From consumers to suppliers,Texworld USA 2020 is leading the trend

The spring edition of 2020 China Textile and Apparel Trade Show （New York）， namely， Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA （APP）， hereinafter referred to as “Texworld USA”. It was held at the Javits Convention Center in New York on January 19 to 21. This year， the number of enterprises with certified for environmental protection， functional and environmental innovative products is quite large， which deserves public attention.

The growth in the proportion of exhibitors with environmental certification and functional products indicates that overseas buyers have improved their implement ability on industrial environmental protection and sustainability in recent years. In fact， at the exhibition site in July last year， many overseas buyers have significantly raised their standards for environmentally friendly production. Some of them have made strict environmental protection plans and expressed their willingness to pay more for the use of environmental protection materials and strict control over the production process. Buyers have made rigid requirements on raw materials such as recycled polyester， rayon products and the development of new products in dyeing and printing process such as water-saving dyeing， waterfree dyeing， etc.

“Besides raw materials， we also have started to use environmentally friendly packaging when we send samples now. There are different new standards for product packaging， hangtags， sewn-in labels and so on.” The director of Zhejiang Jia Xin said.

Focus consumers to trace the changes in the supply chain

Recent years， the industry increasingly attaches great importance to the pursuit of sustainability and the sense of mission， and this trend is bound to have a huge impact on the supply chain brands， retailers and suppliers of the garment industry. Tracing back to these changes， we can see that the consumers pursuit of product sustainability is also growing rapidly.

The 2019 fashion report released by Lyst， a globally renowned fashion search platform， shows that by tracking the searches of 104 million users in 2019， combining sales data of 6 million products from 12，000 online stores and reports from global media and social media， Lyst found： consumers search volume related to sustainable fashion increased by 75% year-on-year， and more and more consumers are searching specifically for sustainable materials， such as renewable nylon yarn， organic cotton， recycled polyester fiber and tencel fiber， etc. According to the national retail federations recently released retail forecast 2020， the analysis of online marketplace ThredUp and retail analytics firms global data shows that the usedapparel market reached USD 24 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 41 billion by 2022. About 74% of millennials and gen Z consumers like to buy sustainabilityconscious brands， and buying a used item can reduce their carbon footprint by 82%. Francois Souchet， director of the“Make Fashion Circular” project initiative of Ellen MacArthur Foundation said： to increase use of clothing， reselling model plays a key role in fashion industry to make fashion circular. Increasing the average frequency of dressing is the most direct way to reduce waste， pollution and gain value. The report predicts that the U.S. sustainable fashion market will grow to USD 64 billion by the end of 2028.

The consciousness of consumers has gradually changed， and the sustainability of fashion brands is becoming an important choice standard for consumers. Therefore， for the textile and garment industry， the practice of sustainable development is more than a public benefit to protect the environment and reduce the waste of resources； it is an important measure to promote industry innovation， value creation and impress consumers and an inevitable choice to adapt to the trend of sustainable development. From raw material innovation， production process control， packaging appearance to retailers and consumers， all links of the textile and garment industry chain are seeking to optimize energy consumption， and by improving processes， machines and working methods to reduce the loss and harm to the environment and resources.

As a member of the industry， Texworld USA also plays an active guiding role. Recent years， China Textile & Ap- parel Trade Show （New York） has successive years with the exhibition theme “sustainable development”， integrated the industry new position of “science and technology， green， and fashion” into the development process of the exhibition， and based in platform to advocate green and environmental exhibition mode and promote communication and practice the concept of sustainable development among relevant parties of the global textile industry chain.

“The sustainability of the fair comes both from the exhibition itself and from the industry we rely on.” A fair director said， as an international exhibition platform， in terms of platform positioning， cooperation environment， site planning， application of construction materials， and conference services， they aim to meet international exhibition standards and strive to create a “green” exhibition mode. On the other hand， as the weather vane of the development of the industry， Texworld USA has also put forward many guidelines and initiatives in technologies， trends， applications， ideas and corporate social responsibility and other aspects， actively pool all resources， power to promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry enterprises.

Face the demand and rapid response

Jiangsu Guotai Huasheng Industrial Co.， Ltd.， one of the exhibitors of Texworld USA， has realized the increasing demand for sustainable development products of Texworld USA buyers earlier in the close cooperation with overseas customers， and has made a series of adjustments and upgrades. In recent years， the demand of their customers for renewable fabric products has increased. At the same time， these customers also have raised the demand for control over the purchase of raw cotton， and generally required the certification of organic cotton/good cotton.

“In response to these changes， we have passed the OCS organic content standard certification and the GRS textile and apparel global recycling standard certification in 2019. At the same time， the company also requires subordinate suppliers of raw materials and garment processing to conduct relevant certification and provide assistance in the process.” The director of Guotai Huasheng said.

To meet overseas customers demand for environmental protection and sustainability， Fujian Honggang Textile Technology Co.， Ltd. which always attaches great importance to environmental protection， in Texworld USA， it will also bring OEKO-100 certified 100% blue nylon products and more diversified recycled yarn fabric products.

As early as 2015， Honggang was awarded the “Best Water Saving Award for Sustainable Water Use in Textile Industry” by Stockholm International Organization for water balance， Sweden. The large-scale sewage process system established with huge investment adopts advanced RO reverse osmosis ultrafiltration membrane， which can realize recycling of 60% sewage after processing.

“In 2019， we increased 0-type dye vats to further save energy and protect the environment. The blue label or environment-friendly dye we use has passed OEKO-100 certification， which not only ensures product safety， but also reduces the emission of harmful objects in the production process. Truly practicing clean production has become an important part of the zero-emission project for hazardous chemicals. In addition， in 2019， we also increased the proportion of recycled yarn and actively developed new biodegradable materials， which have been certified by GRS. The show is a weather vane， which can quickly let us adjust the product structure and accurate grasp the needs of customers. Right now， we are more competitive when facing the market， no matter the company or the product.” Honggang officials said.

Jiangsu Luoman Luolan Group Outdoor New Material Co.， Ltd. is an old friend of Texworld USA. In recent years， overseas buyers have put forward new requirements and standards for environmental protection， from the original semi-environmental protection of polyester to the current full environmental protection. Besides， recently the nylon environmental protection， its finishing also needs using recyclable and biodegradable materials， in line with the purpose of not polluting recyclable production.

“We advocate ‘green textile， with the theme of protecting the common earth of mankind， and require that the whole process of textile from design， selection of raw materials， production process， packaging， use， service to end use and recycling has no adverse impact on the environment. The companys use of green yarn has increased from 15% to 40%， and this year it can achieve 100% recycled green concept.” The director of Luoman Luolan said.

It can be seen that whether it is consumers pursuit of environmentally sustainable products or brand ownerscommitment to social responsibility， the supply chain of the current textile and garment industry has shifted to consumer-driven mode， and green and environmental protection elements have been integrated into all links of the textile chain.

Promote the positive interaction between sustainable consumption and production， and push forward the sustainable development system of textile recycling from raw materials， production， marketing， consumption to recycling…Together with the industry， there is still a lot of work to be done.