that encourage and enable fashion brands to incorporate circularity into the core of their businesses.

Read more about circular.fashion at circular.fashion

Reflaunt is a technology and marketing solution that bridges first and second-hand fashion retail markets. Reflaunt provides a plug-in that allows retail customers to resell, donate or recycle their past purchases in a click directly from the retailer/brand’s ecommerce site. Once the item is sold on the secondary market, customers are paid in cash or a higher shopping credit value to shop again with the retailer.

The Reflaunt approach rewards shoppers for extending their garment’s life cycle, empowering brands to grow using a sustainable circular model. Reflaunt’s technology, built on blockchain, not only provides fashion brands and retailers with the financial benefits of their secondary market but enables them to trace their items in the secondary market, providing them with better control over their brand image and the grey market. Through Reflaunt, brands can guide their value, retain traffic and ultimately take back control of the secondary market.

Read more about Reflaunt at reflaunt.com

TrustTrace is a traceability solution available that focuses solely on the fashion industry and represents an ideal partner for brands and suppliers who are looking to improve their supply chain operations, mitigate value chain risks and transform towards the use of sustainable materials. Traceability is the first step in that process.

TrusTrace has a proven track record helping its customers map their value chains, calculate material exposure, engage with e-commerce platforms, and reduce environmental, social and government risks.

Read more about TrusTrace at trustrace.com

GIBBON is an artificial intelligence travel rental marketplace that connects excess inventory from brands and retailers to travellers, enabling a luggage-less travel experience. With nothing on hand but a passport or essentials, 46 million Asian travellers optimise and enhance their travel annually. Travelers who hail from a different climate no longer have to invest in a new wardrobe when visiting another climate zone, providing more convenient travel, cost savings and less unnecessary buying, reducing landfill waste in the long run.

Utilising only excess inventory from brands and retailers, GIBBON is able to extend the lifecycle of these garments, preventing them from being incinerated, thrown in a landfill or standing idly in a warehouse. With an internationally diverse team of experienced individuals, GIBBON has been awarded a startup visa by the Netherlands RVO, received investments from the World Startup Factory in The Hague, among other startup awards.

Read more about GIBBON at gibbon.today

Sateri is one of the world’s largest producers of viscose, a natural raw material and key ingredient in everyday items like textiles and non-woven products such as baby wipes and personal hygiene products. Sateri has three mills in China with the capacity to collectively produce about 800,000 metric tonnes of viscose stable fibre annually. The company also operate a sales, marketing and customer service network covering Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Sateri is committed to sustainable development, its Sustainability Policy and Sustainable Pulp Sourcing Policy serving to guide the company’s business conduct. All of Sateri’s mill operations have achieved the STeP by OEKO-TEX® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certifications, in addition to Chain of Custody certification from the Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification™. Moreover, Sateri is the first viscose company in the world to carry the MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® product label. With this highly coveted label and the other certifications, its viscose products are independently verified as safe and responsibly produced.

Read more about Sateri at sateri.com

Algalife develops innovative natural and healthy pigments and fibres from algae, based on the belief that the future of the textile industry starts with algae. Inspired by nature, Algalife is creating a positive impact for the textile industry, working to dramatically change and reshape the fashion industry.

The fashion industry is one of the most resources intensive and polluting industries in the world. The textile dyeing process causes 20% of global freshwater pollution. The need to bring enduring change to our planet has never been so critical. Algalife creates the solution to cross all aspects of the fashion industry, creating a positive impact by turning algae into bio-fibres and earth friendly dyes that are scalable for the whole industry.

Read more about Algalife at alga-life.com

Dimpora’s mission is to innovate and develop the next generation of functional and sustainable high-performance membranes for outdoor enthusiasts. Its vision is to revolutionise the world with sustainability and eco-friendly innovation.

Dimpora is working to address the need to replace per- and polyfluorinated chemicals in the textile industry because they are extremely hazardous and persistent in the environment. The company is taking a step forward in an established industry, relying on 2D large-scale processes to create a new material with equal, if not better, properties that will provide a seamless breathable membrane formed directly on any 3D surface. This will allow nature enthusiasts to be able to enjoy their hobbies without damaging the environment and without cutting down on performance.

Read more about Dimpora at dimpora.com

MonoChain has developed an easy to integrate, multi-tenant B2B2C platform on blockchain that offers end-to-end traceability to converge primary and resale markets, enabling a circular economy while simultaneously combat counterfeiting.

Through MonoChain, fashion companies can control and generate a significant revenue stream from the secondary market. Resellers can get extra supply, while end users can get the best prices and sell almost instantly. To link the physical items into blockchain, the company has developed a new framework that upgrades the current tagging system technology without making any physical changes to it. MonoChain then uses its first-of-its-kind point of sale activation to establish a trustless system for transactions for the resale market.

Read more about MonoChain at monochain.org

Nature Coatings transforms wood waste into high performing black pigments for inkjet and analogue printing, coatings, dope dye, paint and the apparel industry.

The company’s renewable and bio-based pigment is a replacement for the millions of tonnes of petroleum-based carbon black pigment produced globally each year. Its pigment is cost competitive, non-toxic, performs better than petroleum carbon black, fits into existing manufacturing methods and has the potential to prevent millions of tons of CO2 emissions through a closed-loop manufacturing system.

Read more about Nature Coatings at naturecoatings.net

Vegea is an innovative start-up that produces bio-materials for fashion, furniture, automotive and packaging applications. The company has patented a novel, green process to transform wine industry by-products, which is composed of grape skins, stalks and seeds, into a low environmental impact bio-textile that is REACH certified.

The raw material is abundant, available throughout the year and not dependent on annual harvesting periods. The company developed VegeaTextile, a technology that uses patented physical and mechanical treatments on desiccated grape marc to obtain a bio-based compound that is then coated on a backing textile and transformed into a grape-based material that resembles leather. No toxic chemicals or solvents are used in the production process. By adopting a circular economy model, Vegea is leading R&D on bio-based materials as an alternative to oil derived ones.

Read more about Vegea at vegeacompany.com

Resortecs® develops essential technologies that help fashion and textile companies to exceed their sustainable development goals. One of the techniques is Resortecs®, a stitching thread that won H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award last year.

Zippers and buttons make garment recycling complicated because manual assistance is required to remove such details, making the process costly and time-consuming. Resortecs® solves this problem by supplying a stitching thread that can be used on regular stitching machines but that simply dissolves at a high temperature, making repairing and recycling a breeze. When used for regular seams, the whole piece of clothing can easily be disassembled, allowing the fabric to be used over and over in new ways, cutting the need to produce fabric from scratch. Stitch by stitch, Resortecs® is bringing new life to fashion.

Read more about Resortecs at resortecs.com

Avery Dennison provides end-to-end solutions for some of the most exciting brands, prominent retailers and state-of-the-art manufacturers in the apparel and footwear industry. From powerful embellishment and packaging design and development to its proprietary RFID-enabled inventory and brand security technology, Avery Dennison delivers breakthrough products and more competitive pricing. It also provides faster, highly streamlined, more flexible service to its customers around the world.

Read more about Avery Dennison at rbis.averydennison.com

C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy) is a global resource for smart material innovation, education, marketing and communication. It specialises in integrating a new generation of smart values into fashion, products and businesses. C.L.A.S.S. believes these values are essential for today’s knowledgeable conscious consumer.

Within consulting, the company works with clients to integrate sustainability throughout their supply chains, activating change to send a clear message to consumers. It disseminates smart material innovations infused with technology that boost creativity, performance and sustainable credentials through its Material Hub, moving companies towards a circular economy. The company also encourages education through dynamic interactive workshops specialising in smart design, hands-on innovative material research and strategic communication. Finally, C.L.A.S.S. supports designers, responsible start-ups and fashion students through its unique E-Commerce platform.

Read more about C.L.A.S.S. at classecohub.org

CLO’s robust Simulation engine allows the creation of styles with countless layers and intricate details. A variety of garments can be designed, from a simple blouse to technical outerwear with complicated pattern pieces and construction. CLO also does more than garment design and can create anything made of fabric, including hats, bags, wallets, lingerie, swimsuits and more.

CLO creates cutting-edge 3D garment visualisation technologies that cultivate a more creative and sustainable landscape for the fashion and apparel industries, which consistently solve glaring obstacles in the life cycle of a product. With over 15 years of extensive research and development, and multiple successful enterprise-wide adoptions, CLO provides the best-in-class solutions for brands and vendors of all sizes.

Read more about CLO at clo3d.com

Cross Textiles is a family company that produces denim. Its aim is to build long-term relationships in the current shift from analogue to digital, investing in technology to make the highest quality, most sustainable jeans. The company trusts in know-how, and creative people are its most important asset in the pursuit of value-adding jeans. Cross Textiles’ target is not to sell as many pieces as possible, but to build partnerships with its customers, making sure that they achieve their goals.

Cross Textiles’ Red Cast Workshop, where state-of-the-art technology meets the experience and creativity that has kept Cross Textiles in business since 1939, is one of the finest R&D setups available. Cross Textiles has multiple certifications and also builds projects and initiatives together with its customers, adding value not only to the jeans, but also to the world.

Read more about Cross Textiles at crosstextiles.com

Unmade is a global fashion software company driving innovation through customisation and by delivering an end-to-end digital solution for on-demand production at scale. Unmade works with some of the most innovative fashion, lifestyle and sportswear brands to foster a new level of customer experience through customisation.

Unmade was born out of a desire to reimagine both the design and manufacturing processes within the fashion industry, so brands only make what is actually sold, resulting in minimal waste. Headquartered in London, Unmade consists of a diverse team of 30 staffers and was founded in 2013 by Hal Watts, Ben Alun-Jones and Kirsty Emery, all of whom met while at London’s Royal College of Art. Unmade pieces are now part of the permanent collections at MoMA in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Read more about UNMADE at unmade.com

YKK, founded in Japan in 1934, offers total fastening solutions. With over 44,000 employees located in 73 countries and regions around the world, YKK develops and produces a range of fastening solutions, including zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, fabric tapes, plastic products, snaps and buttons. As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fastening products, YKK cares deeply about its environmental footprint. That’s why the company’s product line includes small parts with a big impact on sustainability, such as zippers made from recycled or plant-derived materials. YKK creates products beneficial to both people and the planet.

Read more about YKK at ykkfastening.com