Cotton news and archive

Exhibition: “The art of trademark in Indo-British textile trade” sheds light on the forgotten art of textile labels

The first thing you notice is the heat; it is all around, almost palpable. Then there are the sounds, deafening, each vendor trying to shout louder than the next. “Madam, here, here, Kashmiri silk, you won’t find anywhere.” “Come to my stall, please, I will show you the widest range.” Then there are the smells of course, some pleasant like the...

Fashion

H&M Foundation announces Global Change Award 2026 finalists

The H&M Foundation has announced its top 20 finalists for the 2026 Global Change Award (GCA). Selected from 450 ideas submitted from 81 countries across six continents, the innovations from the 20 early-stage finalists are set to be reviewed by the GCA Expert Panel together with the H&M Foundation team. From the 20 finalists, the panel and team...

Fashion

Marks & Spencer launches cotton programme in bid to strengthen biodiverse farming practices

British department store Marks & Spencer has established a new partnership with sustainability innovator Pilio to launch the Affordable Clean Environment (ACE) cotton programme. The initiative intends to broaden access to clean energy and strengthen biodiverse farming practices within Indian cotton-growing communities. Developed as part of Marks...

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Better Cotton Initiative opens producer enrollment in the US

Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, has announced the opening of producer enrollment in the United States, until May 15, for the 2026-2027 season. US producers of cotton interested in working with BCI can complete a brief Producer & Program Partner Interest Survey online. What sets the BCI apart...

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China eases tariffs on certain textile and leather products

The Chinese government has introduced a reduction to tariffs on certain raw materials, including strategic inputs for textiles and leather, as it looks to bolster its position as a key sourcing hub. The new plan, which came into effect January 1, 2026, was approved by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council and published by China’s...

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Could Egypt be the next garment producing hub by 2035?

In the first four months of 2025, Egypt’s readymade garment (RMG) exports reached the milestone of crossing the 1 billion US dollar mark. After food and beverages, the textile and garment industry is the second-largest industrial sector in Egypt today. In 2024, the country’s textile exports grew by almost one fifth (18 percent) to 2.84 billion...

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Haelixa and New Focus Textiles deliver forensic proof of recycled cotton

In what could be a turning point for transparency in the recycled materials market, Swiss traceability firm Haelixa has teamed up with New Focus Textiles to embed forensic-level proof of recycled cotton across the latter’s textile-to-textile (T2T) operations. The move reflects a growing recognition in fashion: recycled claims are only as strong...

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US Cotton Trust Protocol reports “measurable” environmental gains in 2025

The US Cotton Trust Protocol, the voluntary sustainability programme for US cotton growers and the traceability platform for all US Cotton, has released its 2024/25 annual sustainability report, which reveals that more than 1,500 grower members have achieved “meaningful gains” across all six of its sustainability metrics against a 2015 baseline....

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Will COP30 deliver for cotton? The fibre at the frontline of fashion’s climate crisis

COP30 began this week amid controversy, as a new four-lane highway carved through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest to host the conference, a jarring backdrop for an event dedicated to climate action. Against this uneasy start, cotton finds itself at the sharp edge of the fashion industry’s own climate reckoning. A decade...

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How textile colour accelerates ocean microplastic pollution

A growing body of scientific research is beginning to quantify what the fashion industry has long suspected: synthetic clothing, particularly polyester, is one of the major sources of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Now, a new paper by Chen R., Zhao X. and colleagues at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology,...

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Better Cotton Initiative rebrands and introduces new traceability label

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) marked World Cotton Day with a comprehensive rebrand and the launch of a new traceability label, underscoring the organisation’s efforts to enhance transparency and accountability across the cotton supply chain. The move includes a redesigned logo, website, and the reinstatement of its original full name, fter...

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Hemp denim: Fashion for Good aims to scale up sustainable alternative

Hemp has been praised in the denim industry for years, yet it has not been scaled up. Fashion for Good has announced a new project to investigate this issue. The project involves innovative start-ups and commercial partners such as Bestseller, C&A, Reformation, PDS Limited and Target. Two denim producers, Bossa from Turkey and Nice Denim from...