Textile Insight

POLARTEC David Karstad VP Marketing/Creative Director "A modern ingredient brand must be more than a materials contribution. ey must pro- vide value across a much wider spectrum. e ability to provide insights on trends, such as usage and style, and how they can be interpreted for each customer's own business needs, is crucial. e same with insights on the metaverse and how digital fash- ion is impacting our industry. is type of exchange further enables customers to find their voice and zero in on just what it is they're looking for. A modern ingredient brand also has the responsibility to educate consumers about the value we add to our customer's products. e power to research and validate claims means just adding a techy logo to a hang tag is not enough. Ingredient brands need to step up and meet people where they consume and interact with information. Become an ingredient to the media-sphere itself. This is where new media forms come in, be they pod- casting, social media platforms, informational programming, influencer partnerships, or just good ol' fashioned PR relation- ships. For Polartec, providing media experiences as useful, meaningful, and premium as our fabrics themselves is a vital part of our role as ingredient partner. is is really where the idea to produce a podcast that strives to be more than just a PR talking point came from. A desire to make something people actually want to listen to. With the rise of the D2C chan- nel, the pace of this VOC (Voice of Consumer) conversation has become even quicker, and the speed to market even faster, making getting in-synch even more critical. e ability to adapt and improvise is a core driver of how Polartec approaches our innovation partnerships." GORE FABRICS DIVISION Nora Stowell Global Sales/Marketing Leader "Beyond product development and innovation, our industry is also uniquely positioned to leverage our retail community to educate and encourage con- sumers around product care and repair efforts that help lengthen apparel useability. We are already seeing several such efforts includ- ing Worn Wear from Patagonia, Arc'teryx offering in-store repairs and the Renewed program from e North Face brand. We have collaborated on some of these efforts, and have put into practice several programs as well. For example, we estab- lished 25 Gore-authorized Repair Centers around the world and launched the 'GORE-TEX Gear Tour' happening across Europe through December 2022. ese events hosted by Gore will enable consumers to bring well-worn GORE-TEX Gear to be fixed free of charge on a first-come, first-serve basis. We also created GORE-TEX Outer wear On Demand, a seamless outerwear rental program available at select ski resorts and have published a number of consumer educational social media posts regarding wash and care requirements that help keep GORE-TEX products per- forming longer." SCHOELLER Antonio Gatti Balsarri Chief Commercial Officer "Regarding new digital paths and expansion of digital touch- points, we will rebuild our website and offer our customers more relevant content around Cultivating Fresh Ideas How Ingredient Suppliers Roll in a Post-Pandemic Landscape. By Emily Walzer STRATEGIES / OUTLOOK 2023 28 • Textile Insight ~ November/December 2022 textileinsight.com T hese days the making of the modern ingredient brand involves everything from partnering with regenerative farm programs, staffing creative directors, taking a hybrid digital/physical approach to branding and, most importantly, listening to the voice of the consumer. Nimble and open to fresh ideas, with business models built around collaboration and circularity, contemporary ingredient brands are shaking off a long-held industry image as hulking, many-layered chemical companies steadfast in corporate traditions tailored to large volume demand. We caught up with a handful of leading ingredient suppliers to get perspective on their present-day role in today's global marketplace. Here's what execs had to say:

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