texfash

Are Trump’s tariffs reshaping the luxury fashion world? Here’s an analysis of the rapidly-shifting financial landscape for major brands, and the new cultural pressures arising from social media exposes, all against the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain future, also for fashion that is luxe.

Wool, long regarded as a symbol of New Zealand’s pastoral heritage and a sustainable alternative in an increasingly eco-conscious world, is set to take centre stage again, as it gets knitted into a government directive mandating the use of Kiwi-grown and manufactured wool carpets in public sector buildings.

This is not the first time that India has found itself with a heaven-sent opportunity. This time, however, all indicators are that the ground situation is different. Will India be able to upstage China in the global textiles and apparel trade? A ground report.

Re-strategise, re-set, upskill, go compliant, build in agility and resilience—these should be the mantras for the footwear industry as it gears up in the next 89 days for the final dictum from the White House. And yeah, US+1 will work here too. And that could well be here’s looking at you India!

Triggered by the logging of 1500-year-old trees, activist-minded Nicole Rycroft, who can also deliver physiotherapy, decided to channel it towards protecting the world’s forests, species, and climate by founding Canopy. The passionate, solutions-driven tree-hugger ‘Cano-pal’ team today straddles four continents as it aligns to transform unsustainable supply chains and advance forest conservation and community rights. In a free-wheeling conversation, the founder and executive director shares how Canopy works with 1,000+ global brands to drive transformative action to eliminate the use of Ancient and Endangered Forests in packaging and textiles while scaling NextGen solutions, and also the route that India needs to follow to achieve its potential.

Zurich-based Gherzi Organisation, incepted in 1929, is a global textile management consulting and engineering company, that has since emerged as a leader for strategic development and expansion of companies in the textile industry, from production to retail. Its services range from engineering of new factories to strategy consulting as also corporate finance. Leading its global team is Giuseppe Gherzi. Gherzi talks India, what ails its textile sector and what can it do to capture the opportunities that exist.

1994. Pioneers yet outliers in an industry focused on conventional resources, a materials science company, developing and commercialising circular economy technologies using industrial and consumer waste streams from the fashion, food, and forestry sectors, is today hoping that consumer awareness and regulatory pressure will trigger collaborations between scientists and designers, leading to responsible material solutions. The face of the Tex2Tex RPET division and COO of Vancouver-based Earth Protex, Samuel Goldstein shares a journey that began decades before sustainability or material science would become buzzwords.

Working at the intersections of farming, leather and fashion, Alice Robinson and Sara Grady founded British Pasture Leather (BPL) to reshape entrenched perceptions of leather and forge the disconnection of this natural material from its source: farms, land and animals. The co-founder duo share how they embarked on their remarkable journey from field to fork and fashion.

Worn-out jeans, old woollen sweaters, polyester textile waste and recycled linen is what Goor-based Blue Loop Originals uses to craft a high-quality second life for discarded clothing. With the mission “Worn to Reborn”, its Dutch Founder Ron van de Wiel started Blue Loop in 2013 when he realised that 640 million pairs of jeans are discarded annually in Europe. Texfash talks to the man to know more.

Pili has a mission—it produces decarbonised alternatives based on renewable resources for sustainable industrial applications. Pili President Jérémie Blache explains how Pili uses hybrid processes combining industrial fermentation and organic chemistry to manufacture sustainable, high-performance colour ranges for the textiles industry.