With 25 years of expertise in corporate sustainability, institutional marketing, and public relations, Daniel Rufenacht has traversed both the public and private sectors. His career journey began within the Swiss government, where he identified novel market opportunities for sustainable trade from developing nations and pioneered Switzerland's inaugural sustainable textile label.

During an eight-year tenure as Operational Director of CSR, Compliance, Integrity, Marketing, and Communication for a prominent textile company, Rufenacht masterminded its transformation from a traditional clothier into a globally acclaimed sustainable brand. This brand now provides comprehensive product traceability.

Before assuming his current role as CEO of bluesign technologies ag, Rufenacht served as Group Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at SGS for over a decade. His leadership at bluesign has expanded the company's services to new market segments and geographies, fostering innovation.

Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal, has commended industry bodies in the textile sector for their significant role in organizing the forthcoming Bharat Tex 2024 event, the largest-ever textiles expo. 

Goyal expressed his enthusiasm during the curtain-raiser event held at Vanijya Bhavan, New Delhi, highlighting that this event is not merely a showcase but a testament to India's dedication to becoming a global textile powerhouse.

He emphasized the 5F vision - Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign - which encompasses innovation, collaboration, and the 'Make in India' spirit. Goyal's hope is that Bharat Tex 2024 Expo will propel industry growth and underscore India's potential as a mature, competitive global sourcing destination in the textile industry.

The marquee event is scheduled for February 26-29, 2024, at iconic locations in New Delhi, with over 2,00,000 sqm of exhibition space. With exhibitors and buyers from more than 40 countries, Bharat Tex 2024 will showcase the entire textile industry value chain, from India's rich cultural heritage to the latest technological innovations. This mega event will include knowledge sessions, seminars, CEO roundtables, and more, redefining the global textile industry.

Bharat Tex 2024 will serve as a unique platform for both Indian and global textile players to explore investment opportunities, infrastructure, and incentives in India, highlighting its potential as a manufacturing and consumer market. 

This industry-led initiative is supported by various textile-related Export Promotion Councils and other industry bodies. Naren Goenka and Bhadresh Dodhia presented detailed plans for the fair during the curtain-raiser event, attended by industry leaders and senior government officers.

Frankfurt, Germany, is set to host the sixth 'ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING in the Textile Industry' symposium on November 8, 2023. 

This event, a part of the international trade fair Formnext, will spotlight the transformative potential of additive technologies, especially 3D printing, in the textile industry.

Industrial 3D printing promises to revolutionize textile manufacturing by allowing swift integration of design and functionality into fabrics while streamlining prototyping.

Michael Kieren, New Business Development Product Manager at Karl Mayer Group, emphasizes that these advancements can reduce environmental impacts associated with value-added processes.

Karl Mayer Group has pioneered a technology that combines warp-knitted textile production with 3D printing, a development co-organizing the symposium alongside Textile Research Institute Thuringia Vogtland and the Saxon Textile Research Institute.

The event's diverse program will encompass lectures and a trade exhibition, highlighting materials, manufacturing technologies, and applications in protective gear and architecture. 

Symposium attendees will also receive a four-day pass to Formnext, extending from November 7 to 10, 2023, to explore the latest in additive manufacturing. This symposium promises to be a game-changer in the textile industry, pushing the boundaries of innovation.

The event will focus on the latest practical news and research in the field. Topics include new materials, innovative manufacturing technologies, and future-oriented applications.

8th November 2023

Formnext, the international trade fair for additive manufacturing technologies in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

The symposium is organized by the KARL MAYER GROUP, the Textile Research Institute Thuringia Vogtland e.V. (TITV Greiz), and the Saxon Textile Research Institute e.V. (STFI).

This series of events focuses on a topic with far-reaching implications for the textile industry. Additive technologies, particularly 3D printing processes, offer completely new potential for developing innovative textile solutions and customized products, as well as for designing processes.

Highlights

Science and industry lectures on new materials, innovative manufacturing technologies, and future-oriented applications.

Accompanying trade exhibition where companies with experience in working with additive manufacturing processes can present their products and services.

Elena Redaelli's "Seabilia," a sculpture created from waste fabric from Sitip's production processes, will be on display at Sculpture by the Sea 2023 in Sydney, Australia. The work is a reminder of the fragility of the environment in the face of human activity.

Redaelli created "Seabilia" using waste Native-Cosmopolitan Kyoto fabric, a post-consumer recycled circular knit fabric composed of 89% recycled polyester (PLR), 11% elastane (EA), and weighing 240 grams. The fabric is Bluesign, GRS (Global Recycled Standard) and OEKO-TEX certified, attesting to Sitip's commitment to environmental responsibility and protection.

The sculpture is inspired by the tiny creatures that inhabit the deepest, least explored parts of the ocean. A place where the rhythm of life is marked by silence and obscurity, while waves and tides agitate the surface above. The life of the ocean, such a vast and imposing environment, is impacted every single day by human activity, slowly weakening its delicate balance.

Redaelli hopes that "Seabilia" will serve as a reminder of how precious yet extremely fragile the balance of nature is, and how humans must become more aware of the consequences of their actions.

Sustainability Report

The Group also gained ISO 50001 certification and officially joined the UN Global Compact initiative.

The Sitip Group's commitment to sustainability is evident in its work with artists like Redaelli, who are using its waste fabric to create works of art that raise awareness of environmental issues.

The Pure London x JATC show, the London festival of fashion, will host a dedicated Sustainable destination from February 11-13, 2024. This destination will feature an array of new and emerging brands who are making a positive impact on the industry by addressing their environmental and social impact.

The Sustainable destination uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to assess the impact of all exhibitors, who must demonstrate that they are tackling specific key issues to exhibit within the destination. This is a destination that is growing season upon season as consumers and the fashion industry become more aware of the importance of safeguarding the planet.

Some of the brands that will be joining Sustainable for the first time in February 2024 include:

Humanity Centred Designs: A Material Innovation Hub that transforms textile waste from marginalized apparel manufacturing factories into innovative recycled textile materials.

Tina Aileen: Offers ready-to-wear as well as bespoke made to measure fashion. Their dedicated approach to sustainability stems from innovative functionality and ingenious designs.

Nudea: A sustainable underwear and sleepwear brand that creates a functional and comfortable collection from natural and recycled materials.

Noema: An Irish brand showcasing considered designs made from natural and biodegradable native fabrics.

Peachaus: An Australian underwear and lifestyle brand that is passionate about beautiful, well-fitting underwear and loungewear that is humanly and environmentally responsible.

Feel Fit: A growing lifestyle brand that encompasses an award-winning range of sustainable gym and leisure wear, the first eco-powered fitness studio and store, fitness coaching programme and leisure retreats.

A Threat to U.S. Consumers, Communities, and Manufacturers

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas testified at a congressional hearing on “Exploitation and Enforcement: Evaluating the Department of Homeland Security’s Efforts to Counter Uyghur Forced Labor.” She warned that the massive surge of imports arriving daily containing apparel made with slave labor, dangerous narcotics, and counterfeits will continue to imperil consumers, ravage communities, and devastate the vital U.S. manufacturing base unless Congress and the administration take immediate and aggressive action to step up enforcement against China’s predatory trade practices.

Glas highlighted the following key points in her testimony:

Chinese cotton products made with forced labor in Xinjiang are flooding the global marketplace, making their way both directly and indirectly to the U.S.

As a result, American textile plants have been forced to idle equipment and lay off workers, while some companies have been put out of business entirely.

The de minimis loophole in U.S. trade law has become a superhighway for illicit goods, including forced labor textiles and apparel.

Congress should take the following steps to counter these practices:

Get aggressive on oversight of customs enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and require Customs officials to testify regularly.

Close the de minimis loophole for e-commerce with a legislative fix.

Urge the administration to utilize and expand the UFLPA Entity List more robustly as a deterrent.

Aggressively step up enforcement, inspections, and penalties.

Glas concluded by calling on Congress and the Executive Branch to act decisively now to stop China’s forced labor regime and support American companies and workers who are being exploited as a result.

The textile and apparel industry in Peru is one of the most dynamic and sustainable sectors in the region, with a diverse range of suppliers that offer quality, innovation, and social responsibility. To showcase this potential, Expotextil Peru, the International Exhibition of Textile and Apparel Industry Suppliers, returns for its 16th edition in October at the Jockey Exhibition Center.

Expotextil Peru 2023 is more than just an exhibition. It is a platform that connects and promotes the entire value chain of the textile and apparel industry, from micro to large enterprises, all of which are committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their production processes, technologies, or other aspects. 

It also brings together the most important industry associations and companies that support the development and competitiveness of this sector.

Expotextil Peru 2023 aims to be the leading Information and Trade Promotion Platform in the country for the textile and apparel industry, as well as a global Sustainability Provider. It invites you to join this event and discover the best and most comprehensive supply offerings in the region.

The much-awaited bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the UK -- which wa proposed by Boris Johnson in April this year- may see the light of day by the end-of-year. The early harvest agreement pact had aimed to achieve up to 65 per cent of coverage for goods and up to 40 per cent coverage for services however, by the time the final settlement happens, the coverage for all goods is expected to be over 90 per cent. The early harvest agreements that opened up bilateral trade had a restricted list of goods and services and was the predecessor of a more comprehensive FTA, will  now benefit larger sectors such as textiles, leather goods, and footwear which will both generate income and  create more employment.

Analysts have valued India's merchandise exports to the UK in 2022-23 at $11.41 billion and out of this, more than half at around $6 billion worth of goods such as petroleum products, medicines, diamonds, machine parts, airplanes, and wooden furniture had already entered at zero levy. Although the average duty on goods imported from India into the UK is 4.2 per cent, the new FTA will not really bring about a huge change as almost all segments are already at low or zero tariffs.

Positive bilateral trade crossed $800 bn in 2023

However, as per Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), reducing duties will help Indian exports gain almost $5 billion. Textiles and apparel that include shirts, trousers, women's dresses and bed linen, footwear home accessories such as carpets, cars, marine products etc, which will still face relatively low duties. GTRI has pointed out that the duties on yarn and fabric are only 4 per cent, while in the apparel segment, it ranges from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. Similarly, accessories such as handbags and trunk cases face 8 per cent tariffs whereas footwear varies from 4 per cent to 16 per cent, so these categories will benefit from the FTA's tariff reductions by the UK.

As per GTRI India’s foreign trade had crossed $800 billion mark in the first six months of 2023. The exports of goods and services also rose by 1.5 per cent to $ 385.4 billion during January-June this year, as against $379.5 billion in January-June 2022. Imports in the same time period however, fell 5.9 per cent to just $415.5 billion during the six months of this year, as against the earlier $441.7 billion in January-June 2022.

Other segments to benefit 

Not just the apparel industry, other segments that will gain from the FTA tariff reductions will include precious metals such as silver, unwrought platinum and gold, diamonds, metal scrap such as aluminum, copper waste, petroleum products, alcohol like scotch and machinery such as turbojet, taps, valves, medicine; and make up items. Although for luxury cars like JLR, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Aston Martin, the UK might be hoping for zero tariffs, but India could reduce them from 100 per cent to 50 per cent and might even consider a few thousand units at a 25 per cent tariff.

An important issue in the agreement on the Rules of Origin, India tends to prefer more conservative rules as compared to most developed countries which have detailed discussions and negotiations in its FTA talks including with the UK government. Indeed UK and India have a long history behind them, the FTA will lead strengthening trade ties.

MUNICH FABRIC START, BLUEZONE, KEYHOUSE, THE SOURCE, AUTUMN.WINTER 25/26, summer of 2024, VIEW, the Preview Textile Show, convenient sourcing experience, Sourcing show, ReSOURCE, Sourcing, Design Studios

"With our set summer dates, we enable the industry to convene at an internationally accessible location at the right time for order and collection cycles," said MUNICH FABRIC START EXHIBITIONS GmbH Managing Director Frank Junker. "Across our eight areas, from Fabrics, BLUEZONE, and Additionals to ReSOURCE, Sourcing, Design Studios, KEYHOUSE and Sustainable Innovations, we are crafting a holistic one-stop sourcing platform of unparalleled nature. 

The adjustment of our running times to a uniform two-day format also addresses the industry’s profound need for efficient time and budget management."

The organizers are eager to welcome the industry to Munich next summer for a productive and successful season.