Textile Insight

TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER word search for "sustainability" on the following pages would easily come up with at least 50 results — maybe 75. Our trade show coverage alone reads like a roster of new and evolving eco development — from biodegradable advances previewing at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market to addressing plastic pollution at the Synthetic Yarn and Fabric Association conference held in Charlotte, to trend presentations at Performance Days in Munich — as sustainability is the springboard for discussion. Our Technology feature tackles what makes "circularity" go round and round, while hemp is the focus of the Strategies story. There is a lot of confusing information about hemp in the market currently, so contributor Suzanne Blecher reached out to industry insiders to get the facts, and learn what makes hemp newsworthy. Hemp Fortex VP of design, Nancy Williams Painter, explained that when it comes to hemp, "legalization has had an effect but largely the focus on climate change is making people look at greener options." The textile community deserves high fives and much credit for investing in product and practices aimed at solving big-time environmental problems. So here's the thing: if an entire global textile supply chain is living and breathing by a mantra "renew, reuse, recycle," and the industry is determined to crash the culture of disposable fast fashion, why does my home resemble a t-shirt warehouse? My son recently landed a new job that required a move into a small space in a pricey patch of New Jersey. He works in athletics, where promotional merchandise give aways are part of the game for fans and staff; Freebies literally fall from the rafters in sports arenas, and often my son is the kid armed with the t-shirt gun, shooting product into the stands. So the mountain of t-shirts left at home in the wake of Will's move didn't surprise me in terms of volume. The kicker: not a single shirt has an ounce of recycled textile. Nor is there any labeling to encourage environmental responsibility. There is a lot of talk about sustainability, and increasingly a lot of innovation. However, perhaps what's needed next is big-time messaging to go along with big-time solutions. These days sustainability goes hand in hand with performance, and stories in this issue of Textile Insight address how contemporary functionality is more inclusive, taking into consideration benefits that inspire total wellbeing. Indeed, my new favorite buzzword is "tactility." For starters it's fun to say. It also resonates with the growing trend to create functional fabrics that appeal to the senses in terms of texture, color, shine, scent and comfort. If textiles can provide performance that nurtures our body and soul, as well as our planet, then we're on the right path going forward. Cheers, Emily Putting Theory into Practice — One T-shirt at a Time 4 • Textile Insight ~ May/June 2019 The textile community deserves high fives and much credit for investing in product and practices aimed at solving big-time environmental problems. A PERFORMANCE TEXTILES RESPONSIBLY PRODUCED Working alongside our premier global partners, we not only source some of the most innovative textiles on the planet, we also help develop some of the world's most eco-friendly fabrics. That's how we're creating value for our customers ever y day. But for us, sustainability is about more than sustainable growth. It's about doing what's right for the industr y, and more importantly, our earth. www.conceptiii.com infoconceptiii.com CIII_TI_MJ ad2019.pdf 1 5/14/19 10:42 AM

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