Future Fabrics Expo
Creating material change
The Sustainable Angle’s Future Fabrics Expo is the largest dedicated showcase of sustainable materials for the fashion and textile industry in Europe. The exhibition (24th/ 25th of January, 2019) featured thousands of commercially-available fabrics and materials from suppliers who are offering innovative solutions with a lower environmental footprint.
On show were organic-cotton, regenerated cellulose, recycled pre- and post-consumer textiles, low-impact dyes, vegan and fish leather, materials derived from algae and from agricultural food waste.
The innovative materials from suppliers from around the globe represented the possibility for a new material landscape for the future. The offer of sustainable materials has grown over the last years. New recycling techniques to recycle various fibers and biotech developments contribute positively to the diversification of the global fibre market.
Sixty-three percent of textile fibres are derived from petrochemicals (Lenzing, 2017). When sustainable options are available, what is stopping the textile sector from changing to sustainable options sooner rather than later? Price is part of the issue and still limited availability plays a role. On the other hand companies and designers are waiting to use the latest innovations. Consumers are interested in alternatives for the fashion problem and seek sollutions to fit their sustaianble lifestyle.
Developing, testing and scaling new materials takes time, money and perseverance. The 9th edition of the Future Fabrics expo showed that the offer has matured and that the interest is growing.
The Future Fabrics showed both the conceptual and the practical, ready to order alternatives. It proofed that a change can be made in the materials that are used today and in the future.
If you would like more information on suppliers that were on show, please contact us