Ventile expands sustainability strategy

In its 9th-year, the Future Fabrics Expo, a Sustainable Angle venture, looked to showcase innovative and sustainable material solutions for the fashion industry. The show is the largest of its kind with exhibitors such as Ventile, displaying over 5000 materials to visitors each year. The expo, which was the highest attended yet, drew brand, designers, and journalists from across Europe.

As producers of eco-friendly, natural, all-weather 100 per cent cotton fabrics, Ventile offers designers and brands fabric which provides the balance of performance, comfort and sustainability. The aim is to create a durable environmentally friendly resource for the industry. With the brand’s recent introduction of both an organic cotton and a recycled cotton line, Ventile is committed to minimising the environmental impact of the textile industry.

As part of the event, Ventile displayed Ventile Organic Cotton and Ventile Eco, a 100 per cent recycled cotton fabric. Last year the brand reported a 115 per cent growth in its sales of Ventile Organic Cotton Fabric over the past three years, with ¼ of all Ventile sales now coming from sustainable fabrics. On the back of customer demand, this year the brand will add a lightweight recycled line to their offering.

“We look to connect social and environmental awareness with beautiful, well-made and performance-driven clothing. Ventile provides designers with fabric of the highest quality to make a garment which lasts a lifetime, a garment that gets better with age and inspires longevity, said Ventile production manager Daniel Odermatt.

“As the fabric is manufactured in Switzerland our production is subject to some of the most stringent regulations in the world and we use the latest technology to maximise efficiency of water and energy consumption throughout the creation process. Slow fashion is in heart of everything we do. It was great to have the opportunity to showcase Ventile at Future Fabrics for the first time and talk with designers directly about both our Recycled Cotton and Organic Cotton fabrics.”

Alongside the show at Victoria House in London, Future Fabrics will display Ventile as part of a 900-piece library all year round via their Virtual Expo. The virtual showcase is an online research and sourcing platform set up for fashion industry professionals to discover new sustainable fabrics and mills. The platform has been set up to encourage informed decision-making in the design process.

Looking ahead to 2021, Future Fabrics will take the expo to the delegates of the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi. Ventile and Future Fabrics will become part of the discussion at the 5th UNEA with the theme ‘strengthening actions for nature to achieve the sustainable development goals’.

Ventile fabric was first developed by scientists at the Shirley Institute in Manchester in 1943. Originally created to help save the lives of airforce pilots flying over the Atlantic during wartime, the fabric was designed to be cool and comfortable on land, yet warm and impenetrable if it came into contact with water. This innovative technology helped Ventile to carve out a reputation as the world’s most effective, natural, all-weather cotton textile. Championed by outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers alike Ventile fabric has conquered Everest with explorer Sir Edmund Hillary and has crossed the arctic on the back of Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Today Ventile supplies fabric to a range of customers from outdoor performance garment manufacturers to high fashion clothing and accessory brands.

Ventile Organic Cotton is made from sustainably grown cotton that does not use pesticides or chemical fertilisers and uses low-impact processing methods and materials. It is made from premium extra-long staple cotton that represents only 0.04 per cent of the overall cotton produced worldwide. This unique cotton yarn, combined with a tight spin, increases garment durability and lifespan. This reduces the frequency of consumer purchase, limiting the impact of production upon the environment. Ventile Organic Fabric is Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified with additional GOTS production guarantees for weaving and finishing.

The first high-performance fabric made entirely from recycled cotton. The pioneering fabric has been designed to achieve the best balance of performance, comfort and sustainability, and to reduce overall textile waste creating a durable and environmentally friendly resource for designers and fashion brands. Ventile ECO Fabric is Global Recycling Standards (GRS) Transactions certified.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)