The International Woolmark Prize, which celebrates international fashion talents's use of Australian merino wool named Saul Nash the 2022 prize winner for his use of the material in balletwear and ability to bridge the gap between active solutions and more formal requirements. 

"It’s great to see the continuing shifts in fashion as young dynamic creatives are supported and nurtured across the globe, from Africa to China to the UK. Anyone who knows me will know that I’ve been supporting young talent at every opportunity, so I am very happy to be part of this initiative," said one of the judges, Naomi Campbell. “Everything about the wool industry is self-supportive. It’s all about partnering the natural resources of the farms with the wellbeing of their sheep. I am very happy to be involved with Woolmark.” 

“Everyone did a great job and could have been a winner,” said Riccardo Tisci, also on the judging panel. “But what Saul did, coming from a ballet background to replace lycra with wool was really incredible.” 

With a focus on minimising waste, and emphasising movement and performance, Nash’s modern interpretation of knitwear challenged preconceived ideas surrounding sportswear, Woolmark says. 

In its Prize trend report, Woolmark said Nash’s use of deadstock, recycled membranes, and zero-waste technology pushed the boundaries of sustainable design, with disposal considered at every stage, and showed a thoughtful approach, demonstrating awareness of market. 

“Words cannot describe what this means to me,” said Nash after the announcement. “In such a short space of time I am so grateful for what I have gained in the past eight months. This really is the cherry on top for everything Woolmark has done for me.” 

The overall winner of the Woolmark prize receives AU$200,000 (US$142,000) with the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation winner receiving AU$100,000. Finalists also have the opportunity to have their collections stocked by leading retailers. A full list of the finalists is available here.

Mmusomaxwell awarded the 2022 Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation 

South Africa-based Mmusomaxwell was named the winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation thanks to his collection being committed to reducing environmental impact and upskilling traditional craftsmanship. 

“When you meet certain people you immediately have love at first sight,” explained Carine Roitfeld, another judge. “I love what Mmusomaxwell is doing and how they explain their work. They have a dream and what they are doing is not just for South Africa, but for a modern, western woman. I think Karl would have loved to have spoken with them today and am sure he would be very happy to give this award to them.” 

Sourcing local raw materials and end-to-end production, Mmusomaxwell took an artisanal approach to the collection, with each item promoting slow and small batch production through use of local artisans, counteracting over-consumption and allowing for greater product traceability. The jury praised the design duo for their passion, courage and commitment to introducing a new skillset to South African manufacturers. 

"Winning means everything to us,” said Mmusomaxwell designers Maxwell Boko and Mmuso Potsane. "It allows us to continue working with artisans and to further explore with merino wool, which is fantastic for us. It’s mind blowing.” 

Last November US denim giant Levi Strauss & Co introduced a sustainable boot featuring merino wool, produced in collaboration with The Woolmark Company.

HKRITA - The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel is a body established in 2006 to provide applied research, technology transfer and commercialization to the textile and fashion industry. The institute is a Category Award Winner for both Environmental and Innovation for its efforts in developing new materials and improving the textile production process through sustainability measures and research.

• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Sustainability
• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Washing and Wastewater
• INNOVATION - Category Award – Leather
• INNOVATION - Category Award – Textile Recycling

The Institute has developed a number of solutions to improve textile recycling, including the Smart Garment Sorting for Recycling, which uses AI and image analysis for garment identification. One of the system’s big breakthroughs is its ability to identify clothing types when garments are in a relaxed or arbitrary form, where existing systems can only identify when the garment is in a display format.

Another recycling tool is The Green Machine, which tackles the issue of separating blended garments made of cotton and polyester and decolouring the polyester for recycling at scale. It does this through hydrothermal technology, which uses significantly less energy and acid than other methods. The machine is already in commercial use by PT Kahatex in Indonesia.

The Institute has also added a social education element through Garment-to-Garment (G2G) Recycle System, which allows consumers to bring in garments and follow them through the recycling process, viewing the steps through a glass container.

In the field of new materials, the Institute has also developed a bio-based leather product called reProLeather, which is produced by combining recycled leather fibres with bio-based protein or sugar binder, as opposed to existing methods which use non-biodegradable PU or PVC.

HKRITA’s other sustainability breakthroughs include Absorboost, which is the cellulosic superabsorbent polymer generated from its Green Machine recycled cotton cellulose powder. Absorboost can be added to the soil to retain rainwater for agricultural irrigation. The Institute has also undertaken research into vertical hydroponic cultivation of extra-long staple (ELS) cotton.

When it comes to the challenge of improving wastewater, HKRITA has introduced the Acousweep system, which separates microplastics from water using sweeping acoustic waves. The system not only allows for treatment at scale but also requires less energy than other methods and removes the need of frequent replacement for synthetic filters. The Institute has also been using macroalgae to remove indigo dye from wastewater, which is an eco-friendly yet effective alternative to existing methods of chemical treatment.

Company Profile

Established in 2006, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR government, and hosted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

HKRITA has achieved research deliverables over the years around our research clusters targeting in industry 4.0, sustainability, and social benefits through our centre-owned research teams and laboratories as well as collaborations with industry partners and institutions.

HKRITA’s mission is to be a Hong Kong based world renowned research institute for the textiles and clothing industry by concerted and focused R&D efforts to enhance the economic development of the HKSAR, mainland China and overseas. And by facilitating technologies transfers of R&D results, in pursuance of continual development technologies to enhance the competitiveness of the industry locally and internationally.

Follow HKRITA at

Contact details

Website:  www.hkrita.com

Email: info@hkrita.com

Tel: +852 26270180

The Just Style Excellence Awards Winners have been announced! To see the full list you can download the full 90+ page report from the following link:

Download Awards Report

The Excellence Awards celebrate the greatest achievements and innovations in the industry. The programme provides a platform to recognize the people and companies that are driving change.

Our program is designed to highlight excellence within the sector by looking at a range of corporate activities including deals, business projects and company initiatives, both internal and in the community.

Featured Winners

Alpine Group

End to end textile innovation and apparel manufacturing business and Category Award Winner for Social

Alvanon

Global innovations company focused on providing digital solutions to the fashion industry and a Category Award Winner for Innovation

Archroma

Global color and specialty chemicals company and a Category Award Winner for Business Expansion and Innovation

Bodyline

Sri Lanka based clothing manufacturer with a vision to Create, Delight and Inspire wins Diversity, Environmental and Social Category Awards

Centric Software

Software company providing Product Lifecycle Management solutions to the fashion industry. Category Award Winner for Business Expansion, Innovation and M&A

Epic Group

Hong Kong based clothing manufacturer and Category Award Winner for both Environmental and Investments

HKRITA

Research institute focused on sustainability in the textile and fashion industry, and Category Award Winner for Environmental and Innovation

ITL

A provider of labelling products and solutions for the fashion and retail industries and a winner of two Environmental Category Awards

Pratibha Syntex

Indian garment manufacturer and a category Award Winner for Environmental

Recover™

Recover™ is a materials science company and producer of low-impact recycled cotton fiber and fiber blends. It is a Category Award Winner in Business Expansion, Environmental and Investments in the 2023 Just Style Excellence Awards

Introduction

The research for the 2023 Just Style Excellence Awards has highlighted several key themes through the activities of our Category Award Winners with the clearest being the increased focus put on the twin pillars of sustainability and technology, with the two often being seen in tandem in innovative projects.

One of the fashion industry’s biggest challenges has been the need to find sustainable materials, either through responsible sourcing or the development of alternatives. Throughout the research we have seen companies develop a range of bio-based materials and alternatives to the likes of leather and other textiles that can be produced with less environmental impact and either recycled or effectively broken down at the end of their lifecycle. Alternatives to traditional dyes and finishes have also emerged.

Several companies have also created new materials and processes from textile waste, including incorporating factory or post-consumer waste into new source material. In the case of materials like cotton this has the twin advantages of reducing the need for new raw material in production and also reducing waste from used clothing and manufacturing.

There has also been a clear move towards more sustainable agriculture, particularly in the case of cotton, with various programs, guidelines and investments being launched to ensure that production of raw materials is not damaging the environment. The drive for this comes from the textile manufacturers and fashion brands themselves who have a vested interest in being able to highlight that they are sourcing materials responsibly.

In addition to educating and regulating farming practices, the desire for traceability has also led companies to take steps to improve visibility over their supply chains. This has been seen primarily through the adoption of technology, including various digital platforms, allowing companies to trace materials from the field right through the manufacturing process. Companies are also looking at ways to effectively measure and manage carbon emissions.

The drive to reduce waste can also be seen in the burgeoning area of used clothing retail, with several companies launching marketplace services to allow customers to return or directly resell used garments. As well being an area of growth commercially, these programs also reduce the amount of clothing ending up as waste, improving circularity.

In retail the other clear trend is the introduction of new technology to the consumer experience. This can be seen in the form of in-store technology like virtual try-ons, through to brands launching products and offerings in the metaverse.

What is clear across all the projects analyzed for the awards is how rapidly the fashion industry is changing and adapting to the challenges of environmental impact and the introduction of new technology. We hope our Excellence Awards Report not only provides recognition to those companies at the cutting edge of the industry but also provides a useful snapshot of the industry's current state.

Congratulations to all our winners.

Awards Report

Our Awards Report contains:

• Introduction and Themes
• All Excellence and Category Winners
• Featured Winner Profiles
• Country Winner Breakdown

You can download the full 80+ page report from the following link

Download Awards Report

• BUSINESS EXPANSION - Category Award – Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• INNOVATION - Category Award – Digitalization
• INNOVATION - Category Award – Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• M&A – Category Award

Centric Software® is a Silicon Valley-based software company that provides its flagship Centric Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric PLM™, to brands, retailers and manufacturers of all sizes across the fashion and retail sectors. The company is a Category Award Winner for Business Expansion, Innovation and M&A as it has evolved and innovated its business through new offerings, customers, partnerships and acquisitions.

Centric Software also entered into a partnership with 3D fashion model and avatar producer Alvanon to enable customers to leverage Alvanon’s 3D avatars through its PLM platform

Examples of new business won during the research period include a strategic partnership signed with PVH Europe that will allow the latter “to optimize merchandise financial planning, assortment planning and in season forecasting”. Centric Software solution suite, PLM, Visual Boards and 3D, was selected by Lands’End to replace legacy systems and improve its end-to-end business processes across their teams. Centric was also selected by the iconic and bold French fashion house Zadig&Voltaire to plan and manage their collections with one single source of the truth for their product data. In India, three companies - Trent, Ethnicity and Derewala – also entered partnerships with Centric to leverage its PLM tools becoming the company’s first customers in the country.

Centric Software also made a notable acquisition in the form of StyleSage (now Centric Pricing™), a company that provides AI-powered market intelligence tools for competitive assortment benchmarking, and price and product trend insights. The company’s product trend data and competitive pricing intelligence allows Centric’s customers to understand the pricing and style trends shaping their market and to visualize the product and pricing mix of their competitors.  This acquisition is the company’s second one after Armonica, an AI-driven Retail Planning solution for omnichannel retailers.

Centric Software also entered into a partnership with 3D fashion model and avatar producer Alvanon to enable customers to leverage Alvanon’s 3D avatars through its PLM platform. Centric PLM users can store, search and download avatars (virtual AlvaForms) directly from the platform and use 3D avatars from Centric PLM libraries in Clo3D design. This is on top of its already existing integrations with 3D tools like Browzwear, Optitex, Rhino, Solidworks.The #1 PLM for Consumer Goods also released enhanced capabilities with Vizoo, the market leader in material scanning and digitization as well as with swatchbook, the leading cloud-based material sourcing, management and design collaboration platform. Centric Software® recognized the potential of end-to-end Digital Product Creation (DPC) for soft and hard goods at a very early stage. From the beginning, its strategy has been to remain 3D agnostic, providing automations that allow brands, retailers and manufacturers to scale digital product creation workflows at an enterprise level.

Company Profile

Silicon Valley based Centric Software® provides an innovative product concept to launch platform for retailers, brands and manufacturers of all sizes and segments of the consumer goods industry including fashion, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer electronics, cosmetics & personal care and food & beverage. Centric solutions enable digital transformation to achieve strategic and operational goals such as orchestrating and executing a competitive retail and product strategy, increasing agility, speeding time to market and getting closer to consumers resulting in maximized revenues and margins. All solutions are highly configurable and built hand-in-hand with market-leading companies:   

• Centric PLM™ streamlines product design, development, sourcing, quality & compliance, packaging & proofing, sustainability and digital product creation. 
• Centric Planning™ delivers best-in-class, easy-to-use and visually-driven financial, merchandise and assortment planning as well as store & vendor forecasting for seamless and fast, pre and in-season execution. 
• Centric Visual Boards™ improves team collaboration and optimize product assortments. Enable an omni-channel buying and sell-in process. 
• Centric Pricing™ provides AI-driven competitive product and price assortment benchmarking information and market trend insights. 

Centric Software® proudly maintains a 99% customer retention rate and a 100% go-live rate. Awarded for excellence by Frost & Sullivan several times and the recipient of many other regional accolades, Centric Software® is proud to provide the best solution, backed by the best team and to partner with the best customers. 

For more information, please visit www.centricsoftware.com.  

Centric Software®, a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), is a registered trademark of Centric Software®, Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.  

Centric Software® is a registered trademark of Centric Software®, Inc. in the US and other countries. Centric PLM, Centric Planning, Centric Pricing and Centric Visual Boards are trademarks of Centric Software®, Inc. All third-party trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.  

Contact Details

655 Campbell Technology Parkway, Suite 200,

Campbell, CA 95008

United States

Tel: +1 408 574 7802

Links

• INNOVATION - Category Award – Avatars

Alvanon is a global based technology company that provides a range of data-driven physical and digital solutions for the fashion industry. The company is a Category Award Winner for Innovation for the further development of its 3D avatars for virtual modelling.

A notable development that launched in 2023 was the company’s new fit and sizing standard for plus size fashion, European Women Plus and its corresponding 3D models (size range 46X-62X, all sizes available through the Alvanon Body Platform). The new fit standard is said to represent the actual size, shape and stature of women plus customers in the European market today. European Women Plus was designed specifically to be more inclusive, providing sizing options for the under-served demographics of, plus size women across Europe.

Digital assets must accurately and consistently represent the physical world. At Alvanon we have authentic digital human avatars that faithfully represent our physical forms - combined they give our clients' the most powerful 'phygital' tools to achieve their creativity, efficiency and sustainability goals

Ton Wiedenhoff, Executive Director, Europe, Alvanon

Alvanon’s authentic 3D avatars are enabling fashion companies to digitalize their operations and move away from physical prototyping. In one example the company worked with Centric Software on the integration of its avatars into Centric’s PLM 3D workflows. Centric PLM users can now store, search and download the avatars directly from the platform and use them with all leading 3D apparel design and development CAD solutions including Browzwear, Optitex, and CLO 3D among others.

Alvanon is in the process of expanding further into Europe and has already collaborated with Instituto Secoli, AMD Akademie Mode & Design, Standort Düsseldorf and Fashion-Enter to open a new fit studios in Milan, Düsseldorf and London, allowing brands to test garments using full form physical mannequins.

Company Profile

Since 2001, Alvanon has profoundly influenced how the global apparel industry shapes, sizes and fits garments. Its acclaimed series of physical fit mannequins, ALVAFORMS based on millions of ‘real’ human body scans, are replicated in its pioneering 3D digital avatars, VIRTUAL ALVAFORMS. The combined technologies allow companies to create and develop sustainable garments on authentic and realistic virtual bodies and finalise them in the physical world.     

Alvanon supports clients as they build comprehensive sizing sets for their target consumer demographic. Delivering efficiency, sizing consistency and the best possible fit for every body.

Virtual AlvaForm Technologies

The Virtual AlvaForm is the digital representation of physical      AlvaForms. It is the only accurate 3D AlvaForm that is available. A 3D avatar enables brands and retailers to eliminate costs from physical fittings and sampling in the early stages while being compatible with most 3D product design and development      systems (Browzwear, CLO 3D, Optitex, Style 3D, Shima Seiki, Gerber and many more). Access our Virtual AlvaForms through the ALVANON BODY PLATFORM (ABP)

Alvanon Consulting

Alvanon apparel consultants are subject matter experts that specialise in product development process, speed-to-market, sizing and fit strategy, technical design, supply chain product execution, consumer engagement and professional development and focused training sessions. Its mission is to help clients make clothes fit better, create sustainable and efficient processes and train their people to work more efficiently.

Alvanon Fit Studios

The Alvanon Fit Studios are physical locations with Alvanon AlvaForms on site that provide the opportunity for designers, fashion brands and retailers to try their garments on full form physical mannequins in a safe and private space, ensuring their collections achieve the best possible fit for their target demographic.

London

FC Designer Workspace, 9 Durham Road, Islington, London, N7 7FB: open Monday – Friday 8 AM – 6 PM

Dusseldorf

AMD Akademie Mode & Design, Standort Düsseldorf · Karl-Friedrich-Klees-Str. 10 · 40476 Düsseldorf: open Monday 10 AM - 5 PM, Thursday 2 PM - 5 PM

Milan

Instituto Secoli, Viale Vittorio, Veneto, 18/a, Milano, IT, 20124: open Monday – Friday 8 AM – 7 PM

New York

102 W 38th St. 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001: open Monday - Thursday, 11 AM - 3 PM by Appointment

Shanghai

304 Xiansuo, 98-1 Yanping Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai (Wechat: Alvanon全球体型专家): open Monday - Friday 10AM-1PM, 2PM-5PM

Hong Kong

29-37 Kwai Wing Road, 10/F. Sing Mei Ind. Bldg Kwai Chung, N.T. Hong Kong: open Monday - Friday

Contact Details

Alvanon UK Limited

Cottam House, 36-40 York Way,

King’s Cross, London N1 9AB

Tel: +44(0)7989 423032

Links

For Alvanon Body Platform - abp.support@alvanon.com

• DIVERSITY - Category Award – Disability Solutions
• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Reforestation
• SOCIAL - Category Award – Cancer Screenings and Support
• SOCIAL - Category Award – Water Access

Bodyline (Pvt) Ltd is a Sri Lanka based joint venture and manufacturer of next-to-skin wear and performance wear garments. The company is a Category Award Winner in Diversity, Environmental and Social categories thanks to various ESG projects including reforestation and programs including Health screenings and medical examinations, providing access to clean water and the development of accessibility products.

When it comes to environmental projects, the company is committed to an ambitious plan to restore and rehabilitate land that amounts to 100 times the space its facilities occupy by 2025. This includes managing and restoring forests, combatting desertification and land degradation, and halting biodiversity loss. Specific examples can be seen in Bodyline’s work in the Bundala and Lunugamvehera National Park, where it has helped with the removal of invasive species, and in its tree planting program around the Ma Wak Oya river.

In the social sphere, one of the company’s most important programs is related to breast cancer screening, education and support. The company runs an education and screening program for its employees, and in 2022 expanded this to women aged 40 or above residing in a 10km radius of its manufacturing facilities. The company also donates mastectomy bras to women from low-income families who have undergone the procedure at the Apeksha Cancer Hospital. In addition to this, Bodyline is providing financial and technical support to cancer survivors.

Another social issue the company is targeting involves access to clean drinking water, an issue that directly affects 16% of Sri Lanka’s population. The company has undertaken fundraising to improve access and install water filters in affected areas to lower the hardness of groundwater supplies.

The Bodyline team was involved in an innovative project by developing a new eating utensil for people with limited hand movements, such as Parkinson’s disease patients. The innovation would reduce food spillage and offer self-reliance. Born out of parent company MAS Holdings’ Eco Go Beyond program which collaborates with nearby schools and drives education for sustainable development, the stabilizer spoon was developed by a student in the program, Buddhika Pramod, with the technical expertise of the Bodyline team.

Company Profile

At Bodyline, we are driven by a powerful vision to Create Value, Delight Stakeholders, and Inspire Positive Culture. As a joint venture between Mast Industries USA, Triumph International Germany, and MAS Holdings, we have forged a path of excellence in the international apparel industry. Our unwavering commitment to create exceptional products has made us the leaders in next to skin wear, performance wear and bra innovations.

Producing masterpieces for athletes and everyday consumers, that embody sustainability and pursue circularity. With a legacy spanning thirty years, we are at the heart of our communities in Sri Lanka and India and drive impactful projects that better the planet at large. This led us to win Gold at the Presidential Environmental Award for the Apparel Industry in 2023, the highest award for sustainability in Sri Lanka. As we continue to build upon our success, we remain committed to delivering excellence, fostering strong partnerships, and shaping the future of the apparel industry.

Contact details

Bodyline (Pvt) Ltd,

Ratnapura Road,

Horana 12400,

Horana, Western 00773 - 00204,

Sri Lanka

• SOCIAL - Category Award – Education
• SOCIAL - Category Award – Sanitary Products Provision

Alpine Group (Alpine Creations and Paradise Textiles) is a globally connected, technology first, textile innovation and apparel manufacturing group. With over 40 years of mastery in textiles and apparel, Alpine Group combines data-driven innovation, state-of-the-art technology, and industry-leading capabilities to chart the way forward in revolutionizing the fashion lifecycle.

Its material science and innovation hub – Paradise Textiles – brings to market an ever-expanding collection of sustainable and performance fabrics, known as the ‘Fuze Family’. The group also manufactures 50 million garments each year, helping drive business success and positive environmental and social impact for its brand partners, which include The North Face, Under Armour, American Eagle Outfitters, the GAP Inc, and Sweaty Betty, to name a few.

The company is a Category Award Winner for Social in two categories, thanks to its efforts to improve the lives of female workers in the textile and garment manufacturing industries. From sanitary programs to educational initiatives, female empowerment projects are an integral part of Alpine Group’s Threading the Future sustainability strategy, which aims to make fashion fit for the future through material innovation, people development and environmental action.

One of the company’s key initiatives during the award’s research period was its distribution of sanitary products through its unique Dignity Kits program: Alpine Group’s aim is to work towards eliminating period poverty by diverting pre-consumer textile waste from the garment manufacturing process to create ‘Dignity Kits’.

As well as the absorbent liners created from the textile cuttings, the completed Dignity Kits also include absorbent shields and ‘snaps’, used to hold the absorbent liner in place within underwear. Packaged up in a waterproof wash bag, with instructions for use (provided in English and local language) as well as a calendar for females to mark their menstrual cycle; the Dignity Kits are distributed to those in need and wholly created or funded by Alpine Group.

These re-useable and washable kits, which can last up to four years, provide vulnerable females with essential sanitary supplies, and, along with the menstrual and reproductive health education the program provides, it aims to positively impact females from rural Africa to the harshest refugee settings in conflict zones around the world. The program is strengthened and amplified by partnerships with, for example, Transformation Textiles, the Egyptian Clothing Bank, Brighter World Communities and Freedom4Girls.

To date, Alpine Group has created over 150,000 Dignity Kits. During 2022, the Group distributed 20,000 Dignity Kits into refugee camps and rural areas in more than five locations in the Middle East where women and girls have limited to no access to any sanitary products. 10,000 pre-cut pieces have been transformed into kits and distributed to local communities in Egypt, thanks to the partnership with the Egyptian Clothing Bank. While, for the partnership with Freedom4Girls and Brighter Communities Worldwide, an initial 2,000 completed kits were distributed in the Kilifi region in Mombasa in April to May of this year, and, by the end of 2023, another 20,000 pre-cut pieces have been allocated to be sewn in Mombasa and distributed into villages in Kenya.

During 2022, the Group distributed 20,000 Dignity Kits into refugee camps and rural areas in more than five locations in the Middle East

The reach of Alpine Group, through this project, is constantly growing, empowering women and girls worldwide and contributing to a better future. An example of this, is the commitment of the Group to reach an additional 200,000 women by 2025.  Furthermore, Alpine Group has committed to training 3,000 of its female production floor team members within the next four years to redeem waste and manufacture the Dignity Kits for others, thereby empowering women with little to no sewing experience with valuable technical skills. Thereafter, they gain the opportunity to be full-time employees on facility production floors.

Further to digitizing its wages at Alex Apparels, the Group’s manufacturing operations in Egypt, Alpine Group formed a partnership with Herproject, whereby it rolled out a Herfinance pilot training program, funded by Mastercard’s Centre for Inclusive Growth.

The program educates women on the benefits of migrating from cash to digital wages and provides advice on financial planning and the use of digital tools. The program also provides guidance on evaluating the benefits and risks of financial services.

The training program adopts a ‘train the trainer’ approach, allowing production floor team members to educate additional females within the workplace as well as women in their local communities, enabling the educational benefits to go beyond the initial training sessions. The advantages of the digital wages and training include women starting to save on a monthly basis – versus simply handing over their cash wages to husbands or other family members - as well as make joint financial decisions with their family. Alpine Group plans to continue rolling out the training program in 2023 and beyond; its ultimate aim is to create financial equality amongst its female team members.

Company Profile

Alpine Group is on a mission to advance the future of fashion as a progressive, trusted partner to the world’s leading brands – co-creating new, sustainable possibilities for products, people, and the planet.

With over 40 years of mastery in textiles and apparel, we bring to market consciously crafted, award-winning materials, while elevating standards of ethical sourcing and production to empower over 10,000 team members and strengthen communities worldwide. As a globally connected, end-to-end fashion delivery platform that runs from fiber to fashion, Alpine Group manufactures 50 million garments each year, helping drive business success and positive environmental and social impact for its brand partners that include The North Face, Sweaty Betty, American Eagle Outfitters and Under Armour, amongst others.

Paradise Textiles is a technology-first, material science business that serves as the dedicated innovation hub of the Alpine Group. Consistently setting the agenda and leading industry exploration into game-changing materials and processes, Paradise Textiles operates in an industry-leading Collaborative Innovation Centre in Wuxi; a Design and Innovation Lab in Taiwan; together with a global network of industry experts, scientists, catalyst partners, and change-making innovators.

In Q3 2024, Paradise Textiles will expand into Egypt with a sustainable knitting and dyeing mill, close to needle. The vision is to create up to 500 jobs for the local community whilst producing up to 100 metric tons of fabric per day, offering speed-to-market opportunities for our brand partners.  The mill will create polyester filament and blended fabric knitting and will feature its own in-house laboratory as well as a full digital workflow – from dyeing to printing and cutting.  Sustainably designed from the inside out, the mill will feature low liquor ratio dyeing technology, saving 70% water as well as green energy production to help achieve zero carbon emissions.

Alex Apparels is Alpine Group’s award-winning Egypt-based garment manufacturing division; officially recognized as the country’s number one apparel exporter by the Export Council of Egypt and best exporter to the US at QIZ’s 2022 conference. Alex Apparels was lauded by the Egyptian government for preserving all jobs amid the pandemic, taking prompt action to prioritize the health and safety of all team members. With 5,600 team members and 3,500 machines, Alex Apparels currently produces 33 million garments each year, increasing to 45 million garments by Q1 2024, when the state-of-the-art, LEED Gold certified Factory of the Future launches.

United Creations is the largest manufacturer of polo shirts in Jordan, recently acquiring a new facility that can produce five million garments annually. With 5,400 team members and 2,900 machines, United Creations currently produces 27 million garments per year, increasing to 39 million garments per year, by Q4 2024. Importantly, our operations in Jordan empower thousands of women and migrant team members, thereby supporting the livelihood of families across numerous countries in South Asia and beyond.

At Alpine Group we aim to harness our textile innovation and manufacturing expertise to make fashion fit for the future; creating an industry and holistic ecosystem where every thread counts, every person counts and every action counts.

Links

Contact details

ALPINE CREATIONS LTD

P.O. Box 17006
Jebel Ali Free Zone
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Tel:  +971-4-8816117

Email:

For fabric, please contact: contact@paradisetextiles.com

For apparel manufacturing, please contact: contact@alpinecreations.com

• BUSINESS EXPANSION - Category Award – Digital Platforms
• INNOVATION - Category Award – Dyes

Archroma is a global color and specialty chemicals company that serves several sectors including dyes for the textile industry. The company is a Category Award Winner for Business Expansion and Innovation following the release of new innovative dyes and the open access of the Color Atlas Library.

Early 2023 saw the company announce a range of innovative new dyes derived from waste materials. FiberColors® converts textile waste into colours that are synthesized from a minimum of 50% waste-based raw material, replacing the petroleum base usually used in dyes. The range currently includes Diresul® Fiber-Teak (brown shades), Diresul® Fiber-Ochre (olive shades), Diresul® Fiber-Maroon (bordeaux shades), Diresul® Fiber-Slate (blue grey shades) and Diresul® Fiber-Graphite (dark grey shades).

Archroma also released Diresul® Evolution Black, a new dye for use on black denim. Diresul® Evolution Black, based on the company’s latest cutting edge synthesis technology, has significant advantages over traditional sulfur black including large reductions in the amount of water needed in dye synthesis, and a unique shade and wash-down effect when compared with existing black denim.

Another notable project saw the company release its Color Atlas online library for open digital access. The 5,760 color references of the library are available in ASE (for Adobe Swatch Exchange) file format. It is believed to be the largest library of colours for cotton and polyester. The Color Atlas by Archroma® was originally launched in 2016 to provide fashion designers and stylists with off-the-shelf colour inspiration that can be implemented in production.

Archroma also launched Novacron® Atlantic EC-NC, the industry’s first blue formazan dye that will not fade when exposed to chlorine, air pollution, light, or perspiration. Based on a patented dye molecule, it gives mills and brands a trouble-free way to produce more sustainable, long-lasting cotton casual wear apparel, ensuring they look as good as new for longer.

Company Profile

Archroma is a global, diversified provider of specialty chemicals serving the branded and performance textiles, packaging and paper, and coatings, adhesives and sealants markets.

Headquartered in Pratteln, Switzerland, Archroma operates with more than 5,000 employees located in 42 countries and with 35 production sites.

Archroma is passionate about delivering leading and innovative solutions, enhancing people’s lives and respecting the planet. The company is committed to the principles of "The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, Efficient, Enhanced. It's our nature!"; an approach reflected in its innovations, world-class quality standards, high service levels and cost-efficiency.

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Contact Details

Hardstrasse 1
4133 Pratteln
Switzerland

• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Waste Reduction
• INVESTMENTS - Category Award – Manufacturing Facilities

Epic Group is a Hong Kong based clothing manufacturer with facilities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company is a Category Award Winner for both Environmental and Investments due to its efforts in expanding its manufacturing base while simultaneously reducing waste.

A clear example of this approach is the company’s partnership with GPRO. The latter’s radio frequency identification (RFID) technology allows Epic to improve real-time visibility and traceability at its manufacturing sites, tracking the movement of materials, work-in-progress items, and finished products throughout the product's life cycle. This allows for greater optimization, not least in reducing waste, with the company seeing a significant drop in the need and use of paper on the factory floor. The system also allows for better reporting using real time data analytics.

The company has also invested in a new manufacturing unit in Bangladesh in its Green Textiles Hub called GTL Unit 4 (GTL-4). This production unit contains a variety of innovations to streamline the manufacturing process including the use of Mold Prevention Machines (MPM) and precision humidity-controlled final packing areas as well as technology such as automated fabric spreading and sewing machines, and cloud-based needle issuing trollies.

GTL-4 also reduces water and energy consumption and waste and has achieved notably high scores from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a rating system for the sustainability of buildings and businesses. The factory has been awarded the platinum certification under the programme, with the highest rating of 104 points out of a possible maximum score of 110. This makes GTL-4 the highest scoring LEED certified new-built factory in the world.

Epic is also already committing to future investments including into a new 36,000 sq. meter factory in Jordan with 70 production lines capable of producing 55,000 pieces of garment per day at peak. The factory will also generate its own solar energy.

Company Profile

For several decades, Epic Group has been a key player in the apparel industry – first as a major textiles trading house, then as a leader in sourcing quality fabrics, and since 2005 as a state-of-the-art manufacturing company with facilities across the world predominantly on the Indian Sub-Continent (Bangladesh), Africa, and the Middle East. Our evolution speaks to our core principle – to relentlessly pursue better.

This means that we are dedicated to seeking out ever higher standards in everything we do, from world-class apparel manufacturing and design services to innovative machinery that enables us to reach increasingly better environmental sustainability targets.

By combining speed, efficiency, technology, design and innovation we meet ever-changing market trends and our customers’ demands with unfailing reliability.

Our services include a cutting-edge New York design studio to help turn your fashion ideas into a manufacturing reality, plus value-added investment opportunities like Rainbow Place.

Over the decades we’ve built up a solid and loyal, international, customer base founded on our commitment to partnerships, mutual trust and professional respect.

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Contact details

Epic Group

9/F, EGL Tower,

83 Hung To Road,

Kwun Tong, Kowloon,

Hong Kong

Tel: +852 351 207 58

• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Labelling Solutions
• ENVIRONMENTAL - Category Award – Sustainability

A global provider of labelling products and solutions, ITL (International Trimmings and Labels) partners with retailers, brand owners and garment manufacturers within the fashion industry. The company offers a range of products from promotional labels through to product identification solutions to support the supply chain needs of its clients.

The company is a Category Award Winner in two areas within the Environmental section, recognized for both Labelling Solutions and Sustainability due to the impact of its Intelligen™ solution and its universal efforts on sustainability.

Intelligen™ is one of the company’s flagship solutions, a product re-engineering platform that calculates raw material optimization and reduces wastage of client labels, which can be used across the spectrum of their offering, including swing tickets and brand labels; minimizing raw material use and costs. ITL provides a thorough analysis and review of the existing label manufacturing process and highlights where efficiencies and savings can be made. Intelligen™ also pulls environmental data from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI), which results in impactful data driven results for their clients.

As well as the obvious environmental impact advantages of using less raw material in manufacturing, the Intelligen™ process also encourages reinvestment of savings made into more sustainable alternative materials, which may have been viewed as too expensive before the changes. ITL’s Sustainability Product Guide and technical experts outline the options available, the data behind them, and provides samples.

The company has also made strides in its own sustainability and ESG efforts including signing up to independent evaluation under the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) and Facility Social and Labour Module (FSLM); becoming a signatory to the UN Global Compact; and committed to implementation of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) and wastewater guidelines.

ITL has also set ambitious targets including, by 2025: to recycle, up-cycle or re-purpose 80% of its waste and divert 95% of its waste from landfill; ensure all core labels will contain recycled or renewable content; and that all paper labels will be sourced with fibre from certified sources; and have committed to setting science-based targets through the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

In addition, to ensure impactful and authentic progress, ITL have built a sustainability dashboard in which all environmental data from each of their production regions is fed into. This creates the baselines for their annual sustainability report and provides their customers, whom are typically brands, retailers and garment vendors with impact data that can used towards their overall ESG and sustainability targets.

Company Profile

ITL is a global apparel labelling products and solutions provider, who partners with retailers, brands and garment manufactures to provide Labels, Packaging, RFID and connected labelling products and solutions from source to DC to store and beyond. For over 35 years in industry; ITL have worked as trusted partners to deliver products and solutions from concept to delivery that help brand, sell, identify and distribute garments globally. 

"It is an honour to receive this award as recognition of our work in sustainability over the last few years. We hope that our data-led approach to sustainability can enable us, and our customers to continue on the path towards environmental and social sustainability; and that through a collaborative effort we can make positive impacts a reality"

Jimmy Christopher - Group Sustainability Manager

As a purposeful business with social and environmental responsibility at the centre of their operations; ITL wholly owns their global factories, enabling them to continuingly innovate sustainable products and solutions aligned with theirs and their customers’ business goals. 

Whether you are a retailer, brand owner or garment manufacturer; ITL’s comprehensive range of products and solutions are designed to support and integrate within your supply chain to ensure consistent added value. ITL are proud to be an agile business that continuously tailors solutions to meet their customer’s needs. 

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