Textile Innovation World Textile Information Network

The Textile Innovation Podcast speaks with Dr Yuly Fuentes-Medel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Fabric Innovation Hub about how academic collaboration is transforming practices within the fashion industry. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT)’s Fabric Innovations Hub seeks to answer how academia can benefit industry. The hub fosters a community of experts in fibres and fabrics to promote research, technology, education and innovation in support of the future of the textile industry. 
In episode 97 of WTiN’s Textile Innovation Podcast, we speak with Dr Yuly Fuentes-Medel, project manager for fibre technologies at MIT’s Fabric Innovations Hub about the relationship between academia and the fashion industry. She speaks about how the hub operates and both its internal and external partnerships. 
Fuentes-Medel also touches on her work with the Footwear Collective, which is driving a collaborative and circular approach for the footwear industry by partnering with leading brands, dedicated to scope, develop and scale circular solutions. 
If you’d like to learn more, please visit fabric-ideas.mit.edu. 
You can listen to the episode above, or via Spotify and Apple Podcasts. To discuss any of our topics, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @abi_wtin on X, formerly Twitter, or email aturner@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, please email sales@wtin.com. 

Cotton accounts for roughly 65% of the fibres present in wardrobes worldwide. It is therefore a key discussion topic in the textile industry’s transition towards a sustainable future. 
In episode 96 WTiN’s Textile Innovation Podcast, we speak with Alia Malik, chief development officer at Better Cotton, about the company’s drive towards a traceable supply chain. Better Cotton is a world-leading sustainability initiative for the natural fibre. Its mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
Better Cotton already accounts for 22% of global cotton production. Malik speaks to WTiN about the company’s 2030 strategy, within which it launched Better Cotton Traceability at the end of 2023, to make it possible to trace Better Cotton back to its country of origin. She explains how the market is demanding more information and how this aligns with the company’s efforts to help farmers access these markets and generate sustainable livelihoods. 
If you’d like to learn more, please visit bettercotton.org.
You can listen to the episode above, or via Spotify and Apple Podcasts. To discuss any of our topics, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @abi_wtin on X, formerly Twitter, or email aturner@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, please email sales@wtin.com.

This month, WTiN speaks with Daniel Rufenacht, chief executive officer at Bluesign. Based out of Switzerland, Bluesign partners with brands, manufacturers and chemical suppliers, from fibre to finished product, with the aim to make safer workplaces and textile products that are less impactful on the environment and people. 
Rufenacht talks about the difference between a standard and an index – and why one is far more superior, why collaboration is integral as the current period continues to evolve when it comes to the planet and textiles, and most importantly: how to stay ahead of legislation. 
Contact Bluesign at bluesign.com/en/. To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on X (formerly Twitter), or email rpenson@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, email sales@wtin.com.

This month, WTiN speaks with Kris Cody. Founder and chief executive officer at PAKA, a company paving its own path with natural fibres since 2015. The idea of PAKA and traceable alpaca wool came after Cody was in Peru as part of a backpacking trip. After returning home, he booked a one-way flight back over to Peru and lived among the alpaca farmers and their families before starting the company. Now, nine years later, the company has hit a number of impressive milestones.
One year after a kick starter campaign that raised over 1700% of its initial target, PAKA released its first activewear: BREATHE, which was forged in partnership with SeaLegacy. Just last year, PAKA released its first traceable alpaca hoodie releases, in partnership with AIA, followed by the release of PAKAFILL® - an ‘ethical’ insulation for clothing.
Contact Cody at pakaapparel.com. To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on X (formerly Twitter), or email rpenson@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, email sales@wtin.com.

This month, WTiN speaks with Graham Stewart. He is the man behind a holistic patent-pending process called Fibre 52. The Fibre 52 process is holistic from prep to dye, and mill tests around the globe show it’s consistently repeatable. It also is integrated with no added machinery or upfront investment. Stewart talks about certification, sustainability, how the Fibre52 process came to be and how it can help manufacturing processes.
Contact Stewart at fibre52.com. To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on X (formerly Twitter), or email rpenson@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, email sales@wtin.com.

This month, WTiN speaks with Ishan Chathuranga – an e-textiles engineer based in Ontario, Canada. Chathuranga has more than eight years’ experience in electronic textile product development, failure analysis, and manufacturing. Chathuranga delves into the issues around scaling e-textiles, stages of development and the need for plug-and-play technology and standardisation.
To discuss any of the topics in the episode, get in touch by following @wtincomment and @rubyatwtin on Twitter, or email rpenson@wtin.com directly. To explore sponsorship opportunities, email sales@wtin.com.