In March of this year, the London Contour Experts team attended Performance Days in Munich, an event for bodywear fashion professionals to come together and discuss industry developments such as sustainable fabrics and new accessories for sportswear, workwear, sportive fashion, and athleisure collections.Â
Performance Days is a fabric fair perfect for sourcing high-performance and smart tech fabrics as well as accessories.It is the ideal venue for manufacturers in the functional fabrics industry to meet in a concentrated and focused atmosphere. Since 2008, the semi-annual event has become a must for designers, product, purchasing and material managers. We’ve put together our ideas and research from our favourite exhibitors to help you choose the best company for your brand.Â
If you feel inspired to create your next innovative bodywear collection, make sure to head to Bodywear Lab to learn more about our sourcing services. Make sure you keep up to date with all the events our team attends, as well as any industry news and trend insights by signing up for our newsletter and BodywearLab’s newsletter for exclusive access to behind-the-scenes fashion design content, tips, tricks and the inside scoop on all industry happenings!
XLANCE
Xlance is a polyolefin-based elastic yarn that can be seen as an improved sustainable alternative to spandex. From workwear to beachwear: Xlance® technology is innovative and versatile and it can be used in countless products. Xlance makes anything elastic from polypropylene to non-iron clothing and increases durability thanks to its unique chemical and thermal resistance. It can withstand temperatures up to 220°C without compromising its integrity and stretch performance due to the covalent crosslinks, as well as is resistant to UVA and UVB radiations. Xlance sources 100% of its electric power needs from renewable energy.
RADDIS COTTON
RADDIS, which stands for RADically DISruptive, aims to provide a comprehensive and regenerative farming concept for transparent and innovative ways to rethink and transform the cotton value chain sustainably for continuous, regenerative agriculture. The advantages are a reduction of water consumption, as the crops are fed only by rainfall, an increase in biodiversity, elimination of toxic pesticides, avoidance of GMOs, abandonment of synthetic fertilisers, reduction of CO₂ emissions, doubling the income of smallholder farmers through higher premiums and lower farming costs.
EEDEN
To enable circular textiles as efficiently as possible, Eeden has developed a technology based on the ‘Green Chemistry Principles’. By recovering cellulose from cotton, upcycling technology breaks down polyester into its constituent parts. After processing, these materials can be turned into brand-new, high-quality textile fibres. Chemical recycling uses significantly less water, requires no land, avoids pesticides and leverages textile waste as a resource. Their products are made to be replacements for the manufacturing procedures used in the textile sector today. This indicates that: No changes to the production processes are required, and their excellent quality can compete with that of new materials. The product can then be recycled chemically once more.
RE-ROOT-TEX
Re-Root-Tex is a pineapple waste innovation that uses less water and carbon dioxide because the plant isn’t grown specifically for fibre; instead, it uses material that would otherwise be burned or dumped in a landfill. Because the specific method for the pineapple waste has been carefully created without involving any chemicals, it is unique. This is a procedure that only Re-Root-Tex can provide. Initially, the fabric is fabricated in jersey, making it appropriate for producing T-shirt-weight clothing. The next big thing in innovation will be woven shirt-weight fabrications. Exceptionally soft material that may be dyed naturally or with non-toxic dyes to make a completely compostable product.
Since 2020 they have used 1,018,942kg of pineapple leaves to produce fibre that would otherwise be placed in the landfill and burnt which produces significant amounts of harmful CO2 and CH4.
ENGRAW
Engraw processes mulesing-free wool, produced by healthy sheep and follows the best animal husbandry practices available in Uruguay. Their company operates almost entirely (98%) on renewable energy, making it a pioneer in the utilisation of wind power in their nation, they also have RWS (Responsible Wool Standard), GOTs (Global Organic Textile Standard) and Cradle to Cradle certifications for responsibly producing wool and being transparent with their practices. They are fully traceable from where the sheep were raised to the final product. The diameter range of their wool top production goes from 17.5 microns to 34.0 microns. Engraw processes wool from Corriedale, merino and polworth breeds, which are the predominant ones in the country. Their production is based on different quality tops, Blanco Real Type, Solis, Positos, Magenta, Superwash Treatments, etc.
MANTECO
Manteco, thanks to a skilful and innovative recycling process, created MWool, the next generation of recycled wool. It has every natural attribute of virgin wool, including being wrinkle, odour and stain resistant, thermoregulating, as well as elastic, breathable, and UV and fire resistant. To provide the same qualities all MWool yarns and fabrics must also go through and pass the same testing as fabrics made of virgin wool. MWool is GRS certified. Compared to ordinary virgin wool fibres, MWool has a 99.2% lower impact on climate change, a 99.9% lower impact on water use, and a 93.3% lower impact on overall energy use. The low impacts of MWool fibres were also awarded their Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI) score.
With their Recype colour creation process, which involves combining various shades of recycled wool fibres to create actual “recipes” of no-dye colours that are then archived and adjusted to the kilogrammes of yarns that must be produced, MWool is available in over 1000 colours. These colours are created without the use of additional chemicals or dyes. After a study with the Bioscience Research Center (BsRC) and the University of Trieste’s Department of Life Science, they found that MWool fibres are biodegradable and do not cause relevant ecotoxicological effects on the marine environment.
GREENROOMVOICE
GRV is an agency that specialises in communicating sustainability in the outdoor sports industry. By developing specific sustainability profiles for the outdoor industry, GreenroomVoice is bridging the gap between the perspectives of consumers and behind-the-scenes operations.Their goal is to increase brand and environmental transparency by developing profiles on social and environmental performance. They create themed campaigns centred on environmental and social concerns. Their objective is to promote trustworthy, insightful, and understandable communication on CSR brand initiatives.
GRV also designed a framework for sustainability practice and communication. With the help of the GRV Transparency Tool, brands can monitor the current and upcoming EU legislation and, if they choose, communicate the ecological and social performance of their brand and products in a transparent and easy-to-understand way The Transparency Tool is reviewed regularly regarding the latest developments in connection to the Textile Strategy as part of the European Green Deal.Â
The bodywear fashion industry is pushing towards a more environmentally responsible future because of advancements in eco-friendly materials. As consumers, merchants, and fashion enthusiasts, it is our responsibility to support the businesses that are transforming the world, one piece of clothing at a time, by embracing these cutting-edge materials. It seems that fashion has a promising and sustainable future, but we must all do our part by taking sustainable and mindful actions, especially when it comes to fashion. To discover more about our philosophy and business values, download our sustainability deck.
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Our family has expanded to include a two new companies. Head to HYSCULPT for all your marketing & PR needs and get to know Bodywear Lab for design and production support!
Our family has expanded to include a two new companies. Head to HYSCULPT for all your marketing needs and get to know Bodywear Lab for design and production support!
