The Cotton Council International (CCI) has sponsored the Virtual Sustainable Apparel and Textile conference, organised by Innovation Forum. CCI, the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America (NCC), is a non-profit trade association that promotes US cotton fibre and manufactured cotton products around the globe with Cotton USA trademark.
The event, which was supposed to take place in Amsterdam, had to be switched to a virtual platform due to COVID-19. This did not deter attendance and with a total of 237 delegates, the agenda was focused on how the apparel industry could transform factories, engage consumers, drive circularity, and reduce climate impact across the fashion and textile supply chains, according to a CCI press release.
With a mix of panel discussions, presentations, virtual networking opportunities, and breakout sessions, the conference lasted three days and included an opportunity for participants to learn more about sustainability, circularity, and European Union policies such as the Green Deal and traceability.
Participants included brands and retailers including VF, H&M, Decathlon, Patagonia, Hugo Boss, Tchibo, G-star, Zalando, John Lewis, New Look, Aldi, Otto Group, Tom Tailor, Bestseller, S.Oliver and The Very Group. Additional participants were organisations such as Textile Exchange (which added the US Cotton Trust Protocol on its list of preferred fibres and materials), WWF, Carbon Trust, Fairtrade Foundation, and Cotton Connect. The European Commission’s deputy head of unit, environment, sustainable production, products, and consumption also attended.
Steph Thiers-Ratcliffe, CCI Director of European Brands and Retailers, introduced the US Cotton Trust Protocol as part of a panel discussion with H&M and Patagonia focusing on the latest innovations to increase supply chain traceability and transparency beyond tier two.
“Our mission with the US Trust Protocol is to set a new sustainability standard for US cotton production, through quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement. At the heart of the Trust Protocol is a commitment to use independently verified data to drive continuous improvement in six key sustainability metrics,” Thiers-Ratcliffe said
