TEXTILES
Textile Shows Draw Quality-Minded Attendees for SS2025
By Dorothy Crouch, Contributing Writer | March 8, 2024
Downtown Los Angeles’ textile-event roster is expanding from the more-than-30-year veteran LA Textile at the California Market Center to additional productions—The Textile Show at the Cooper Design Space, The Fabric Show Los Angeles at The New Mart and A Fabric Affair.
TEXTILE TRENDS
Think Pink Smartlink
The new shade of pink takes its inspiration from digital worlds. It’s a subtle hue referred to as “transcendent,” bridging genders and realities as opposed to bright ’80s pinks that shocked us into submission. That doesn’t mean it can’t find its way into traditional motifs, however, so look for it in florals and other classic patterns but with a hi-tech touch.
Green Thumb
If pink signifies the floral outpouring of springtime, then green symbolizes the earth from which it all comes. And while pink and green may be the quintessential preppy combination, like the ethereal pinks, these greens belong to the garden, but the garden of the digital imagination as much as Mother Earth.
Eternal Flame
Hitting on three of the four elements—airy sunsets, flowers of the earth, and shimmering waters—now it’s time for the fourth: fire. This trend’s reds and oranges stand for energy and health, particularly the self-care needed for the times, which require dynamic nimbleness. This group will have you ready for anything.
The Life Aquatic
Sunsets light up the air and sky, and flowers bloom on the earth, but aqua comes from the sea, as its very name suggests. This color category serves as a bridge between the oceanic and the synthetic digital underworld where artists create imaginary worlds. Think of it as pastel meets pixels.
Mellow Yellow
This category—named after another classic rock song—represents optimism, warmth and the splendors of nature, specifically the sunflower. In the context of the present moment, this group of floral yellows, as opposed to acidic or metallic, speaks loud and clear to our burgeoning eco-consciousness and that sustainability ultimately means nature’s beauty and bounty.
Purple Haze
Purple has always been a regal color, but there’s another side to this rich color category. Violet has the highest vibration in the color spectrum, dispersed by light, and as a result has always been considered a spiritual shade. This trend combines sunset shades of blue and violet with dynamic patterns drawn from our high-tech times.
NEWS
NILIT Joins The Ocean Foundation’s Blue Resilience Initiative
Nylon brand NILIT has partnered with The Ocean Foundation on its Blue Resilience Initiative, which aims to reestablish and safeguard essential ocean meadows and other coastal habitats.
Nearshoring and Sustainable Options Tick During LA Textile Return
During the return edition of LA Textile at the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles, apparel makers and creatives were welcomed back to the trade-show floor to find inspiration following the event’s hiatus, which began after its March 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ralph Lauren and Dow Collaborate on New Process to Dye Cotton More Sustainably
Ralph Lauren and Dow are open-sourcing a new platform that aims to transform how the apparel industry dyes cotton.
Industry Focus: Fiber, Yarn and Fabric—What features in fiber and yarn are your clients demanding, and how is this trend shaping the future of your business?
Within the foundation of every garment constructed, at the core of each piece of clothing that is made, is the cornerstone of fashion that lays the groundwork for apparel from fiber, yarn and fabric. While consumers of the past were simply satisfied with the composition listed on the tags of their clothing, today’s customers want more.
Fabric Alternatives PLNT FIBER and FRUT FIBER Introduced by Pangaia
Seeking to combat the negative impacts of pollutive textiles in the fashion industry, materials-science company Pangaia unveiled its latest innovations in the fabric space. Manufactured from plant fibers, Pangaia’s PLNT FIBER and FRUT FIBER were introduced as the company commits further to a mission of moving apparel manxufacturing away from nonorganic cotton and synthetics created from petroleum-based resources.
Ambercycle and Avery Dennison Work Together to Close the Supply-Chain Loop
The end of life for clothing often leads to the landfill, creating an enormous fashion-waste problem for the industry.
5Loc Promotes Cotton Transparency, Traceability 'From Field to Fabric'
Responsible cotton has been Brent Crossland’s passion throughout the industry expert’s nearly 40-year career. After working with a number of companies including Wrangler and Bayer CropScience—where he created the e3 sustainable cotton program that affords guidelines to farmers—Crossland recently founded 5Loc Cotton.
Lenzing Makes Strides in Fiber Identification Within Its E-Branding Service
Known for its commitment to sustainable-fiber cultivation, Lenzing has announced the expansion of its identification capabilities within the company’s E-Branding Service.
Leigh Fibers Partners With Tidal Vision to Produce Bio-based Textile Treatments
Solving issues of the toxicity that could result from traditional textile treatments, Leigh Fibers and Tidal Vision have announced a partnership that will rely on sustainable, ecologically sound resources to improve this segment of the industry.
ISKO, Soorty Team Up for Unique Collaboration
ISKO and Soorty have signed a landmark technology-licensing agreement that partners the two competitors on the production of fabric and garment collections.
Coloreel Readies for Growth by Hiring Sven Öquist as VP of Sales
In an effort to scale and target a market value over SEK 25 million, or more than $2.953 million USD, Sweden’s Coloreel has hired Sven Öquist as the company’s new vice president of sales.
Rudolf Group Introduces PET Cycle-Logic to Aid in Plastics Upcycling
Announcing the launch of its Cycle-Logic technology, the Geretsried, Germany–headquartered Rudolf Group unveiled this new advancement to help the textile industry reuse a greater amount of polyethylene terephthalate—or PET—plastics sourced from the post-consumer stage.
