The Textile Innovation Podcast speaks with Dr Yuly Fuentes-Medel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Fabric Innovation Hub about how academic collaboration is transforming practices within the fashion industry.  The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT)’s Fabric Innovations Hub seeks to answer how academia can benefit industry. The hub fosters a community of experts in fibres and fabrics to promote research, technology, education and innovation in support of the future of the textile industry.  In episode 97 of WTiN’s Textile Innovation Podcast, we speak with Dr Y ..read more

Cotton accounts for roughly 65% of the fibres present in wardrobes worldwide. It is therefore a key discussion topic in the textile industry’s transition towards a sustainable future.  In episode 96 WTiN’s Textile Innovation Podcast, we speak with Alia Malik, chief development officer at Better Cotton, about the company’s drive towards a traceable supply chain. Better Cotton is a world-leading sustainability initiative for the natural fibre. Its mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. Better Cotton already accounts for 22 ..read more

This month, WTiN speaks with Kris Cody. Founder and chief executive officer at PAKA, a company paving its own path with natural fibres since 2015. The idea of PAKA and traceable alpaca wool came after Cody was in Peru as part of a backpacking trip. After returning home, he booked a one-way flight back over to Peru and lived among the alpaca farmers and their families before starting the company. Now, nine years later, the company has hit a number of impressive milestones. One year after a kick starter campaign that raised over 1700% of its initial target, PAKA released its first activewear: BR ..read more

This month, WTiN speaks with Kris Cody. Founder and chief executive officer at PAKA, a company paving its own path with natural fibres since 2015. The idea of PAKA and traceable alpaca wool came after Cody was in Peru as part of a backpacking trip. After returning home, he booked a one-way flight back over to Peru and lived among the alpaca farmers and their families before starting the company. Now, nine years later, the company has hit a number of impressive milestones. One year after a kick starter campaign that raised over 1700% of its initial target, PAKA released its first activewear: BR ..read more

This month, WTiN speaks with Graham Stewart. He is the man behind a holistic patent-pending process called Fibre 52. The Fibre 52 process is holistic from prep to dye, and mill tests around the globe show it’s consistently repeatable. It also is integrated with no added machinery or upfront investment. Stewart talks about certification, sustainability, how the Fibre52 process came to be and how it can help manufacturing processes. Contact Stewart at fibre52.com. To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on X (formerly Twitter), or email ..read more

This month, WTiN speaks with Ishan Chathuranga – an e-textiles engineer based in Ontario, Canada. Chathuranga has more than eight years’ experience in electronic textile product development, failure analysis, and manufacturing. Chathuranga delves into the issues around scaling e-textiles, stages of development and the need for plug-and-play technology and standardisation. To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on Twitter, or email rpenson@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, email sales@wtin.com ..read more

On The WTiN Podcast this week, we speak to Michael Cattanach, global product director at Polartec.   Based in Massachusetts in the US, Polartec has a rich history that dates to 1906. Back then the company was known for making military uniforms, as well as its work with wool and much more, under the name of Malden Mill Industries. But it was in the 1980s, when it developed the world’s first polar fleece, that it decided to focus its energy on the sports and outdoor markets, which the company is renowned for today. In this episode, Cattanach talks about Polartec’s Eco Engineering initiative ..read more

In this episode of The WTiN Podcast, we talk to Lutz Walter, director of Innovation and Skills at EURATEX.  EURATEX is the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, representing the interests of the European textile & clothing industry at the level of the EU institutions. Walter himself has been working for the organisation since 1999 when he took on the role of R&D manager, and he has since been involved in many other European projects and has developed a fountain of knowledge concerning the textile & apparel industry.  In this podcast, Walter talks about so many thing ..read more

In this episode of The WTiN Podcast, we talk to Chris White who is the director of Industrial Policy and Insight Centre at The Manufacturing Technology Centre (The MTC).   The MTC was established in 2010 as an independent Research & Technology Organisation (RTO) with the objective of bridging the gap between academia and industry – often referred to as ‘the valley of death’. It represents one of the largest public sector investments in UK manufacturing and provides integrated manufacturing system solutions for customers large and small, across sectors as diverse as automotive, food an ..read more

The fourth industrial revolution is underway, and the world of textile & apparel is just one industry that is benefitting from new and innovative technologies. With this in mind, for this series I’ll be talking to companies across the textile & apparel landscape about their new technologies, the benefits of digitalisation, and the advice that they’d give to others who are trying to implement such solutions.   In this first episode, WTiN’s Industry Digitalisation editor Madelaine Thomas and I talk with Micol Gamba, marketing and product manager at EFI Reggiani.   Founded in 19 ..read more