Hightex Award
Cocccon Wins German Sustainability Award
COCCCON WINS GERMAN SUSTAINABILITY AWARD FOR DESIGN
The German Sustainability Award (DNP) is the national award for top performance in the field of sustainability. The 2021 awards ceremony was held on 3 December 2020, as a hybrid event in which the finalists and the majority of the jury members were connected via live video. With nine competition categories it is the largest prize of its kind in Europe. A jury of experts selected 37 winners from 104 finalists in the new Design category which has been introduced in direct support of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Competing companies from the fashion and textile industry offered up a variety of sustainable solutions from recycled fashion to interiors and material development, resource-saving packaging solutions to furniture made from new materials and revolutionary waste reduction systems.
Among the winners were Cocccon, founded in 2012 by Indian designer Chanda Prakash. Recognised for pioneering “Fashion for Biodiversity” and producers of the bio-certified Peace Silk – a non-violent silk, the production of which only allows the silk threads to be extracted from the cocoons when the butterflies have already safely hatched.
“Our need to be fashionable endangers the earth’s biodiversity.
The increase in mass production has become threatening and is one of the main causes of the destruction of our ecosystems. It has also led to more frequent unexpected environmental disasters and resulting climate changes in textile producing regions.”
Cocccon designs & manufactures its textiles with the motto of creativity can care, caring for life and nature.
“We make sure that our designs do not adversely impact the environment. We converted a conventional silk farm into an organic one and processing is done in a new ecofriendly way.
This system requires less water, zero chemicals and zero emission. This has resulted in healing and revival of local biodiversity including microbes in the soil. This confirms fashion and destruction of ecology & biodiversity are not synonymous to on another. It is all about making responsible textiles for the next generations. We call this Fashion for Biodiversity.“
Chandra Prakash, Founder and Designer, Cocccon
All award winners receive a seal which is intended to help consumers determine which products and services they can consume with a clear conscience. Providing increased support for Cocccon as they continue to grow as the world’s largest producer of organic silk.
Cocccon also won second place at the 2018 HighTex Awards in Munich Fabric Start’s KEYHOUSE. This was the first time the innovation award recognised companies for their overall strategic commitment to resource saving production processes as well as innovative product development.
Cocccon were highly commended for their conscious production of luxury textiles and an innovative silk denim. The award winning GOTS-certified organic silk denim is biodegradable, with an anti-allergic finish as standard, the fabric is also handwoven and dyed using non-toxic chemicals. Prakash’s showcased the award winning Peace Silk as well as PET2Silk for the first time in Munich, which fabric shares similar qualities to silk but made of recycled PET bottles.
Prakash speaking about winning 2nd place in the 2018 HighTex Awards:
“The award is hugely important to us because it confirms our product philosophy and gives us a platform to spread the message further. We have been the world’s largest producer of organic silk for two years which constantly motivates when it comes to designing new products. The HighTex jury commended the denim-like silk shirt that requires only a fraction of water compared to conventional denim production without chemical additives.”
Chandra Prakash, Cocccon
OPENING TIMES
2. MARCH 2021 · 9:30 – 18:30
3. MARCH 2021 · 9:30 – 18:30
4. MARCH 2021 · 9:30 – 16:00
LOCATION
MOC Munich | Halls 1 – 4 Groundfloor
Lilienthalallee 40
Germany, 80939, Munich
KEYHOUSE - From Poetry to Digitalisation
As a think tank for fashion tech, smart textiles, sustainability and innovation, KEYHOUSE offers concrete approaches for a future-oriented textile and fashion industry. It spans the spectrum from technology to sustainability, from digitalisation to new material resources and manufacturing processes. The mindset of ‘democratic’ research projects, inspiring collaborations and networks as well as high-tech product and process development reflects the pulsating mood of KEYHOUSE at MUNICH FABRIC START.
Those attending include:
Smart Textiles Pop-Up Lab by Holst Centre x Pauline van Dongen featuring interactive workshops on printing electronics on textiles. As a Dutch research hub, the Holst Centre specialises in the development of printed electronics. Unlike conventional electronics, these circuits are thin, lightweight, flexible and even stretchable. They make it possible to make all kinds of products and materials interactive. The material properties of these printed electronics make them particularly suitable for integration in textiles.
KNITCLOUD by N.I.O. combines sustainability and digitalisation with the launch of a personalised 3D knitwear-on-demand brand at the Keyhouse, which as a smart network offers a future-oriented, sustainable answer to today’s overconsumption of clothing. What began with initial tests by start-up company The Girl and The Machine has now developed into a market-ready brand for custom-made 3D knitwear on demand that will be scalable in the future. Knitcloud by N.I.O. (New Industrial Order) will allow brands, designers and web shops to connect virtual designs, body measurement apps, virtual fitting solutions and a digital tailor system (DTS) with a subsequent on-demand ordering system (ONOS). In future, this smart concept will make it possible to produce customised and personalised clothing – as the world’s first open ecosystem for 3D knitwear on demand.
KPMG, one of the leading auditing and consulting firms in Germany, will deliver a unique fusion of business, technology and fashion to the KEYHOUSE this season together with the global IT group Microsoft. This partnership is dedicated to business and technology systems for the fashion industry. The launch of disruptive technologies such as HoloLens, a new POS system, better process management tools and integrated social media engagement will satisfy the modern, demanding customer of the future, ensuring a new era for fashion retailing.
DIGITAL FABRIC LAB
As a joint showcase initiated by MUNICH FABRIC START, the leading specialist firms Assyst, Caddon, Vizoo, Triple Tree Solutions and the University of Dresden have joined forces to present a new type of digitalisation process for fabrics in a comprehensible and practical way through simulated digitalisation stations. The DIGITAL FABRIC LAB demonstrates a new form of analysis process that overhauls production and accelerates it many times over. Digital material parameters such as elasticity, flexibility, tension and rigidity are determined for the realistic use of textiles in product simulation. For these physical measurements, surfaces, colours and textures must be recorded and collated in a technologically presentable way.
‘Digitalisation 4.0 is certainly one of the key issues when it comes to future process controls. One of the essential building blocks within these major technical changes will be the digitalisation of fabrics and additionals. For each fabric and each button there will be a digital ‘twin’.’
Sebastian Klinder, Managing Director MUNICH FABRIC START
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS
Creating alternative materials from unusual resources, instructions for a new approach to textiles and clothing and the rediscovery of traditional crafts – the SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS Forum will showcase it all, discover:
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- PHERES & AUXTEX by Eric Esser, with the creation of CAD files thanks to the 3D printing process FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling).
- Atlas of Sustainable Colour(s) by JULIA KALETA as a sustainable colour compass.
- LOOP.A.LIFE with a circular approach to extending the life cycle of textiles.
- LOOP COLLABORATION STUDIO as an integrative movement of socially oriented resource exploitation.
- WORN TO WEAR by Lena Winterink interprets the conscious handling of clothing through the use of copper wire in the yarn.
- SWART LAEKEN by Lotte Gulpers present high-quality items made of premium wool as a sustainable raw material.
- DYELUX by Nikolett Madai uses by-products from the food industry to produce dyestuffs for textiles.
- KNOT by Sanne Visser looks at horn as a raw material from a new angle and creates yarns, ropes and nets from hair.
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With these selected showcases at KEYHOUSE we give impulses and solutions for a future-oriented use of materials and marketable production processes. This offers great potential for synergies and collaborations, which – used at the right interface and linked together – will have a lasting impact on industry. This season we have once again succeeded in mapping out a broad range of relevant topics for the future.’
Claudia Mynott, Communications Director MUNICH FABRIC START
HIGHTEX AWARD
The HighTex Award will be presented for the 7th time. The MUNICH FABRIC START Innovation Prize honours outstanding initiatives and commitment in the fields of intelligent process solutions, innovative highlights, biotechnology, digitalisation and sustainable innovations.
‘We present the HighTex Award in recognition of outstanding achievements and, at the same time, as a motivation for innovative research projects and thus as a sustainable contribution to a clean future and conscious use of resources.’
Frank Junker, Creative Director, MUNICH FABRIC START
Candidates are assessed according to the following categories: High-Tex, Technology, Smart Fibres, Sustainability, Resource Efficiency, Finishing, Functionality, Health and Circularity Process. An essential principle here is process realisation and marketability. The award winning products and other innovations in the KEYHOUSE HighTex Award Forum will be on display for the entire duration of the trade fair. Supplemented by detailed information on the respective exhibited products including contact information.
SIDE EVENTS
Furthermore, KEYHOUSE offers a comprehensive and exclusive programme of side events throughout the duration of the trade fair. In addition to trend seminars, these include top-class workshops, talks and round table discussions.
The entire lecture programme can be found at >> events.munichfabricstart.com
Planet REhab Capsule: Celebrating Sustainable Collaboration
It is great to have organic fibres, right? But as a producer of fibres, the influence on a more sustainable textile production often stops here. Textile garments have complex supply chains which sometimes imply production partners all over the world. That’s why the solution for a more coherent and holistic form of sustainability often lies in right supply chain partnerships!
That’s the idea behind the so called “Planet Rehab” capsule collection, for which renowned textile companies, who are environmentally committed, have partnered up to create something bigger than their own.
The collection was presented during last edition of KEYHOUSE in January. MUNICH FABRIC START feels especially committed about this project as all project partners – Lenzing, Tejidos Royo, Officina +39, and Tonello have been long term exhibitors at the fair.
These companies recognized the success to achieving their own goals lies in fulfilling their shared ones, by working collaboratively and responsibly – seeking out more sustainable raw materials, implementing new technologies and employing processes that reduce resource utilization and waste. Juan Carlos Gordillo designed the Rehab collection around Lenzing’s TENCEL™ and TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ branded lyocell fabrics from Tejidos Royo. The fabrics were dyed using Recycrom technology from Officina+39 and the resultant garments finished by Tonello.
Lenzing’s TENCEL™ and TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ branded lyocell fibers enhance the sustainable qualities of the fabrics. Made from renewable wood in a closed loop, energy and resource efficient manufacturing process, TENCEL™ fibers and TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ fibers made with recycled cotton scraps provide the fabrics with softness, smoothness, tenacity, and color intensity.
Spanish fabric producer, Tejidos Royo, creates “fabric with values” through the company’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The manufacturer’s vertical business model has substantially reduced its energy consumption and CO2 emissions through aggressive R&D and provides complete transparency and traceability for their customers
Officina+39’s Recycrom dyes are made from recycled clothing and textile scraps that are specially processed by these Italian experts through a sophisticated production process using only natural chemicals. Waste fabrics are crystalized into an incredibly fine powder that can be used as a pigment dye. Recycrom received the Hightex Award at MUNICH FABRIC START for Autumn/Winter 17/18.
Laundry specialist Tonello also based in Italy, contributed their ECOFREE 2 technology to the project. Fulfilling the needs of the designers and their customers, Tonello’s revolutionary washing process significantly reduces the water and hazardous chemical consumption typically associated with denim finishing.
Guatemalan designer, Juan Carlos Gordillo, applauds the Planet REhab objectives and used the member companies’ products to create fifteen women’s outfits that celebrate life and nature with exceptional color flair and a decidedly Latin influence. The full collection was displayed during the last edition of KEYHOUSE in January 2019, showcasing the eclectic and artistic style for which Gordillo is known for.
“Planet REhab is my tribute to the ocean with its deep colors and flowing shapes,” the celebrated designer says. “The collection also protects the ocean because it is created from the sustainable fibers, fabrics, dyes, and finishing techniques perfected by the Planet REhab collaborating companies. While many companies talk about being sustainable, these companies had the courage to actually create sustainable products and processes that benefit the industry, society, and the planet. I hope this collection can inspire other designers to prioritize sustainability in their creative processes.”
Sustainability as an Innovation Driver – these were the most important issues at KEYHOUSE
Besides the all-encompassing theme of sustainability, technology and digitalisation were the predominant subjects for discussion at the KEYHOUSE, the Innovation Think Tank of MUNICH FABRIC START. There was a great need to talk, both at the stands and in the discussions and round tables with high-calibre panelists at the KEYHOUSE FORUMS.
The keynote speech on “The Circular Economy Journey of Sustainable Luxury Pioneers” of Kresse Wesling, Co-Founder und Director of Elvis & Kresse made it clear that sustainability has long become more than a niche topic for environmentalists. She showed that today’s luxury sector sees an increasing demand for sustainable fashion and accessories. On a cross sectoral level David Shah, owner of VIEW talked about “Why Performance, Comfort and Sportswear Fashion will dominate Apparel for the Foreseeable Future”.
Another highlight certainly was the contribution of Li Edelkoort – one of today’s most important trend forecasters. The visionary presented trend directions for Spring.Summer 2020 and unpublished content for the Colour Forecast for Autumn.Winter 2020/21 in an exclusive seminar.
With the help of digitalisation but also with innovative supply chain partners more sustainable results can be achieved in the long run. This has been proven by the Planet REhab collaboration of designer Juan Carlos Gordillo who created a collection made of TENCEL™ und TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ fibres from Tejidos Royo. The fabrics were dyed with Recycrom-technology by Officina+39 und then equipped with a finish by Tonello. The result, which could be inspected at KEYHOUSE, demonstrated impressively how the sustainability aspect itself acts as an innovation driver. A further example was given by Swedish company We aRe SpinDye® who have revolutionized the dyeing process of polyester for the textile industry. They were the first to succeed in developing a fully certified dyeing process including all production stages, which sets new standards with respect to clean colours and environmental engagement.
Beyond this, the exhibition format SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS at KEYHOUSE showcased the visionary spectrum of the latest material innovations and future orientated sourcing concepts. Here the innovation aspect is on sustainability in particular. For the current season, Diane Scherer presented her project Interwoven, in which the root structure of plants is being transformed into fabrics.
Another example of botany is given by Dutch designer Nienke Hoogvliets. She demonstrated, how algae blooms can be utilized to attain textile colours and environmentally friendly yarns.
Another focal theme at KEYHOUSE was the presentation of the Hightex Award. The winner of this year’s innovation award was Becker Tuche, Aachen. The company received the award for a new product development combining wool and Cordura with spandex – super lightweight and highly functional. The runner up was Soorty Enterprises with an extremely lightweight, recycled and water-repellent denim in a Tencel/nylon blend and in third place came Mectex by Manifatture Italiane Scudieri. The Italians are known for their high-tech developments in the sports and outerwear segment and come up with new ways and solutions for fusing comfort and function.
