Spotlight Articles

The 8IGB Founder and Creative Head Ruben Bissoli feels fashion with its craving for what feels authentic will see a return to its roots: craftsmanship, artisanal techniques, and a greater emphasis on the human touch. So, says he to texfash, that he is exploring more of handmade elements in his bid to reconnect with the art of creating something truly unique and tangible.

Here’s a brand that envisions a future "exactly as it is now” albeit with “a greater expansion” but always limited to where the founders “can reach in person!" texfash talks to Davide Biondi, the man behind a classic denim label — Hen’s Teeth — from Pescara in Italy.

As the denim community of manufacturers, designers and buyers make a rush for Milan to attend the Denim Première Vision edition, texfash speaks to Julieta Mercerat (Denim Expert – Première Vision) and Fabio Adami Dalla Val (Show Manager – Denim Première Vision) to get a feel of what it is like on the ground.

If leather needs to counter the fiction of the activist brigades, it needs to tell stories. Better stories. After all, leather is not fashion; it is heritage. A texfash rant on the push against leather and why in this age of social media, of reels, of influencers, it needs to go hammer and tongs, and move with the times.

The problem of deforestation is extended to leather only by ‘proxy’. The entire industry—the world across—has just about a year in not only to put in place traceability systems that work and are cheap, but also to shed off the deforestation tag. texfash tries to unravel the threads.

Does Denmark’s tax on livestock carbon emissions, to run effective from 2030, make scientific sense? Will it help the environmental, human health or farming livelihoods? Will the move impact the leather industry outside of Denmark? texfash probes.

LiteHide is an innovative process that effectively eliminates the scourge of tanneries: the use of salt, which is a huge global land and waterway pollutant. Alexandra Pelka, Head of Europe and Business Development of Leatherteq Limited—the innovator of the technology—talks at length about leather, processes and technology.

Being “animal-free” isn’t the final nail in the coffin for the leather industry. It is a façade for brands to avoid misinformed brand erosion while profiting from cheaper materials across their supply chain. The industry must rewrite, reteach, and remarket actual facts as the leather narrative has been dramatically swayed by fake leather and oil companies.

The cotton misinformation problem needs to be seen in the light of today’s society where fake news thrives and wreaks havoc. It’s not difficult to find out how the cotton myths came into being. It’s also not difficult to find out who have been flinging and slinging these falsehoods. Cotton needs to be more assertive, and possibly a bit aggressive too. texfash tries to join some dots.

Cotton is fraught with its own problems (ranging from climate risks and disruptions to trade wars) and polyester comes with its own driving forces (from costs to consumer preference). There are relatively lesser elements that are not deliberated as much in the public domain as they should be. For instance, why are the myths about cotton allowed to flourish? texfash looks at the story behind some numbers crunched out in the public domain.