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sportstylemag.com • sportstyle July/August 2022 • 33 T he textile community in 2022 is working smarter. Businesses are advancing new ways to reduce carbon emissions while optimizing manufacturing efficiency, creating materials from biobased sources to accelerate circularity and reevaluating partnerships to enhance sourcing strategies, with two industry defining issues top of mind: sustainability and supply chain. In a recent Deloitte survey of 1900 consumers, 80 percent of participants said sustainability is important in buying decisions and 70 percent of that group said the biggest factor is durability. If textile suppliers were surveyed, 100 percent would say sustainability is the most important factor. Durability would rank high on the list of important factors, but eco innovation is one of today's hottest topics. Supply chain disruption is the other hot topic. With Covid lockdowns in China, war in Ukraine, and costs rising across the board, from materials to shipping, supply chain challenges are front and center. Indeed, when you Google "supply chain issues" you get about 1,770,000,000 results in 0.64 seconds. As delays continue, and challenges and complexities mount, the industry faces a season of uncertainty. David Parkes, founder of Concept III Textiles, summed up the situation this way: "Customers these days have to be convinced that you can offer a secure supply chain and check all the environmental boxes." • HOT TOPIC: SUSTAINABILITY For an industry dependent on making new things all the time, lowering a carbon footprint is a challenge. A recent panel discussion on Saving Carbon with oughtful Design explored both sides of this dilemma, the role of manufactur- ers and the role of the consumer in terms of environmental impacts. Panelist Giovanni Henssen of Fibrant, explained, "We invest in processing efficiencies and means to share feedstock, yet the biggest challenge is getting the message across, and conveying it to consumers on a level they understand." Anne Prahl, an independent research, trend and design consultant; designer omas Hakansson; and Polygiene's Markus Heer also served as panelists on the Performance Days panel moderated by Sophie Bramel. Prahl offered this: "It is exciting to begin to get information on materials related to carbon impact, but challenging to put all the parts together and consider the entire lifecycle." In terms of consumer messaging, Polygiene's approach, "simplify and incentivize," has proved effective. e compa- ny's tagline "Wash less, Wear more," is something consumers easily understand and act upon, too, according to Heer, who noted the importance of a visual aspect when educating the public on sustainability. He offered this as a hypothetical, "it takes x amount of Co2 to fill 200 balloons," as a carbon equivalent to current marketing statements like, "x amount of plastic bottles went into making this t-shirt." Heer joked that years from now it would be noted that his "Carbon Balloon Concept launched at PD 2022!" On a more serious note, while a visual component is helpful, determining a successful metric that is both universal and relevant is key to carbon education. Hakansson stressed that designing thoughtfully requires a need to be clear about the aim of the product, in addition to the ability to have higher transparency in the processes. Hakansson suggested, "Wouldn't it be better to make the FEATURE STORY DESIGN

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