The Future Fabrics Expo: A Revolutionary Nexus of Sustainability and Fashion

As the world grapples with an escalating environmental crisis, industries are being challenged to adopt more sustainable practices. The fiber, textiles, and fashion sectors, known for their substantial environmental footprints, are at the forefront of this transition. The Future Fabrics Expo serves as a unique, hands-on and solutions-focused platform in this journey, driving innovation and sustainability in fashion, home and interiors, and beyond.

The fashion apparel and home goods industries are some of the world’s top polluters, contributing significantly to water and land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and textile waste. As polyester and conventional cotton dominate the current textile landscape, the urgency for more regenerative, safe, and renewable fibers becomes increasingly apparent.

The road to sustainability is complex and multifaceted. It involves not only leveraging technology to reduce emissions but also fostering a culture of responsibility among consumers. Strategies for achieving greater circularity in textiles include the use of sustainable raw materials, promoting the concept of reuse and redesign and enhancing transparency.

However, the Future Fabrics Expo, showcased in London and New York City, takes sustainability one step further. Established in 2011, the expo serves as a unique platform for showcasing sustainable textiles and providing educational information to designers and fashion professionals. It encourages cross-industry collaborations, fostering sustainable practices across the fashion, home and interiors, and textile sectors.

The Future Fabrics Expo creates an inspiring environment for fashion industry professionals, fabric developers, and creatives. High-profile fashion companies, NGOs, and academic entities dedicated to sustainability form partnerships at the expo, giving birth to innovative ideas and solutions. The expo unites the industry in a visually captivating and inspiring showcase that captures the buzz and excitement around sustainability.

Amongst more than 10,000 textiles and materials solutions for fashion, home and interiors from more than 270 suppliers and exhibitors, attendees will find the Innovation Hub at the center, a display of groundbreaking materials and technologies that represent a complete rethink of our post-industrial revolution materials landscape; heralding a new materials revolution. The expo also provides attendees with access to a wealth of information, empowering them to understand and communicate about the environmental impact of textiles effectively. An annual seminar series runs alongside the showcase, featuring insights from global thought leaders and industry pioneers. The discussions explore the most pressing issues of our time and delve deeper into solutions.

The Future Fabrics Expo features several curated areas that provide solutions to the fashion industry’s negative impact on the climate and biodiversity crisis, its role in contributing to these challenges, and its power to be an agent of change. These areas include a focus on Next Gen fiber solutions supported by Laudes Foundation and powered by Canopy and Fashion for Good, the Future of Luxury supported by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a focus on regenerative agriculture, and an educational display zeroing in on water use in the textiles industry.

Anita Chester, head of fashion at the Laudes Foundation said the organization is “excited to grow our partnership with The Sustainable Angle and support the 2024 Future Fabrics Expo alongside our partners Canopy and Fashion for Good.” Chester said the expo is a global platform showcasing next-gen and circular materials for fashion “and we’re thrilled to be a part of bringing together key industry players with innovative frontrunners, and build the momentum to drive a transformation of fashion towards solutions with positive impacts on climate, nature and people.”

Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director of Canopy, said the organization is grateful for its “ongoing collaboration with the Future Fabrics Expo that not only highlights the imperative to transform the materials supply chain but also beautifully showcases Next Gen materials and technologies that are on the market today and ready to scale.”

Nina Marenzi, founder and director of The Sustainable Angle, highlights the uniqueness of the expo. “We were pioneers in setting up The Sustainable Angle as a not-for-profit in 2010 and launching the first Future Fabrics Expo a year later. We have gained a lot of trust because we’ve been doing this for a long time, and we are not driven by a ‘trend’ but actually helping to set the industry on the right path by giving creatives access to solutions.”

Marenzi said the Future Fabrics Expo, exhibited now on 3200m2, makes sourcing innovative, sustainably produced materials much easier to find combined with educational information displayed. “We are facilitators in that sense,” she explained. “Rather than having to go through the exercise of looking for a more sustainable material, which is like looking for a needle in a haystack, we offer it on a silver tray: most materials shown are certified and are labeled with clear information. Across the Future Fabrics Expo contextual educational information and programs are displayed.”

There’s another dimension to the expo that makes it unique. “We convene creative minds (i.e., your readers to a certain extent), to help them to understand the problems the industry faces while not making them feel bad by their previous career choices and instead we present them with the solutions so they can make their beautiful creations without costing the Earth: We want them to become changemakers themselves,” Marenzi said.

Regarding solutions, Future Fabrics Expo wants to push it further, to spotlight materials and projects that can actually have a positive impact on people and planet by cultivating crops used for fibers for fashion such as the Regenerative Cotton Project near Lake Chad in Africa. This project, supported by the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and LVMH, demonstrates how innovative solutions can have a positive impact on people and the planet.

For brands, the transition to responsible materials and processes is not just a moral responsibility but also a business necessity. With the threat of soil erosion, pollution, and climate change, the availability of fibers is also at risk. And the clock is ticking. Marenzi emphasizes the need for brands to diversify their portfolio of fibers to ensure they can meet their environmental targets.

“They need to make the switch to responsible materials and processes. It’s not only driven by incoming legislation in the EU and mandatory targets have to be met, but it’s because there’s only so much fertile soil available today so you need to diversify your fibers to more circular ones, to those grown on marginal lands, those not reliant on synthetic fertilizers or irrigation, etc,” Marenzi said.

Amanda Johnston, Future Fabrics Expo curator and educational consultant at The Sustainable Angle, agreed and acknowledged that the expo has come a long way since it was launched. “We just have to keep reiterating the messages and information and drive them forward and push them harder and switch the language a bit, until people understand the imperative to change practice,” Johnston said. Currently, the broader concept is “to sustain,” which is to “just carry on doing what you’re doing, which is not good enough anymore,” Johnston said, adding that we need to push for understanding of the “regenerative” design principles and the importance of regenerative farming; meaning we need to focus on restoration, regenerating and boosting to repair the damage we have done to ecosystems.

The expo’s approach is working and having an impact. “We are not talking to the converted anymore,” Johnston said. “Eighty percent of our audience are brand new visitors. We’re constantly honing our offering. Everything that we do is getting somewhere. We’re feeling the traction, we’re feeling the excitement again this year, which is what’s needed because everybody’s got to be in on this transition.”

The Future Fabrics Expo has clearly evolved into a vital platform for driving innovation and sustainability in fashion. By bringing together key stakeholders from across the industry, the expo is helping to create/facilitating a more sustainable future for fashion.

Moving forward, the expo’s focus on driving the diversification of the fibers portfolio, innovation, education, and collaboration will continue to drive positive change across the sector. With the fashion industry facing increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact, the Future Fabrics Expo is a beacon of hope for a more sustainable future.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the FUTURE FABRICS EXPO June 25-26.