SOMMARI O Olim pias Gentile utente, non ci sono aggiornam enti in questa sezione della rassegna stam pa Com petitor La m ostra per i settant anni della Miroglio Settore L identità Benetton: sbagliato rincorrere i concorrenti (Marco Patuano) Benetton: Oliviero Toscani ritorna al fianco di Luciano Benetton H&M s charity arm has found a revolutionary way to recycle textiles The holy grail of circular fashion New technology launched for cotton traceability The fut ure of denim is linked to technological innovations Am azon Boosts Whole Foods. Could Another Acquisition Be Next?
Olim pias Gentile utente, non ci sono aggiornam enti in questa sezione della rassegna stam pa
Com petitor La mostra per i settant anni della Miroglio A Palazzo Banca d Alba «Per creare un azienda di successo è importante avere forza di volontà ed entusiasmo. Conoscere il proprio lavoro ed avere un forte spirito di osservazione per migliorare costantemente impianti e processi. Bisogna saper comprare bene e vendere al prezzo giusto. Essere rapidi nelle decisioni. E soprattutto, bisogna collaborare con dipendenti, clienti e fornitori». Parole del commendator Giuseppe Miroglio, scritte agli albori dell avventura che ha portato Alba ad avere uno dei più importanti gruppi tessili e di abbigliamento d Italia. Per festeggiare i suoi primi 70 anni come realtà industriale, l azienda ha coniato uno slogan efficace: «L innovazione è la tradizione del nostro territorio». E ha tirato fuori dagli archivi immagini, documenti, video, modelli e bozzetti: ne è nata una coinvolgente mostra fotografica inaugurata oggi (mercoledì 13 settembre) nei locali di Palazzo Banca d Alba e visitabile gratuitamente fino al 20 ottobre. Il tema centrale è una sorprendente galleria di manichini con una collezione di 20 capi esclusivi realizzati partendo dall archivio tessuti e dai disegni di fine Anni 50. Le stampe originali sono state ripensate in chiave contemporanea per mantenere l autenticità, dando vita a una serie di abiti senza tempo.
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H&M s charity arm has found a revolutionary way to recycle textiles The holy grail of circular fashion Jill Bederoff 14 Sep 2017 10:03 AM The fast fashion industry is the second-dirtiest in the world after oil. One of the key ways to make it more sustainable and something close to circular, is the recycling of textile blends. H&M Foundation, the Swedish clothing giant s independent charitable foundation and investment company, has now announced breakthrough solution in this realm together with Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles. H&M Foundation had tasked the Hong Kong-based research institute with finding at least one open source solution for textile blend recycling that could be commercially viable by 2020. Merely one year into the project, there seems to have been a decisive breakthrough: The institute has found a way to recycle fibres of sufficient quality from polyester and cotton, says Erik Bang, Innovation Lead at H&M Foundation after returning from Hong Kong, where he presented the findings during Hong Kong Fashion Summit. Bang points out that a viable textile blend recycling technology has so far eluded the industry. "Until now, the quality [of blended materials] has been too poor to be used in new textiles." The breakthrough concerns a hydrothermal, or chemical, process, which uses only heat, water and less than 5% biodegradable agent, to self-separate cotton and polyester blends.
H&M Foundation says the recycled polyester- and cotton fibres are sufficient for use in new textile production. The discovery has happened by collecting available information on the 15 or so projects both in academia and industry that are leading the way in research into textile blend recycling. These findings have then been tested, iterated and developed further in the institute s own laboratory. For instance, we ve found our own bacteria and chemicals, and we ve done tests on heat and pressure. Ultimately, two technologies stood out: hydrothermal and biological recycling. The former then gained the researchers favor, although the biological method also showed promise. The next step in the project will be to build an industrial scale pilot plant in connection with the Hong Kong institute. The H&M Foundation hopes the technology will be commercialized and available to the entire fashion industry by 2020. H&M Foundation supports technologies centered on water, textiles and land use to find solutions for a sustainable fashion industry. In total, H&M foundation has earmarked 6 million for the Hong Kong project, with an additional 24 million coming from the Hong Kong government. As far as we are concerned, this is the most substantial initiative to solve the holy grail of textile recycling." Today, recycling is mostly done mechanically, where materials are churned and cut down. The method doesn t really work with blended materials, as it results in such poor quality textile that it needs to be blended with new material in order to be eligible for production. Blended materials make up the vast majority of all textiles today, for reasons relating to price, comfort and design. We are not seeing any signs indicating that its use will go down. Quite the opposite." Erik Bang doesn t believe there is a silver bullet for creating a sustainable fashion industry. He thinks the textile recycling plants of the future will run on various different technologies that complement each other. Whether his team's innovation is one of them, depends on a successful commercialization.
THE FUTURE OF DENIM IS LINKED TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS ANGELA VELASQUEZ - SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 Welcome to the age of denim technovation a new term created by Bluezone Business Manager Panos Sofianos that sums up the direction he believes the denim industry needs to move toward. Denim needs a refurbishing, Sofianos said during a workshop titled Denim Tech/Novation Wednesday at Bluezone in Munich, Germany. Be it selvedge, the ultra washed and ripped, the 80s oversized, the tight fit, the marbled look or the patchwork, Sofianos said the denim industry is guilty of repeating the same stereotypes. Denim technovation is the innovation of denim through technology, powered by technology and science, he continued. At the workshop on Wednesday, Sofianos gathered denim mills and innovators from the performance fabric space to share concepts and ideas about the future of denim. With an ever-growing list of new and emerging end uses from climate control, wellness and skin care, and rain protection, to self cleaning and anti stain fabrics and new retail realities like Amazon using drones to for home delivery Sofianos pointed out that fashion trends are being replaced with designs and services that fulfill consumer needs. Brilliant ideas and disruptive creativity are changing our consuming habits, he said. We are living the future today.
As consumers demand more from their denim, they are also getting back to nature. People are going back to their roots. Active lifestyle, fitness and being in nature are becoming important. We should provide fabrics according to this trend, like denim with wicking and anti-odor properties, said Sedef Uncu Aki, Orta director. At Bluezone, Orta debuted Biocharge the first denim created to support muscle wellness. The intelligent denim is infused with minerals designed and medically proved to refresh muscles with the energy needed to get through the day. By supporting muscle regeneration to reduce stress and tension, Biocharge denim improves the body s balance and maximizes relaxation during sleep. Orta is pitching the innovation toward brands that cater to the active outdoor markets. However, its uses are limitless. Likewise, Royo presented performance denim with a new collection called Atmosphere. Smart denim is sustainable denim and transparent, said a representative from Royo. Geared toward outdoor activities that require maximum comfort and protection, Atmosphere features performance fabric that provides thermal insulation and protects against rain, wind and cold temperatures. The fabric is made with high temperature resistant fibers and disperses body perspiration through ultrathin breathable hydrophilic lamination. It is great to hear that though we re competitors, we are always thinking toward the same direction, Orta s Uncu Aki added. The next generation will not only be determined by color and fashion, but will be looking at technology. science and fashion working together hand in hand, she said. Born in the outdoor space, Schoeller Textiles sees endless opportunities for denim to adopt the company s protective and insulating innovations, including Ceraspace, a ceramic coating that increases fabric s durability and membrane laminations for water and stain repellency. Reflective denim for commuters is also on the up and up, Schoeller COO Hans Kohn reported. It s a heath and security concern. Each item needs to have built-in security items in the future. [Consumers] want imbedded things that protect them, he explained. Kohn said Schoeller looks for trends in the textile arena and crossover industries like technology. Our home land is sport and outdoor, so whenever we look into the denim segment, we look from the outside in and we take our approach innovation, performance, functionality to see how we can innovate denim, he said. However, Kohn noted the lines between categories and industries are blurring. When we develop technology for denim, it is all about outdoor functions, but all of you know [categories are] getting closer and closer, he said. We can t talk about sport, fashion, outdoor and denim separately. Categories are [blending].
Amazon Boosts Whole Foods. Could Another Acquisition Be Next? by Jasmin Malik Chua Posted on September 13, 2017 in News, Retail Amazon s world-domination tour continues apace. The e-commerce giant gobbled up Whole Foods last month for $13.7 billion, boosting customer traffic by 25 percent after dangling the carrot of lower prices, according to data from Foursquare Labs. And the company s invasion into the brick-and-mortar landscape may not be over yet. Roughly a dozen Amazon bookstores have popped up around the country, with more in the pipeline. Starting in October, Amazon-branded smart home spaces will be plying Kohls shoppers in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas with Kindles, Fire tablets, and Echo speakers. There are even rumblings that Amazon may broaden its burgeoning store presence with another acquisition, perhaps by swooping in to the rescue of one of the myriad floundering department-store chains. Scott Galloway, the New York University brand expert who predicted Amazon s acquisition of Whole Foods, told Recode s Kara Swisher that Nordstrom would be the logical next one to bring into its fold. It would be cheap, it s in Seattle, they re operationally very sound, it s a
great company and [Amazon is] trying to establish relationships with high-end brands, which they have been unable to do, he said. It s true that Amazon s various forays into fashion have had a checkered history. Although Cowen and Company predicts that Amazon will eclipse Macy s as America s biggest apparel seller with around $28 billion in projected sales this year, the e-tailer s milieu has typically consisted of accessible basics like polo shirts and shorts. An August report by Galloway s research firm, L2, for instance, revealed that Amazon Essentials was the top performer among the company s private-label investments. But even with growing sales, Amazon has miles to go before its clothing can go toe to toe with private labels by established retail chains. A Slice Intelligence report published in April found that Macy s Alfani line earned nine times the revenue of Amazon s Lark & Ro from January 2016 through February 2017. Nordstrom s Halogen outperformed the Amazon brand by a factor of 11. An Amazon-Nordstrom merger would not only increase Amazon s fashion cachet and footprint, it might also be kismet: Nordstrom and Whole Foods have an overlapping customer base, according to Jeff Glueck, CEO of Foursquare. Per the app s data, Nordstrom shoppers are twice as likely to shop at Whole Foods than the average consumer, Glueck wrote in a blog post in August. As a result, an Amazon-owned Nordstrom chain would deepen Amazon s relationships with its expanding core base, he added. While industry waits to see if another takeover is on the table, the retail juggernaut is keeping busy, further roiling the business world on Thursday with an announcement that it would be establishing a second North American headquarters and staffing it with up to 50,000 employees over the next 20 years. The company s proposed campus, which Amazon said would be a full equal to its current Seattle base, is expected to start a bidding scrum among cities hoping to snare an anticipated $5 billion in construction funds, not to mention the tens of billions of additional dollars Amazon promises to invest in the surrounding community. Wherever Amazon s so-called HQ2 winds up, the compound will be nothing short of transformational for the local municipality. As Seattle s largest corporate employer, the e-tailer estimates that its investments helped the city reap an extra $38 billion from 2010 through 2016 alone.
The company has also divulged plans for a new, state-of-the-art 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Staten Island, N.Y., one that will create over 2,250 new full-time positions while providing opportunities for employees to engage with advanced robotics, Amazon said. While Amazon expands its presence in the U.S., it seems the company is reasserting itself in China, where it has struggled against established rivals JD.com and Alibaba. The company is looking to fill hundreds of jobs, including senior executives, internet software engineers, and hardware designers for its digital assistant Alexa, as it tries to gain market share. Amazon s aggressive expansion is simply another sign of its seemingly unquenchable desire to cater to all of the minutiae of our daily lives, from the entertainment we watch to the clothes we wear, in spaces both physical and digital.