On Wednesday January 27th, 2018 I visited TexWorld with my class. TexWorld  is an international textile trade fair where apparel fabric buyers, research and product development specialist, designers, and merchandisers can gain information about upcoming trends related to fabric, textiles, and factories.

    When we first arrived at TexWorld we were taken on an amazing tour where two French industry professionals named Louis Guerin and Gregory Lamaud spoke to us about how they come up with the latest trends. Typically, they spend about two to four months with nine people working around a table and each person explains the message behind it. The ideas that overlap are then shared with the world. Louis and Gregory were very passionate when speaking about sustainability. One thing that stuck in my head is how they said that “we are the future of fashion and it’s up to us to make a difference.” What they said really opened my eyes and made me realize that we must all become active in making a difference if we want to see change.

    One of the booths that grabbed my attention was the Lenzing Modal booth. It stood out from the rest because of their focus on sustainability practices. Lenzing came out with a new sustainable textile called Refibra which is considered a reborn tencel fiber. I learned that Tencel fibers are made from pulp that contains cotton scraps left over from cutting operations and wood. The Tencel fibers are probably one of the most sustainable textiles in the world because wood acts as a renewable raw material from sustainable forest plantations and the recycling of cotton scraps is also extremely important in “closing the loop” and forming a circular economy. Refibra fibers are something that I hope to see more brands use in their clothing because it’s a solution to introducing a circular economy in the textile industry. Ultimately, this will help reduce the amount of waste in our landfills.

Here are some of the photos that I took from TexWorld: