The fact is that we are still moving ahead. We’re tweaking ideas and changing the formula, hopefully for the better. Three big ideas have emerged that serve as a guiding force for 2025.

Innovation Outsourced

The 2024 closing of Schoeller signals a significant shift in the textile industry. The price of innovation is coming at the cost of operational sustainability.

However, “while closures are symptomatic of broader pressures – high energy costs, geopolitical instability and global supply chain disruptions – they also signal an opportunity to reimagine the future of textile innovation,” commented David Williamson, PhD, CEO of Modern Meadow. The exec suggested that this inflection point offers a chance to embrace next-generation materials, rethink supply chains and align more closely with sustainability mandates. Firms like BASF and Toray are looking beyond their internal R&D teams, leveraging partnerships with start-ups, Williamson noted, with advancements in AI, biofabrication and 3D printing providing a needed boost. Venture-backed acquisitions are also playing a role.

What can’t be ignored is the issue of scalability of next gen ideas. 2024 marked the closing of the Material Innovation Initiative, founded in 2019 to accelerate the development of high-quality, high-performance, animal-free and environmentally preferred next-generation materials. While MII nurtured innovators and in-turn helped bring down prices, improve quality and expand the range of available materials; a lack of government support, along with pricing sensitivities and slim profit margins still made it a tough sell.

We are currently seeing a shift where firms in India, China and Korea are leading innovation efforts. This is competitively advantageous, seeing that yarn, fiber and chemical suppliers for these innovations are often locally sourced. Innovations in materials from these countries include advancements in thermoregulation, odor control, wet processing optimization and recycling efforts. In addition, the government-run Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) is advancing sustainable innovation through its Open Lab with the H&M Foundation and SK Group in Korea, through its subsidiary SK Geo Centric, is building a large-scale plastic recycling complex in Ulsan, South Korea, to break down plastic waste to its molecular components to create new plastic materials to enable a circular economy.

Learning from Renewcell’s oversights (i.e. proximity between facilities and fiber producers), former PVH Chief Supply Chain Officer Bill McRaith and daughter Sasha McFarlane are working to launch a Regeneration Zone in West Africa to create the world’s first industry scale, circular fashion supply chain.

“Every recycler needs access to feedstock, to pre-process garments, support in sustainable energy, residual waste collection and offtake agreements. We don’t see any other way to do that other than to create a nucleus in a centralized location and set it up as the first circular supply chain for fashion,” noted McFarlane, executive director of Future-Proof Fashion. Many countries – including the U.S. and Europe – currently send a large amount of second-hand apparel to Ghana. Future-Proof Executive Advisor McRaith stated that almost 40% of that is already earmarked for disposal/the landfill upon delivery to West Africa. What is deemed re-wearable upon leaving the giving nation is often not so once it reaches Ghana due to issues in transit. If apparel waste coming into Africa could be turned into new product in one location, it could be highly advantageous to industry.

McRaith noted that our current recycling efforts are disrupting the natural flow of the supply chain. “In the U.S., we collect used product, which normally would be shipped to another region like Africa or Pakistan or Chile to be sold in the market for a second life. But that is now being stripped out 18 months early simply to feed recyclers that are looking to break it down. We are breaking down the steps we are supposed to use and the process of it,” he argued.

“Every company is demanding recycled fibers, but if you had insight on how that is happening, you would be shocked,” McRaith said, adding, “We’re adding more to the carbon footprint (than in using virgin materials) by moving things around the world to make it happen.”

In the U.S., a lofty goal is to create functional and sustainable innovation at scale. Producing innovation at mass is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Barry McGeough, Group VP of Innovation for AmeriCo. Group. AmeriCo. owns and operates 30 brands including Reebok, Champion, Spyder, Billabong and Gaiam. “America is rapidly becoming a value market,” he said. “Brands that used to be premium are now commoditizing. This is a high growth area.” A pilot or a capsule with a novel fabric or technology is great, but doing that at scale is the future.

Big idea “blue sky” innovation is optimal, but “I’ve come to realize that innovation is most profound when you support the primary business,” McGeough said. “Applied innovation fixes the enterprise. Look at your own business first, but also understand where the blue sky is.”

Suppliers Go Full-Service

While in-house product development may have been where innovation occurred in the past, today the supply chain is where developments take shape. Vendors are providing full-service solutions to clients that can be delivered in timely and sustainable ways. When an end-user wants a shirt that is cooling, anti-microbial and UPF-rated, having that technology ready, certified and available quickly – but also new and different – is beneficial to everyone.

“With today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, material supply chains are no longer just a means of delivering goods – they are the drivers of innovation and key enablers for maintaining compliance with regulatory standards,” explained Allon Cohne, CMO of Noble Biomaterials. Collaboration across the supply chain can foster innovation and certification, so businesses stay competitive while also meeting standards for sustainability, safety and quality.

“Traditionally, chemical suppliers were seen as transactional, providing materials but leaving manufacturers to figure out the rest,” noted Courtney Harold, director of marketing for Green Theme Technologies. “Now we’ve evolved to offer more than just a product. We actively collaborate with mills and manufacturers offering technical support, training and integration assistance, ensuring that mills can achieve the best results with our products.”

As brands face pressure to innovate while controlling costs, ingredient suppliers have shifted from vendors to key partners. Green Theme currently has Empel product in the marketplace with Nike, YKK and Black Diamond. Empel is a water-free, PFAS-free fabric finishing technology that creates a durable, water repellent finish. Green Theme works with brands, manufacturers and mills to help navigate performance, sustainability and cost challenges.

Brands should take note, however, that while innovation being pushed to suppliers can bring about cost savings; it can also weaken the cohesion of brand storytelling. Attention must be paid to the development process along with testing, trademark protection and brand positioning. Innovation from suppliers must be differentiated from others in the marketplace.

Nick Brosnan, Polygiene Marketing Manager - Americas, believes that “ingredient/technology brands that invest the time, resources and personnel required to develop relationships with their partners will continue to grow and gain market share.” When it’s time to cut costs, “those willing to develop consumer connections and be transparent are in the best position to succeed,” he said. Brosnan is embarking on a content branding effort to communicate the value Polygiene freshness adds to a product. “We’re excited to get closer to the consumers that put Polygiene to the test every day,” the exec said. Polygiene recently partnered with Italian brand Officina39 to offer an odor-controlled, recycled dye.

“As a sustainable ingredient supplier, we believe that the onus is on us to make it easy for brands and retailers to incorporate polyester containing CiCLO technology into their products; the only way to do that is through direct interaction not only with the end customer, but with all of the key suppliers throughout the value chain,” commented Christine Spiegel, director of marketing for CiCLO. The Champion Eco Future Reverse Weave incorporates CiCLO technology, reducing plastic textile fibers in the environment by giving polyester an eventual expiration date. The collection features dyes derived from nature, including pomegranate and annatto fruit.

Spiegel is currently leading a new repositioning initiative aimed at simplifying the message around why choosing products made with biodegradable technology is important. The effort educates consumers on the issue of microplastic pollution caused by synthetic textiles and the quest to actively find solutions. The repositioning will include updates to its brand identity, advertising, point-of-sale materials and more.

Minimize to Maximize Impact

Life today is about extremes. In efforts to provide stabilization and balance, companies are taking steps to minimize those plateaus.

When it comes to climate, Thermore VP of Global Marketing, Laura Beachy, has witnessed a shift from warmth to comfort. “In the past, the focus was on providing maximum warmth, but now we see consumers asking, ‘Can you make it cooler?’ This stems from the fact that weather patterns are more unpredictable.” The new “comfort” equation involves versatility, breathability and functionality.

In September 2024, the Thermore team launched Invisiloft, a slim insulation combining warmth without the volume of classic insulation. Invisiloft is packable and made with 100% recycled fibers from PET bottles. “Comfort is about balance – ensuring a garment provides the right amount of insulation without overheating,” Beachy said. Dovetail Co-Founder Sara DeLuca is seeing a similar movement with her client base for workwear. Many women need apparel with full coverage that is also lightweight for their jobs outdoors.  

The Dovetail D-fender pant combines the comfort of a nine ounce stretch canvas with the reinforcements of a 12 ounce Cordura canvas for a combo of hardcore performance with comfort, breathability and stretch. While Dovetail doesn’t provide layering systems, their core customer “is layering and mixing and matching her wardrobe to meet her needs, so we build a product that enables that customization,” according to DeLuca. For Spring 2026, a collaboration with Lycra and Sapphire Textile Mills will introduce a lightweight, cooling, wicking, strong, breathable offering with stretch for the female workwear consumer.

The future of sustainability may be about simply lightening, brightening and streamlining for a better planet. When it comes to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing supply chains, science-based targets and implementation to monitor progress are imperative. “No one company can solve a massive challenge like this, so in the end, industry-wide collaboration is key,” said Ramesh Kesh, PhD, SVP at Polartec.

Polartec has worked to reduce microfiber shedding for many years, with its first construction-based product Power Air, launched in 2019. Shed Less is a process that combines yarn construction, knitting, chemistry, and manufacturing to reduce home laundry fiber fragment shedding by an average of 85%. Kesh explained that “All fabrics, regardless of construction – wovens or knits – will shed (micro/macro) during washing and there is no delineation if they are made from natural or synthetic yarns.” Polartec creates fleeces that stand the test of time and are tested rigorously to mimic how clothing is washed at home, including the AATCC 212-2021 fiber fragment test using detergent.

In December 2024, Under Armour, testing laboratory Hohenstein and testing device maker PPT Group published a standardized test method enabling the determination of microfiber release from textiles under simulated washing conditions. With the DIN SPEC 19292 test procedure, apparel and textile firms along the value chain can measure and evaluate fiber release for materials during product development. Much research is being conducted concerning microplastic pollution, with an emphasis on synthetic materials. Educational opportunities are abundant to separate fact from fiction along the value chain.