Transparency
Fashion Revolution at Munich Fabric Start
FASHION REVOLUTION TAKES PRIDE OF PLACE AT MUNICH FABRIC START
Since Fashion Revolution started, consumers, activists, brands and businesses have used their voices to demand change from the fashion industry to ensure fashion is made in a safe, clean and fair way. In our position as an industry platform we are able to convey the significance of this movement to our community of fashion professionals but also to our global network of manufacturers and suppliers operating in the textile and fashion industry.
At previous editions of our shows we reached out to our exhibitors to get involved in the viral movement #WHOMADEMYCLOTHES and send us photographs of their team responding to the question ‘Who Made My Fabrics, Trims, Prints and Denim?’. Displaying these in our busy trend and entrance areas helps send a powerful message to our audience and communities that these businesses are prepared and willing to support this Fashion Revolution movement leading to greater transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain, from fiber all the way to the end consumer.
Sustainability in the textile and fashion industry is hugely multifaceted therefore the aim at our events is not only to provide a platform to promote new sustainable technology, material and fibre innovation but also to provide the necessary resources and educational tools to encourage and support the growth of sustainable processes and practices. Find out how we are creating future with KEYHOUSE, our hub for innovation at Munich Fabric Start.
The response at our shows has been overwhelmingly positive and exhibitor involvement has been a great success which we hope will continue to grow season after season. Once again, #WHOMADEMYCLOTHES will be featured in the trend areas and entrance ways at the upcoming MUNICH FABRIC START and BLUEZONE shows in September 2020. Read the latest news on our event planning during these times of Covid-19, here.
FASHION REVOLUTION WEEK
Fashion Revolution Week 2020 will shine a light on the steps needed to bring about revolutionary change at this pivotal point in the history of the fashion industry. Now, more than ever before, the industry is coming under increasing scrutiny and millions of people around the world are expected to participate in Fashion Revolution Week as it moves online. Find out how you can get involved now.
BLUEZONE Driving ECOISM in the Denim Industry
Transparency, environmentally friendly production and innovative textiles: the denim industry deals with new challenges – which are faced as an optimistic international blue network.
With over 100 major international brands, the BLUEZONE has positioned itself as the initiator of an outstandingly strong and innovative denim community. Answering to a conscious consumerism approach and a growing interest for ready-made solutions, offering future-oriented products, state-of-the-art technological processes and complex functionalities.
“As we and the entire industry strive for continuous improvement, BLUEZONE presents the latest developments in the denim sector cross-seasonal. As one of the world’s leading denim shows, which has long been providing environmentally conscious solutions to the industry, BLUEZONE’s success is the result of joint efforts and a willingness to change and take new initiatives.”
Panos Sofianos, Denim Curator BLUEZONE
Reject egoism, follow ECOISM – the current BLUEZONE stands for a call for togetherness and collaboration for the good of our planet. With our ECOISM movement, we, as a blue community, show the upheavals in the industry and solutions related to climate change.
These and other relevant themes for the denim market will be deepened in numerous lectures and international panel discussions on the long wooden panel in the centre of the BLUEZONE, which offers space for direct exchange and personal dialogue.
“I deeply believe that our world needs a strong change. We cannot use all the resources our planet has given us. If our statesmen cannot show us the way for a better world, then, WE need to show them how to achieve this. By being altruistic, consuming less, and focusing on other’s wellness, rather than on our own material comfort.“
Lucie Germser, Monsieur T.
BLUEZONE: 4 – 5 February 2020
MUNICH FABRIC START: 4 – 6 February 2020
Ipeker Innovates with 100% Vegan Collection
Steadfast in their commitment to vegan and sustainable production, the V-Labeled Fabric producer İpeker will launch their latest collection of 100% vegan cupro fabrics at MUNICH FABRIC START on February 4-6 2020.
In 2017, İpeker successfully united tradition and animal welfare to become the world’s first fabric producer to bear the European Vegetarian Union Label (EVU), ensuring over 150 fabrics are 100% V-Labeled Vegan fabrics. The fully integrated vertical mill specialises in the production of sustainable, innovative prints and classic collections with a vast range of products including cupro, viscose, acetate, linen, cotton, tencel, polyamide and recycled polyester fabrics, available with or without lycra blends.
Focused on innovation and sustainable materials, the Vegan Cupro Collection launching Spring.Summer 21 has been given a new direction. European flax certified linen mixtures offer new textures, extended qualities and designs in linen burn-outs. New florals, jungle motifs and the simplified aesthetic of geometrics accent the collection. Modern lines shape the fashion look with elegance together with the latest textures and seasonal colours well-blended throughout the print collection.
What can our visitors discover about your production processes?
The company has developed a vegan textile process (VTP) production system to create its biodegradable vegan cupro with reduced environmental impact. Our Eco-Corrosion technique is a key element to ensure the longer lifespan of fashion garments. Rose Finishing is a new patented fibrillation process which is used for Vegan Cupro, by using such processes, compared to our competitors with similar products, we reduce 31.8 % water (20.533 tons per year), and 60.2 % prevent in energy (300.000 kwH per year).
What is your biggest focus in terms of Research and Development?
At İpeker, the sustainability and innovation teams work together to develop the latest technologies and fabrics. Right now, we are focused on developing a fashion collection which is 100% vegan as well as sustainable.
What role does trend forecasting play in your design and development processes?
İpeker focuses on fashion trends at a global level but must also consider the individual fashion needs of different counties as well. Our offices in Como, Italy and Augsburg, Germany play a vital role throughout the creative process. We have local designers who apply their regional creativity to our local fashion approach. With another 10 designers who work to develop the main collection taking a more global fashion approach. World famous design studios from London, Como, Paris and trend studios like Nelly Rodi and Peclers Paris play an important part in our design and colour direction. İpeker then applies its own hand writing through innovative print techniques to coordinate a global fashion statement.
Visit İpeker at MUNICH FABRIC START on February 4-6 2020 in Munich, Section 1, Stand F109
New Icon Guidance System to increase Transparency
Answering to the theme of innovation driven by THRIVABILITY, MUNICH FABRIC START has developed a new icon guidance system with which all material highlights presented in the trend forums are marked according to their sustainable as well as technical functions. In this way, trade fair visitors can quickly and clearly see what additional product features and functions the shown fabrics and ingredients have.
Each of the 44 icons indicates a specific characteristic related to the sustainability or performance of the respective product. With the help of these icons, manufacturers can highlight the added value of their products and at the same time make it easier for interested buyers to navigate through the increasingly vast range of products on offer.
“With our new icon guidance system, we are highlighting the interface between contemporary aesthetics and invisible but important advanced product features. In doing so, we see MUNICH FABRIC START neither as a certification body nor an audit agency – for the given classification, we rely on the information and honesty of the respective supplier of the corresponding samples. We are thus taking an important step towards information, transparency and responsible action in the interest of the industry.
Jo Baumgartner, Fabrics & Trends MUNICH FABRIC START
In this sense, all specific properties such as eco-labels, social standards, performance indicators, limit values, chemical ingredients, etc. must be verified again with the respective provider. In the trend forums at MUNICH FABRIC START, you will find the icon legend with the corresponding explanations and meanings behind all of the icons.
