Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1144024
is increasingly part of today's circularity conversation within the textile community. Roian Atwood, director sustainability, Wrangler, updated the Kingpins audience on alternative regenerative agriculture practices and how it relates to modern denim product. "We'll be making purposeful choices as this eco-system of technology evolves and building what we want to harvest and what we wan to put in our product," said Atwood. To that end, Wrangler has launched a foam-dye technology that eliminates 100 percent of water in denim dying in a collection called "Indigood." Indigood is a play on "good indigo" being used in the new line, but also Wrangler's commitment throughout its supply chain to implement the most sustainable ways for dyeing denim. Ralph Tharpe, founder, Indigo Mills Design, has been at the forefront of denim development for years and worked with the firms contributing to bringing the foam-dye tech to market including Texas Tech University, Gaston Systems, and fabric mill Tejidos Royo. (For more detail on indigo innovation turn to the Technology story on Page 16.) Alberto De Conti, head of fashion, Rudolf Group, illustrated how his firm, a German company specializing in textile finishing, is injecting creativity and energy into its business model to be more communicative. "For company all about research this a quantum leap," said De Conti, who presented how the mix technical and emotional can be effective when engaging with today's consumers. Miguel Sanchez Gavilam, founder of Ad (Advisors on denim, Advanced development) believes that in the future jeans will look the same, but will be made in entirely new ways. He offered that basic materials will be less resource dependent (such as hemp/Tencel blends), chemistry will be cleaner in make-up and application, and suppliers will re-think synthetics like bioengineered spider silk, bast fiber with wool and bioplastics. "Looking ahead, materials will be compostable, we'll be using things like crystals to color clothing, memory shape materials will replace elastane, and disposal of garments for reuse and recycling will be compulsory," Gavilam concluded. l Adriana Galizjasevic, sustainability expert at G-Star denim urged attendees to adopt circularity in her keynote address. The retroreflective materials specialist has heeded the call of fashion by developing a new range of on-trend colours for the active sportswear and athleisure markets. French-Italian retroreflective materials manufacturer JRC-REFLEX has re cently expanded the range of available colours in a move to address the grow ing influence of fashion trends on sportswear and the current fascination for sports seen in fashion spheres. The company has introduced seven new reflective colours that correspond to key trends. "As the use of reflective fabrics and trimming expands, we felt the need to offer more colours for brands that seek to target crossover fashion and sports uses", says company CEO Celine Cugeronc. These new referenc es are available in large width rolls as well as tapes and piping. JRC-REFLEX expands its color range For active sports end-uses that require higher levels of breathability, JRC-REFLEX has also introduced a new stretch reflective fabric with perfo rations that will enhance the comfort of users. For accessories and specifically bags, the company has developed a new mechanical stretch woven reflective fabric that features improved abrasion resistance properties. This reference comes with a 100% recycled polyester backing material. About JRC-REFLEX: JRC-REFLEX is a manufacturer of high-quality retro reflective fabrics and trimming. Founded in 1988, the company is based in Romans, France. Its state-of-the-art factory is located in Bergamo, Italy. Contact: Celine Cugerone, Tel: +33 475 025 770 Email: info@jrc-reflex July/August 2019 ~ Textile Insight • 11 textileinsight.com