Textiles news and archive

How textile colour accelerates ocean microplastic pollution

A growing body of scientific research is beginning to quantify what the fashion industry has long suspected: synthetic clothing, particularly polyester, is one of the major sources of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Now, a new paper by Chen R., Zhao X. and colleagues at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology,...

Recover partners with H&M as a 'large-scale' supplier of recycled cotton

Madrid – Spanish company Recover has taken a giant leap in scaling its operations and business model. The company has just announced a multi-year agreement with the Swedish fashion multinational H&M. It will supply the company with large-scale quantities of its recycled cotton fibres, which are marketed under the brand name 'RCotton'. The...

TexCycle in Bulgaria: textile sorting, recycling and upcycling under one roof

How can fashion truly be kept in circulation? A visit to the TexCycle sorting and recycling plant in the Bulgarian port city of Varna showed what it means to sort 60 tons To help picture how much 60 tons are: A heavy household washing machine weighs about 100 kilograms; ten of those make up a ton and 600(!) of those 60 tons. of used clothing...

From waste to runway: Kenyan designers transform used clothes into art

In a dusty alley in the heart of Kenya's largest open-air market, fashion models strut down a makeshift runway in bold, upcycled outfits made from waste collected at dumpsites and market cast-offs -- proof that even trash can dazzle. Every year, thousands of tonnes of used clothes from Europe, the United States, and beyond make their way to...

Retail

France officialises textile environmental labelling

Published on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, in the Official Journal, Decree No. 2025-957 and its accompanying order, which take effect on October 1, 2025, define how the "environmental cost" of textile clothing will be calculated and displayed. This new regulation, a direct result of the 2021 Climate and Resilience Act, aims to provide consumers...

Asia holds the thread: Regional textile powers reinvent strategies amid global slowdown

While 2024-2025 financial results show a slowdown in consumption in several Asian countries – particularly for luxury groups like LVMH – the global textile sector continues to rely on the region. Several indicators from the first half of 2025 confirm Asia’s central role in global value chains. Between export growth, structural adjustments,...

Member

Bangladesh hopes for trade agreement with US

Dhaka, July 8, 2025 – Bangladesh, the world's second-largest textile manufacturer, still hopes to reach an agreement with the US to avoid the sharp rise in customs duties threatened by Donald Trump. A senior official told AFP on Tuesday. The textile industry contributes 80 percent of the South Asian country's total exports. One-fifth of its...

Circle-8 invests in AI-driven textile sorting

Circle-8 Textile Ecosystems has acquired its first standalone AI-powered textile sorting line from Danish firm NewRetex, in a move that signals growing momentum for automated circularity solutions in the UK fashion sector. Part-funded by the ACT UK initiative, supported by Innovate UK, the system will be deployed to sort non-reusable textiles by...

Africa's secondhand clothing market balances economic promise and pressures

Africa has become a critical player in the global secondhand clothing market, offering a fast-growing outlet for pre-owned apparel exports while highlighting tensions between economic necessity and industrial ambition. Driven by affordability, style diversity, and sustainability concerns, the continent’s demand for secondhand garments—often...

Featured

Kering bets on water positivity in sustainability pivot

In an era where the fashion industry’s sustainability rhetoric often outpaces its results, Kering, the luxury conglomerate behind Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, has unveiled what it calls a “Water-Positive Strategy.” The initiative marks the latest chapter in the group’s climate response, this time addressing water scarcity and...