Future Fabrics Expo to Switch Cities, Trumpet All Things Green in Brussels
GREENER PASTURES: Future Fabrics Expo, the largest showcase of sustainable fashion, footwear and interiors textiles and materials, is hopping the Channel and showcasing its innovations at the Brussels Exhibition Centre in Belgium June 24 and 25.
The annual show, which resembles a big, buzzy science fair, will host more than 100 exhibitor booths across 36,000 square feet. It will offer thousands of commercially available textiles and materials to brands, designers, manufacturers and investors who view the show as a window on the future.
Some 5,000 materials will be on display in the textiles area, and there will also be separate hubs for innovation, footwear, home interiors and regenerative agriculture. The supporting partners this year are Canopy, Textile Genesis and EcoAge.
The upcoming fair will be full of fresh ideas.
During a preview in London on Tuesday, organizers said the “components” area will be even bigger, with hemp and organic cotton zips by YKK; plant-based textiles by Evoco, and laces from Nettle Circle, a Swiss company that transforms nettles from the Himalayas into stretchy fabrics for shoes, corsets and clothing.
Nina Marenzi
The preview highlighted natural dyes made from food waste, the cochineal cactus, and bacteria found along the Amazon River in Brazil.
Other small wonders on show included sequins created from cellulose or starch, curly “bio-fur” derived from corn, and flocked fabric made in part from pulverized deadstock threads.
The June show will have a data dimension. Francois Souchet, founder of Swanstant, a “climate-economic” intelligence company, will be speaking at the fair. Swanstant, which is based in London, aims to help companies benchmark and achieve their de-carbonization goals, and anticipate the impact of climate-related disruptions using past and predictive data.
One of the fair’s big themes will be showing brands and visitors that embracing sustainability can be cost-effective and — with a little planning — worth the effort.
Amanda Johnston, chief design officer of Future Fabrics Expo, said the fair is meant to help designers and brands “activate their collective power as agents of change.”
The show will be taking place this year alongside the Textiles Recycling Expo in Brussels. Johnston and Nina Marenzi, founder and chief executive officer of Future Fabrics Expo, hope the move to Brussels will help the fair amplify its message and reach a wider audience.
