#Sustainability

2021-11-25

Fashion for Good Asia builds momentum with new partner, consortium and innovations

The Fashion for Good Asia Programme celebrated another successful year, sharing the highlights of 2021 at their Innovation Fest this week. Continuing to drive innovation across the region, Japanese fibre and textile manufacturer Teijin Frontier was officially welcomed as partner, establishing a footing in East Asia where the programme is gaining momentum.

The Innovation Fest served as an occasion to mark the graduation of its recent batch of innovators and to announce the launch of an industry convening project, Sorting for Circularity India, in collaboration with eight corporate partners.

“We are extremely proud of our accomplishments with the Asia Programme in just two short years; in building a solid foundation in South Asia with our partners Arvind, Birla Cellulose and Welspun and now establishing a relationship in East Asia with Teijin Frontier, who we warmly welcome to Fashion for Good. We look forward to strengthening our presence in 2022 and are excited to collaborate together on industry changing projects.” – Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good

GAINING GROUND ACROSS ASIA

Fashion for Good is excited to welcome its newest partner -Teijin Frontier. Part of the Japanese based Teijin Group, Teijin Frontier, is an industry leading producer of innovative raw materials including synthetic fibres, yarns and apparel. With long standing commitments to tackle climate change in the areas of circular economy, reduction of emissions, removal of hazardous chemicals, and efficient management of water resources, Teijin Frontier is a pivotal partner to the Fashion for Good network of global players and portfolio of innovators from across the world.

After establishing a firm foothold in South Asia with partners Arvind Limited, Birla Cellulose and Welspun India, the addition of Teijin Frontier expands not only the geographical span of activities of the platform farther East, but also the breadth of material and industry expertise.

“We’re happy and proud to be a member of Fashion for Good; to accelerate the environmental innovations together and to contribute with our best technologies and accumulated knowledge of polyester.” – Yukihiro Shigemura, General Manager, Technology & Production Division at Teijin Frontier

Building on the successful consortium framework, the project brings together industry players including partners adidas, Levi Strauss & Co., PVH Corp., Arvind Limited, Birla Cellulose and Welspun India. A key technology partner for the project is Fashion for Good innovator Reverse Resources who provides the analysis of the pre-consumer textile waste streams in addition to designing and running the pre-consumer pilot. The project is supported through catalytic funding provided by Laudes Foundation and aims to build an infrastructure to drive the scaling of chemical recycling technologies towards greater circularity.

Read more about the project here:

https://fashionforgood.com/our_news/fashion-for-good-launches-the-sorting-for-circularity-india-project/

SCALING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN ASIA

The end of the year also marks the graduation of 18 innovators from Batch 2 and Batch 3 of Fashion for Good’s Asia Programme in 2021. Spanning eight countries, they represent technologies focusing on solutions across the fashion supply chain and have made tremendous progress through pilot projects with industry partners, fundraising and overall product development. Some standout successes include:

MYCL, an innovator focused on providing leather alternatives with their low-impact mycelium leather, partnering with Zalando and Bonprix (Otto Group) to pilot their innovation.

KBCols Sciences, a technology that extracts natural colours from renewable biomass that can be applied to textiles, has completed the first phase of their pilot with a European luxury brand and is now testing dyeing textiles in bulk.

In addition to commercial opportunities with industry partners, the innovators secured various investments to further scale operations. Fashion for Good invested in both Graviky Labs and MYCL, supporting their activities in piloting their technologies with Fashion for Good partners. Innovators Nordshield, Phool and Lucro secured external investments, and Danish innovator Aquaporin, who enrolled in the programme to support their Asia expansion activities, is listed on NASDAQ Copenhagen.

“It has been an exciting journey with Fashion for Good over this year. We received access to industry experts and advisors with Fashion for Good proactively curated pilot opportunities and helped us secure multiple partnerships. The life cycle assessment has been very useful in understanding our footprint in the industry. We are very grateful for this year of learning, exposure and continued support and look forward to completing pilots in the coming year and sharing the learnings with the wider industry.” – Adi R. Nugroho, CEO and Founder at MYCL

Texprocess 2026: Automation, digitalisation and AI redefine textile processing

Making investment decisions in textile processing has become significantly more demanding. Increasing energy costs, a shortage of skilled labour and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties are compelling companies to focus on technologies that deliver clear gains in efficiency and process reliability. This applies equally to apparel manufacturing and to the processing of technical textiles and high-performance materials. As a result, modernisation initiatives are assessed more carefully – even as the need to upgrade production systems continues to intensify.

Techtextil 2026: Between innovation pressure & market reality

From 21 to 24 April 2026, Techtextil in Frankfurt am Main will once again become the central meeting point for the international technical textiles and nonwovens industry. Running in parallel, Texprocess will focus on the industrial implementation of textile processing technologies as the leading platform in this field. Together, the two trade fairs form a closely integrated presentation and working platform along the entire textile value chain – from material development to finished applications.

Between geopolitical pressure and industrial resilience

In this interview, Dr. Janpeter Horn (VDMA) discusses the current challenges facing textile machinery manufacturers, shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and subdued investment. He also outlines why innovation strength, integrated solutions and strategic positioning remain key to global competitiveness.

Hohenstein publishes 2025 Sustainability Report

The testing and research service provider Hohenstein has published its latest sustainability report, outlining key progress and strategic initiatives. The report focuses on ambitious CO₂ reduction targets, the company’s new mission statement and the systematic expansion of sustainable services for customers worldwide.

Global Standard gGmbH launches second public consultation for GRTS Draft 2 for the textile industry (1–30 April 2026)

Global Standard gGmbH is pleased to announce the release of Draft 2 of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS) for its second public consultation. The consultation will be open from 1 April 2026 to 30 April 2026, inviting stakeholders across the textile and apparel value chain to provide input and contribute to the further development of this new Standard.

Textile Exchange publishes cotton Life Cycle Assessment study to strengthen impact data

Textile Exchange has published the first in a series of seven Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies designed to improve the quality and robustness of environmental impact data for raw material production across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. The first LCA study focuses on cotton and addresses critical data gaps and methodology variability through new high-quality data across key producing countries. The study includes organic, regenerative, recycled, and country averages for conventional cotton production systems, providing a clearer picture of the associated environmental impact.

Italian Textile Machinery heads to Geneva for Index 2026

An important delegation of Italian companies will exhibit at the upcoming INDEX 2026, the world’s leading event for the nonwovens sector, taking place from May 19 to 22 in Geneva (Switzerland). Numerous Italian exhibitors will be present within the Italy Pavilion, organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and ACIMIT, an exhibition area of over 140 square meters dedicated to the latest innovations proposed by the Italian industry.