#Sustainability

2022-11-10

Textile Exchange Conference

There are limited tickets left to attend the Textile Exchange 2022 conference in person, where Textile Exchange will be bringing together industry pioneers and changemakers to be inspired, to learn, to network, and to be equipped to take action.

Textile Exchange will address the core challenges the fashion and textile industry faces and plan the pathway to positive impact, moving through different themes for each day. Tuesday explores the progress on systemic challenges made so far, while Wednesday will see us shift gears from challenges to solutions, and Thursday concentrates on how Textile Exchange can implement these solutions and work towards tangible action.

Celebrated environmentalist Leah Thomas will host this year’s conference. Based in Los Angeles, Leah founded the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist – a platform and resource hub to advocate for environmental justice, provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism, and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements.

The conference will kick off with a keynote featuring Keith Ladzinski, EMMY Nominated Director and National Geographic Contributor in conversation with Syeda Faiza Jamil, Programme Director, Net Zero Pakistan.

This year’s conference will be held on November 14-18, 2022 at the Broadmoor Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and will celebrate 20 years of Textile Exchange. A hybrid format will combine a safe and engaging conference experience for attendees, alongside an interactive online offering. Please email the conference team for any questions.

Conference@TextileExchange.org

Explore the agenda:

https://conference.textileexchange.org/2022-Conference/pages/agenda

Read more and register:

https://conference.textileexchange.org/2022-Conference

Participate in the round tables at conference

November 14 – Round Table General Assembly

November 14 – Animal Fibers and Leather Round Table Summit

November 14 – Cotton Round Table Summit

Over the past nine years, Textile Exchange’s round tables have created an engaged, empowered, and informed group of stakeholders who continue to share best practices, identify market barriers, and determine resources and tools needed to scale the adoption of preferred fibres and materials.

From 2023 onwards, Textile Exchange will move towards activating these communities to drive collective action to meet the Climate + agenda. Through the exploration of topics, such as textile-to-textile recycling, sustainable forestry, regenerative agriculture, and traceability in the supply chain, the round table summits at the 2022 conference will provide an opportunity to align the textile industry on common actionable goals and solutions. Be it in-person or virtually, Textile Exchange hopes you will join their efforts in helping the textile industry make better material choices.

Not yet a Round Table member? Find out more here:

https://textileexchange.org/take-part-round-tables/

Join Textile Exchange at other industry events

November 6-18 – COP 27 (feat. Claire Bergkamp, COO, speaking virtually)

Egypt will host the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition. Egypt assumes the incoming Presidency of COP 27 with a clear recognition of the gravity of the global climate challenge and appreciation of the value of multilateral, collective, and concerted action as the only means to address this global threat.

November 15 – Morgan Stanley Sustainability in Fashion (feat. Beth Jensen, Climate+ Impact Director)

Morgan Stanley is hosting its annual event “Sustainability in Fashion” on November 15. This virtual event consists of a series of thematic panels touching on some of the most relevant topics within fashion and ESG. The panel around measuring and reporting emissions will feature Textile Exchange’s Climate+ Impact Director, Beth Jenson.

December 7-19 – UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 (feat. Liesl Truscott, Industry Accountability & Insights Director)

The "UN Biodiversity Conference" will convene governments from around the world to agree to a new set of goals for nature over the next decade through the Convention on Biological Diversity "post-2020 framework" process. The framework sets out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in society’s relationship with biodiversity and to ensure that, by 2050, we can achieve a shared vision of living in harmony with nature.

Textile Exchange reports growth in certifications and industry engagement

Textile Exchange has published its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting continued growth in certified sites, industry participation and the development of its standards and membership structure. According to the report, more than 100,000 sites worldwide are now certified to Textile Exchange standards, more than three times the number recorded in 2020. Preliminary figures also indicate 12% year-on-year growth across the organization's current standards, including the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and the Responsible Animal Fiber standards.

Updated supply chain taxonomy advances apparel alignment

The apparel alliance (Apparel Impact Institute, Cascale, Textile Exchange, and ZDHC Foundation) today announced the launch of Version 2 of the Supply Chain Taxonomy, an updated harmonized framework designed to improve consistency, transparency, and collaboration across the textile, clothing, leather, and footwear (TCLF) sectors of the broader apparel industry.

Textile Exchange unveils agenda for 2026 conference in Vancouver

Textile Exchange has released the agenda for its 2026 Conference, which will take place from October 12–16 in Vancouver, Canada. Under the theme “The Implementation Era,” the event will focus on translating sustainability commitments into practical action and scaling solutions across businesses, supply systems, and landscapes.

Execs help steer Cascale’s consumer goods agenda in Athens

The 2026 Cascale Annual Meeting, taking place September 15–17 in Athens, Greece, will convene leaders from across the global consumer goods value chain to tackle one of the industry’s defining questions: how to accelerate meaningful, system-wide transformation. Guiding those conversations as this year’s co-chairs are Sean Cady, vice president, global sustainability, responsibility, trade, and government affairs at VF Corporation, and Dr. Delman Lee, vice chair at TAL Apparel Limited.

SAITEX reports efficiency gains and greater transparency in 2025 Impact Report

Vietnam-based denim manufacturer SAITEX has published its 2025 Impact Report, documenting progress in resource efficiency, chemical management, digital traceability and knowledge sharing across its manufacturing operations in Vietnam and the United States. Rather than focusing on sustainability ambitions, the report presents operational data, manufacturing developments and lessons learned from the past year.

Aid by Trade Foundation presents annual report for 2025: Market position and impact of sustainably verified natural fibres strengthened

Despite global supply chain challenges, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) was able to further expand its international role in promoting sustainably verified natural fibres in 2025. In doing so, the foundation remains true to its fundamental approach of leveraging market forces. Last year, it generated total revenues of EUR 7.8 million; this included EUR 6.7 million collected through the successful marketing of four standards: Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), CmiA Organic, The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS), and the Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS). AbTF invested the resulting income in projects aiming to protect biodiversity, support women, increase transparency in the textile supply chain, and implement its verification system.

Brazil sets new cotton export record and consolidates global leadership

Brazil ended the 2025/26 commercial year with a new record, consolidating its position as the world’s largest cotton exporter. Between August 2025 and July 2026, the country shipped 3,373,941 tonnes of the fiber, 19% more than in the previous cycle, and reached record revenue of US$5.3 billion. The result represents a milestone in Brazil’s expansion in the international market and reinforces the country’s role as a strategic supplier to the global textile industry.

The LYCRA Company expands its co-creation vision through an immersive Lifestyle District at Intertextile Shanghai.

The LYCRA Company, a global leader in fiber and technology solutions for the apparel industry, is reimagining the trade show experience at Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition, which opened today in China. Building on the success of last year's ALL IN concept, the company has expanded its co-creation vision into a 356-square-meter Lifestyle District featuring partners Jingzili New Material, JYT Textile, Lianxingfa Knitting, and Trend Textile. The district is part of a larger 895-square-meter pavilion showcasing a total of 19 co-exhibitors. Together, they demonstrate how innovations in fiber, fabric, and garments can be combined to create compelling solutions for both work and play.

Plastic-free stretch technologies drive new direction for denim innovation

As the denim industry looks for ways to reduce its reliance on synthetic fibres, plastic-free stretch technologies are gaining momentum. Developments based on mechanical fabric construction and natural rubber are demonstrating that comfort and stretch can be achieved without conventional elastane, supporting both recyclability and circular product design.