Textile start-up company TexDel is using filament yarns as a delivery mechanism for vitamins, supplements, pain relief treatments and a variety of medications.

By Jim Kaufmann, Contributing Editor

The latest evidence demonstrating the influence of textiles’ continuous evolution on the quality of human lives is a new technology being developed and commercialized by Textile-Based Delivery Inc. (TexDel), Conover, N.C. TexDel has created a proprietary system that embeds active ingredients in traditional filament yarns such as nylon and polyester, which when made into garments using standard textile practices, results in a controlled manner of delivering the active ingredients into the wearer’s body.

Jordan Schindler, TexDel founder and CEO, first considered the concept of using textiles as a delivery mechanism while a student at the University of Washington. “I had issues with acne and learned from my dermatologist that dirty pillowcases were a leading cause of blemishes, so I set out to create a pillowcase that when in contact with the skin could treat blemishes instead of causing them,” Schindler said. The result of this initial effort, branded Nufabrx®, was the development of a technology and a fabric infused with active ingredients — including lavender, lemon balm and winter green oil — that could be released in a controlled manner. This initial effort also led Schindler on a journey where, as the old saying implies, “it is a profound truth that one thing does lead to another.”

Developing the Nufabrx pillowcase and numerous related discussions led Schindler to the realization that textiles could be effectively used as a drug delivery system. This direction was further enhanced by a rather personal connection. Explained Schindler: “My grandfather has Alzheimer’s. It affects his mood. He doesn’t want to or doesn’t remember to take his drugs. It’s funny though, he doesn’t know my name or what day it is, yet he still manages to put his socks on every morning. So, imagine if we can create socks having a controlled ingredient delivery system for him, it’s a win, win! That’s the direction we wanted to head.”

TexDel Finds A Home At MSC

One thing led to another and after developing a series of contacts within the pharmacology world, Schindler realized those contacts needed to be blended with an equally capable series of textile industry contacts in order to foster his concepts. He also realized that the Seattle area had rather limited textile industry resources. During a road trip to identify textile resources, Schindler came into contact with the Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) in Conover and soon realized he had found a new home base for TexDel.

The MSC is a non-profit organization and division of the Catawba Valley Community College. Established in 1990 by Dan St. Louis as the Hosiery Technology Center, MSC has grown into a strong resource for the area’s textile manufacturing community, an accredited testing facility with diverse capabilities and an incubator of new technologies. “Our focus is on creating a manufacturing future for this area,” stated Dan St. Louis, now MSC’s executive director. “We enjoy working with entrepreneurs like Jordan to develop new business opportunities.”

For Schindler and TexDel, it was an ideal fit. “We’ve been here almost three years now and they’ve been great to work with,” Schindler said. “It’s very convenient when we can make an infused yarn on our equipment, walk down the hall to one of their machines and turn it into a sock, then go around the corner to the lab and have it tested. Dan has been great and knows so many people in the industry which has also been a big help. Non-diluted capital is precious, so the resources and connections available through MSC are incredibly valuable for us as a start-up and something most investors don’t have,” he added. “We’ll always have a presence at MSC. The convenience to their technology and resources, as well as the foot traffic through the facility, is equally important.”

Embedded Ingredients = Smart Fabrics

When most people hear the term smart fabrics their first inclination is towards electronic textiles or E-textiles that incorporate some variation of electronics allowing the fabric to conduct electricity and connect to digital components such as smart phones or computers. TexDel’s Nufabrx branded fabrics do not incorporate electronics, at least not yet, but they certainly are equally smart. TexDel has developed and continues to improve upon a patented methodology of applying a consistent level of ingredients directly to individual fibers or filaments of a yarn. Its equipment can produce sufficient quantities for current customers, and TexDel is scaling through accredited contract manufacturers. Given the critical nature of its target applications, maintaining a high level of quality and tight control parameters is of fundamental importance to TexDel.

Ingredients embedded in the yarn through the TexDel process are not limited to any particular family of drugs and can include vitamins, supplements, anti-fungal treatments and a variety of medications. “There’s lots of possibilities,” offered Schindler. “We can tailor the content and delivery rates specifically to the customer’s needs. Testing gives us an accurate profile of what’s happening in the yarn and resultant garments. It’s shown that the application process is consistent and repeatable. We’ve also found it to be durable and not affected by repeated machine washings and dryings as long as low temperature cycles are followed and no bleach is used.”

Because of concerns that high temperature processing could damage the application and/or the ingredients involved, only solution dyed polyester and nylon yarns have been produced to this point reducing any concerns associated with dyeing and finishing. Natural fibers, spun yarns and other polymer types also are in development.

Conventional fabric-forming methods are employed to turn the treated yarn into any number of textile fabrics or garments. The treated yarn also can be used as a cover or wrap for stretch applications. Knitting currently garners much of the focus because of the technology’s ability to effectively plate and control yarn positioning. According to Schindler: “The delivery technology is most effective when the treated yarn can be positioned specifically against the skin. The ingredient delivery mechanism works similar to a transdermal patch and is activated by the skin’s temperature and moisture.”

Pieces of treated fabric also can be incorporated to target specific areas consistently and repeatedly in a sewn garment such as a T-shirt or yoga pant. Testing of garments have shown that the Nufabrx delivery system, through repeated wash and wear cycles, produces a roughly six-month usage profile for the ingredient’s effectiveness. However, even after the ingredient’s functionality wears out, the product is still wearable as a normal garment. TexDel is working on different methods for signaling the consumer when the ingredient functionality has depleted. Also, from a manufacturer’s perspective, having a product with a predefined shelf-life hopefully necessitates more inventory turns.

Application Potential

As one can imagine, given the nature of this technology and its perceived effectiveness, applications abound. “It’s a fact that people just don’t like to take pills, so we’re hoping to improve upon the process by using their garments as the delivery system, in essence making drug delivery a non-event,” Schindler said. “Test results have shown that our products can deliver the same measured therapeutic doses as creams or pills in a predictable and controlled manner. The technology, so far, is really not limited to any particular family of ingredients, though we plan to stay away from some areas like opioids and steroids due to the stigmas attached along with the associated risks and complications. It’s more of a business decision we’ve made to focus efforts, start simple with over the counter, safe ingredients, develop the technology further and create a market presence. So, we believe targeting the topical pain relief applications such as patches, creams and some of the copper and silver treated wrap and sleeve technologies being offered to be the most effective path for us to generate some early successes.”

TexDel intends to follow a strategy similar to that employed effectively by W.L. Gore with its Gore-Tex technology by focusing on creating the technology then licensing the product and brand to approved manufacturers. “We feel the athletic space is our core market to start with and actually welcome competitors to this new arena because there is such broad potential for products and markets, Schindler said. “But, we will be very careful and smart about how we go forward, who we work with, both from the production of the technology and how it is used and marketed in a final product form. We’re focusing on fast moving e-commerce brands to generate successes. As a small business, cash flow is very important, and I’ve found that big brands can be hard to work with due to the layers of decision makers that typically result in slower speeds to implementation. Especially when compared to the fact that I can make a new product and launch it on Amazon in a couple of days generating sales — maybe a week or two if I want fancy packaging!” According to Schindler, TexDel is currently working with four different manufacturers in the area and focusing on several upcoming new product launches.

Kentwool Partnership, Future Outlook

This strategy appears to be working out well so far for TexDel. Kentwool — based in Greenville, S.C., and highly regarded for its performance sock lines — has partnered with TexDel and recently introduced the SensationWool Therapeutic sock on its website, as “the first and only sock with fiber treated for pain relief, our most revolutionary sock to date.”

The socks are manufactured using a blend of Merino wool and TexDel’s “Nufabrx nylon infused with capsaicin and a synthetic cooling agent. A combination of warming and cooling ingredients that provides temporary relief of foot-related aches and pains.” According to Schindler: “The first run sold out in a week. Kentwool also did a 200-person user study that found 64 percent noticed increased comfort and pain relief and 83 percent said they would buy the product.”

TexDel also recently announced it had received a $1 million dollar award to be distributed over 10 months from Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), Cambridge, Mass., to accelerate the development of medicine delivering fabrics for consumer and Department of Defense applications. “This is the first award through AFFOA presented to a start-up company,” Schindler said. “It is a nice fit and really ties in well with what we’re currently doing. We need to show commercial traction and the deliverables and milestones line up well with what we’re doing and what the market seems to want.”

The program’s initial focus is to further develop socks incorporating pain relief ingredients for soldiers who tend to be on their feet all day, sometimes hiking long distances while carrying full packs. “When soldiers are packing, critical choices have to be made on what goes and what stays and often drugs are left out. If we can turn socks into a delivery system for the drugs, it’s a two-for-one opportunity. The bonus is they don’t have to worry about the timely taking of drugs. It just happens automatically through our technology,” Schindler stated.

Earlier this year, Yoel Fink, AFFOA CEO and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was speaking of changes in the textile industry and profoundly stated: “You’re no longer going to pay for the shirt. You’re going to pay for what that shirt does for you. You pay for the service and you get the fabric.”

TexDel and its Nufabrx branded line of products present a fine example of how true this statement can be for the continually changing textile industry. Or as Schindler so eloquently stated: “It’s actually all about identifying simplicity from complexity. That’s really where the value is delivered!”

November/December 2018

NC State researchers have created fashionable clothing that can be used for exercise as well as capturing vital body measurements.

TW Special Report

In 2017, an estimated 1.66 billion people worldwide purchased goods online. During the same year, between 20 and 50 percent of online clothing sales were returned — a majority because of poor fit (Cheng, 2015; Pulga, 2015). Researchers at the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University, Raleigh, N.C., have developed a solution to the waste and cost of these returns: Prime Fit is a proprietary mobile app and garment system that offers an inexpensive way for consumers to obtain accurate body measurements in the privacy of their own home (patent number US2018/046248).

The system could be revolutionary for online shoppers, e-commerce clothing companies and even fitness and wellness applications. The mobile app, in development at NC State, obtains measurements from 2D images that have been taken with a cell phone or digital camera while the user wears a special Prime Fit measuring garment. The software gathers basic demographic information, such as age, height, weight, gender and ethnicity, as well as front and side pictures of the body while wearing the measurement garment. The output results in 2D measurements that will provide accurate dimensions that can help consumers identify their “size” for clothing purchase. Most of the sizing that is available for a product online is quite simplistic and usually includes bust, waist, hip, inseam length, and potentially back length. These measurements define the size and shape of the consumers bodies, rather than the measurement of the garment at the specific location. On the other side, most consumers do NOT know their own body measurements in order to determine the correct size.

What is especially frustrating to consumers is that sizing often changes according to manufacturer and sometime country of origin. A consumer may think that they wear a size 6 in jeans, but find that in the more expensive products they can actually wear a size 4 and in a product from mass retailers, they might actually need an 8. The products may all be created with the same group of measures for the bodies that they are made for, but just identified as different size numbers. This is where the term “vanity sizing” comes from.

What is really important is the combination of measurements used to determine the size connotation — 2, 4, 6 or S, M, L — rather than the size itself.

Most products sold at retail in brick-and-mortar stores have no background measurement information available to define the sizes. The consumer just has to try on many pairs to figure out which fits best. And when they run out of time, patience, or will power, they select the best of the worst.

For online sales, consumers actually need to find the sizing chart that relates to the product to try to figure out the most correct size. When they find the sizing system, they will find a group of bust, waist, hip, and inseam measurements the manufacturer used to define a specific size. Unfortunately, since much of the product sold online has been designed and assigned a size in China, the sizing is actually relative to the smaller Chinese body. The normal size medium consumer may actually have measurements that define an extra-large product that was created in China. This difference is really difficult to believe, so consumers often buy their regular size and then a second garment one size larger. This means they planned to return one garment anyway, and then often have to return the other as well because they didn’t have their own correct body measurements to start with.

NC State researchers wanted to find a way to make it easy and fun for people to monitor their body measurements using a simple system that provides very accurate results. All consumers have body changes that occur over time that they may be totally unaware of. These changes can have a significant impact on the size of clothing needed. While some garments might not be impacted by small body changes — like T-shirts, for example — there are many other situations where personalized fit is highly desirable — such as for wedding gowns, tailored suits, evening wear and jeans. There clearly is a need for a garment system that could be used by customers to measure themselves accurately, easily, and cost- effectively and track this data.

Collecting Body Measurements

Researchers have been working to develop better ways to collect body measurements for decades. Traditionally, measurements have been collected manually using tape measures, anthropometers, and calipers. Unfortunately, the average person is really bad at taking their own body measurements. It is also very time consuming. A more accurate and speedy method of measuring bodies is by using 3D whole-body scanners. While this technology is quite amazing with the wealth of information that it can provide, it is fairly expensive and not widely available to most apparel shoppers. In addition, the technology requires the user to be scanned in their underwear in order to obtain the most accurate measurements. Many consumers are uncomfortable with the idea of images being captured of them in their underwear and do not want pictures of themselves circulating on the internet. They especially don’t want pictures of their children out on the web.

New developments with handheld scanners have brought interest in their potential for use in measuring bodies, however, these scanners also can only measure what they “see” and must compensate for the clothing being worn. The garments worn during scanning affect the measurement outcome in significant ways.

Technology is central to how millennials and the new I Generation — born since 1995 — operate in the world. Digital devices control their world and are their primary means of communication, almost entirely online, using their phones for everything. Retailers have also become more focused on the surge in mobile transactions. Since almost everyone has a cellphone that they use all of the time, using a cellphone as the body measurement device is convenient. However, since the RGB camera on a cellphone is no better at seeing through clothing than any other device in the marketplace, the reliability of the result depends heavily on the garment worn by the user. So, NC State researchers designed a garment that could aid in measurement extraction, provide appropriate privacy, and be something a user might actually want to wear to work out.

Recently, 2D images — photographs — have become more popular as a means for obtaining body information because the method is low cost, pictures can provide reasonable results and image analyzing application programming interfaces (APIs) have become more powerful and accessible. The cellphone cameras can’t obtain as much information as the 3D whole body scanners when only a few images are taken. However, the information collected from these 2D images can be used to determine unknown information using statistical prediction models and machine learning. These opportunities have yet to be fully commercialized.

There are many limiting factures when using 2D images for body measurements. One of the limitations is the surrounding space that is difficult to subtract out and away from the image of the body. Privacy remains a concern, as well. To help solve these issues, garment apparatuses have been designed and tested. These apparatuses can protect a customer’s privacy and make it easier to identify body measurements and the appropriate locations.

With 2D images taken using a garment apparatus, data mining and image processing techniques are much easier. This body measurement system can be used by customers to monitor their own measurements. User interviews and support statements suggest that it would be valuable and feasible to develop a body measuring system that customers could use whenever and wherever they want to get more accurate body measurements than they would be likely to obtain using a measuring tape on their own.

Research

NC State’s research focused on creating a fast, personal apparatus; system; and method for obtaining body dimensions extracted from 2D images captured by a user. Subjects wore the garment apparatus while having a 2D picture taken from the front and the side of the body. Computer vision technology was used to extract key body dimensions at primary locations based on the design of the garment. These dimensions were further used to predict additional body information. A huge, 3D anthropometric body database was used to train the prediction models using machine-learning algorithms. A schematic of the system is illustrated in Figure 1a. A prototype of the apparatus is shown in Figure 1b.

The primary purpose of measurement system was to develop a way to obtain measurements that are accurate within the tolerance generally acceptable for clothing sizing while making the garment both practical and aesthetically pleasing. The garments have been designed with markings at specific locations to align with characteristic body features and coded with different colors so the measurement system can recognize where to measure from the 2D images. Camouflage patterns are applied in each color block to make the design less monotonous while ensuring the accuracy of measurements.

The garments that have been developed can be kept, shared, returned or even worn as regular sports clothing. In e-retail, these garments can be shipped in the same box as a regular order. They can be used by a friend or family member and for all ages and populations with slight adjustments in size ranges. Once the garment pictures are taken, the consumer can use the data to shop for clothing at any website. If willing, the consumer can share with retailers to aid in better selection for future purposes.

Advantages of this system include:

• accurate measurement results can be achieved within the general production tolerances of most apparel products;
• data is obtained in an automatic format with better accuracy than manual body measurements taken by untrained consumers;
• privacy concerns can be reduced by not using partially undressed pictures over the internet;
• digital data is obtained in a format to facilitate size prediction in e- commerce transactions;
• potential reduction in returned merchandise due to sizing issues; and
• no need for specialized facilities or expensive equipment, such as 3D scanners, to take body measurements.

The garments are made using a 83-percent polyester/17-percent elastane four-way stretch fabric and the patterns are printed using digital printing technology. These garments are not only essential to the success of the software, they also can be used for active apparel.

Future Developments

The measurement system developed at NC State is an efficient and cost-effective way to measure a body. Because most clothing shoppers have access to cellphones that can take pictures, it costs almost nothing for them to use the system. In an optimal situation, most of the cost could be borne by the garment manufacturers with the end result increased sales and substantially fewer returns because of fit issues. Most smart phones have internet access, which offers further opportunities regarding using the body information. Customers can access their up-to-date body measurements at anytime and anywhere. The body measurements collected through the system could be used to select garment sizes, create online 3D avatars, customize clothing patterns, and track customer’s fitness. The new system solves issues related to existing systems such as the high cost of 3D whole-body scanning technology, the measurement extraction dilemma of handheld scanners, and the low-quality results from manual measuring techniques. Overall, the developed body measuring system is innovative and important for the apparel industry, but also has the potential for the health industry.

Editor’s Note: The Prime Fit Team — comprised of Dr. Andre West; Dr. Cynthia Istook, Cornelson Family Distinguished Professor of Textile and Apparel Design; and students Hawes Collier, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Jiayin Li, Textile Technology Management; and Sibei Xia, Textile Technology Management — all contributed to this article. For more information about the research, contact Dr. Andre West at 919-515-6650; ajwest2@ncsu.edu; or visit theprimefit.com and http://www.3dbody.tech/cap/papers/2018/18126xia.pdf

November/December 2018

C&A is leveraging a global network to create fashion with a positive impact.

By Jay Bolus

What does it take to make the world’s most sustainable denim jeans? And, more broadly, what does it mean to be sustainable and how is sustainability measured? The textile and apparel industry can have an enormous effect on the environment, as well as on the people that make and wear the final garments. With an increasing number of organizations and individuals developing innovative products, processes and ingredients, there are many members along the value chain not only minimizing harm but also doing more good.

Recently, C&A, an international fashion retail clothing chain, released the world’s first Cradle to Cradle Certified™ GOLD denim jeans. Cradle to Cradle is a science-based quality certification that “acknowledges continuous improvement and innovation of products and processes towards the goal of being not just ‘less bad’ but also ‘more good’ for people and the planet.” The certification program is based on Charlottesville, Va.-based MBDC LLC’s Cradle to Cradle® framework and methodology. Certification is awarded at five levels — BASIC, BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD AND PLATINUM — with each level imposing a more rigorous set of requirements. The lowest score in any quality category establishes the product’s overall score. The jeans innovation posed both a material and design challenge that required designers to be open-minded and flexible in the way they utilize materials.

The Cradle to Cradle Certified GOLD jeans were achieved through C&A’s close collaboration with Fashion for Good — an initiative connecting brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organizations, innovators and funders to work together in a shared ambition to make the fashion industry a force for good — architect and sustainable development leader William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle Certified™ assessors MBDC, Spain-based consultancy service Eco Intelligent Growth S.L. (EIG), and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, a non-profit organization that administers the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard. The release of C&A’s jeans came on the heels of the first ever Cradle to Cradle Certified GOLD, fully compostable T-shirt collection launched in 2017. The denim jeans provide an example of ways to collaborate within industry to split the materials into biological and technical nutrients to create a closed-loop system of design.

Over the past year, C&A inspired collaboration among various manufacturers and suppliers to evaluate and improve the denim garment with regards to human and environmental health, recyclability and biodegradability, renewable energy use and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness. MBDC provided the counsel of the jeans to C&A during the Cradle to Cradle certification process.

In terms of material and chemical optimization, many denim garments are mixes of biological and technical nutrients — materials designed to flow optimally in nature’s nutrient cycles or circulate in a perpetual cycle of production, recovery and manufacture — which could be called a monstrous hybrid in Cradle to Cradle Design™ language. This presents a challenge — creating a garment that has the same performance as traditional models, but doing so in a way that is either 100-percent technical or 100-percent biological to allow them to return to their respective cycles at end of use. Another option, which was adopted for the jeans, is to make them easily separable so the biological and technical nutrients can return to their respective cycles.

Embracing Opportunity Through Collaboration

Creating such a complex product presented several logistical challenges that came to be seen as opportunities. The diversity of the supply chain posed an opportunity as textile manufacturers rely on yarns, dyes and auxiliaries, each of which can have multiple suppliers, requiring cooperation from several key players beyond C&A and its mills in the certification process. MBDC worked to bring these companies together in collaborative advantage.

By leveraging the strengths of different players, the team worked together to champion a sustainable and innovative product. EIG focused on working with European suppliers. EPEA Switzerland, another accredited Cradle to Cradle Certified assessor led by Albin Kälin, shared information for the fiber that provided the garment’s stretch.

Typically, this stretchy material in textiles has been spandex, which is a copolymer known for its elasticity and comfort. These materials present considerable challenges from a Cradle to Cradle Design standpoint as they are petro-based, do not biodegrade and are not recyclable at end of use. However, EPEA Switzerland had previously collaborated with a company that produces a spandex-like fiber in a slightly different way. While not completely biodegradable, the material is compatible with biological systems. These spandex-like fibers can biodegrade, although at a considerably slower rate than the cotton, but can also later be recaptured for future use. When combined with the fiber, cotton is still compostable without having any negative impact on the microorganisms in the compost.

In the future, this process can become more transparent and streamlined as spandex fiber manufacturers are encouraged to share their formulas, enabling more collaboration within the supply chain. The company that created this new fiber not only designed a unique way of making a stretchy fiber biocompatible, but also was open and transparent with its formulas. Because the ingredients and formulas of every element are known, MBDC could fully and thoroughly assess the garment for material health.

Embodying The Five Goods

Beyond material health, the denim jean garments embody The Five Goods — Good Materials, Good Economy, Good Energy, Good Water, Good Lives — described by McDonough. C&A, while embracing the entire Five Goods, particularly focused on Good Materials.

Everyone involved had the goal of achieving GOLD level certification — particularly in the material health category. Unlike many other elements of manufacturing, materials and toxicity are not optimizable — once a toxic material is released, it is virtually impossible to get it back. From the beginning, the jeans were designed with chemicals and materials safe for humans and environmental systems.

For Good Economy, also known as Circular Economy, despite combined biological and technical materials — the rivets are still metal and the zipper is still comprised of a synthetic material — the multiple components are easily separable so biological materials can return to biological systems and technical materials can return to technical systems.

From the Good Energy perspective, everything is renewably powered at the mills, so each garment is manufactured using 100-percent renewable energy.

Good Water is achieved through the mills’ closed-loop water system and keeping the dyeing process within the mills. In the modern textile industry, dyeing can be one of the most challenging processes for water quality, but utilizing a closed-loop water system means the water is being perpetually recycled. The only water that leaves the system does so through evaporation, so new water does need to be added occasionally, but there is no effluent and therefore no concern about contaminating local water systems or groundwater.

The mills chosen were specifically selected for their emphasis on social fairness and paying above living wage to all their employees, which is required for certification in the fifth category of social fairness. A strong score for Good Lives also was achieved through C&A’s social programs, including global partnerships with Save the Children and C&A Foundation and its own Inspiring Women campaign. The partnership with Fashion For Good, an open-source initiative that supports the transformation of apparel culture toward a circular economy, also contributed to this aspect.

Sharing The Tools

During the certification process, Fashion for Good created a toolkit, Developing Cradle to Cradle Certified Jeans to accompany the garment’s release. The toolkit includes concrete solutions on how manufacturers can approach complex products and projects such as jeans to reach product certification at the GOLD level. Also accompanying the jeans’ launch was Fashion for Good’s Assessed Materials Almanac, which showcases materials and ingredients currently assessed for Cradle to Cradle Material Health available for use in the fashion industry.

C&A, at the beginning of the project, made the decision to be as transparent as they could throughout the entire process so that others could learn from its work and draw inspiration from the journey. By being completely open, other manufacturers can connect with like-minded suppliers and potentially model their products after these garments.

By launching the first fully Cradle to Cradle Certified denim jeans, C&A is not only empowering customers to choose popular apparel that is good for the world, but also encouraging other companies to follow their lead. This dedication to setting the fashion standard to one that puts human and environmental health first takes an inspiring step to increase economic, social and ecological benefits based on quality, not just quantity, to point the way to a thriving circular economy.

To really change an industry, suppliers and manufacturers must be more transparent moving forward. That is really what C&A wanted to do with this project and that’s what Fashion for Good is all about — changing an entire industry. The hope for the project, among all the collaborators, is that it will become a model for, “it exists; therefore, it is possible.” C&A has created fast fashion items in a circular, Cradle to Cradle Design way, so almost anything should be possible.

Editor’s Note: Jay Bolus is president of MBDC, advisors in material health, product design, and the Cradle to Cradle Design Framework.

November/December 2018