REVECOL®’s Sustainable Innovation

REVECOL®, ERCA’s pioneering range of chemical auxiliaries, marks a significant step forward in sustainable textile processing. Developed from recycled vegetable oils, REVECOL® products are a shining example of circular economy principles in action. This innovative approach not only reduces environmental impact but also meets the high-performance demands of modern textile production, aligning perfectly with CLASS’s mission of promoting sustainability in the textile sector.

Impact on the Textile Industry

The introduction of REVECOL® is poised to revolutionize the industry. Its versatility makes it suitable for a wide range of textile fibers, both virgin and recycled, thus offering a sustainable solution for textile businesses, fashion brands, and other stakeholders. This development resonates strongly with C.L.A.S.S.’s primary audience who are increasingly seeking eco-friendly alternatives in textile processing.

Prestigious Recognitions

The sustainability commitment of REVECOL® has been recognized and validated by two prestigious accolades – the bluesign® recognition and the European Responsible Care® Award 2023. bluesign® highlights REVECOL®’s compliance with stringent environmental, health, and safety standards, while the European Responsible Care® Award celebrates its innovative, responsible production processes. These achievements are a significant nod to the collaborative efforts of C.L.A.S.S. and ERCA in driving sustainable innovation.

C.L.A.S.S. and ERCA: A Partnership for the Future

C.L.A.S.S.’s partnership with ERCA goes beyond a business collaboration; it is a unified effort towards a sustainable future. This partnership is set to explore new horizons in sustainable textile production, showcasing a model of collaboration that other industry players can emulate. Together, C.L.A.S.S. and ERCA are not just responding to the current needs of the industry but are actively shaping a more sustainable future for the textile world.

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C.L.A.S.S. Material hub is our section dedicated to producers of innovative ingredients: fiber, yarn, fabric, leather and accessories.

Today we are happy to introduce you to our new partner: Spiber Inc.

Spiber Inc. is a Japanese biotechnology venture founded in 2007. It is engaged in the development of its structural protein materials named  “Brewed Protein” which are lab-grown and plant-based. The company mission is focused on contributing to the realization of sustainable well-being.

The material innovation and development, is driven by the vision that sustainability-oriented solutions such as the Brewed Protein materials and the Biosphere Circulation Program will contribute to a future material world that will have a positive impact on the planet and people.

Discover more on Spiber Inc. watching the below C.L.A.S.S. Smart Interview in which our CEO & founder Giusy Bettoni meets Callie Clayton, Global Client Relations Manager at Spiber Inc.

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A project by Venezia da Vivere and a capsule collection made in Bemberg fabrics, designed by Tiziano Guardini with the illustrator

May 2023 – Bemberg by Asahi Kasei, the unique fiber obtained from cotton linters, will be the sustainable hero of the upcoming edition of A Dress for Venice, the project conceived by Venezia da Vivere starting from 2019.
After the announcement on April 1^st during the VFW Research Edition, which gathered renowned sustainability experts, Bemberg and A Dress for Venice are joining forces to develop a high profile yet synergic collaboration, focusing on a valuable, innovative and sustainable at the same time approach.

Set to take place in October 2023 during the Fall-Winter edition of VFW, A Dress for Venice aims at celebrating Venice by connecting its thousand-year long craftsmanship to sustainability, fashion and art, enhancing the role of Venice as eternal source of inspiration: with its hidden gems, the city exudes uniqueness, beauty and a whispered luxury. Bemberg by Asahi Kasei reflects the same grace, elegance, preciousness; capturing the hearts of people around the world with a timeless passion.

Bemberg by Asahi Kasei has a circular economy footprint, since obtained through a closed-loop process ensuring certified sustainability credentials through its transparent and traceable approach. Bemberg delivers high quality and versatile applications, comfortable whatever the season: its blissful sensation glides on linings, outerwear, underwear, sportswear and even couture pieces.

Koji Hamada, CEO of Asahi Kasei Fibers Italia, underlined: “Thanks to the A Dress for Venice project we have the opportunity to express once more our commitment: sustainable materials are able to generate fashionable yet conscious clothes. It’s crucial to highlight the values of Bemberg in terms of look and touch thus raising consumer awareness also for its environmental and social values”.

The 2023 edition of A Dress for Venice, supported by Bemberg by Asahi Kasei, will feature Tiziano Guardini – the award-winning designer known for his conscious fashion approach – partnering with the young artist and textile designer Jacopo Ascari – founder of Atelier Ascari. Fabrics that will be used to create it, belong to 2 important Italian companies with a great expertise of Bemberg fashion fabrics: Infinity srl and Tessitura Grisotto. The printing on Bemberg fabrics will be produced by Creazioni Digitali, an important company specialized in digital and sublimation printing that will focus on GreenDrop technology enabling a great water saving value.

Tiziano Guardini, part of A Dress for Venice project since its first edition in 2019, will create a special dress 100% made with Bemberg fabric and enriched by the textile print designed by Jacopo Ascari. The sustainable outfit by the creative duo, which represents a tribute to the beauty of Venice, will debut in September at the Venice International Film Festival and will be joined by a mini-capsule collection crafted in Bemberg material. The collection will be unveiled during Venice Fashion Week in October 2023, with the support of Camera Buyer Italia, the national association gathering the best luxury multi-brands stores.

A Dress for Venice is a project promoting sustainability and transparency of the supply chain and connecting the designers with the fashion industry thanks to the support of Tavolo Veneto della Moda, which represents Confartigianato, CNA, Confindustria, Confcommercio and Confesercenti of the Veneto Region.
Lorenzo Cinotti and Laura Scarpa, Founders of Venezia da Vivere, declared:
“A Dress for Venice is an emblematic project – because it brings together the manufacturing excellence of the Veneto fashion production chains, Asahi Kasei international research on sustainability and the creativity of young talents. The network we have created brings together top-level players around an idea of virtuous fashion that updates and rearms the traditional style of Made in Italy”.

The initiative is under the patronage of the City of Venice, Tavolo Veneto della Moda, and Homo Faber – Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte, which encourages fine craftsmanship and savoir-faire all over the world.
 
C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy), the global platform pursuing the mission to make fashion industry and business smarter, is a partner of Bemberg by Asahi Kasei and A Dress for Venice project.
 
Partners: Camera Buyer Italia, Marina Iremonger, Creazioni Digitali, Garage Marina Guidi showroom

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“Grow Your Couture” by Piero D’angelo, the winning project of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION (ISFA) competition was announced during a webinar broadcast on 18 May at 4pm attended by Giusy Bettoni CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub, Anna Detheridge President of Connecting Cultures and ISFA ambassadors Valentina Suarez, co-founder and CEO of Universo Mola and Vishal Tolambia winner of the 2022 edition.

Piero D’angelo‘s project was the best among the 110 proposals received after the international call for proposals launched on 27 October 2022.

Piero D’Angelo, 36, a graduate in Fashion Womenswear from the Royal College of Art in London and in Textile Design from Central Saint Martins, is a Fashion and Textile Designer with a research focus on biotechnology in the fashion industry. In 2022 he founded his Fashion & Textile Design studio experimenting with a multidisciplinary approach on the importance of natural materials and Biodesign. From 2018 to 2022 Piero D’Angelo was a resident and then Product Researcher & Developer at Open Cell (Biotech Research Park), a biotech start-up community in London. He was awarded the Dorothy Waxman Textile Design Prize in 2015 and semi-finalist for the LVMH Prize in 2020.

In his communication project, ‘Grow Your Own Couture‘ D’Angelo imagines a future scenario where it will be possible to grow one’s own clothes through living organisms such as lichens that are able to absorb pollution. But the project also wants to communicate a return to nature and above all care and protection towards it. In fact, the user is not simply a user of fashion, but through a kit is part of the process of growth, care and creation of the garment, thus abandoning the traditional paradigms of fashion. The project wants to completely re-imagine the way fashion could be designed, produced and used, proposing not only a product, but also a system that wants to collaborate with nature instead of polluting or exploiting it.

“I think that a true sustainable revolution can only and exclusively take place when an end product is also accompanied by a system. A more democratic system that prioritises the care and protection of both natural and human resources rather than an economic interest”, stated the winner Piero d’Angelo.

“Through “Grow Your Own Couture” I want to intrigue and make people think, questioning our current knowledge of fashion. An invitation to explore little-known terrain such as the use of Biodesign and its line of thought in the field of fashion, and to raise awareness of a different approach so as to open doors to scenarios that were previously unimaginable”.

Livia Caliopi Biro and Sara Consalvo won the special social contest open to the public and held among 8 finalists selected by the jury. Their project ‘This is not abstract’ was the most voted by Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S. profile.

“The 2023 edition of Imagining Sustainable Fashion showed a definite leap forward in the level of research and the ability of young professionals and students to think outside the box. We were pleased to see that many entries showed more courage to create innovative ethical and aesthetic solutions outside the fashion mainstream.” Anna Detheridge stated.

 “Truly an interesting edition, the participants are fully grasping this challenge of ‘sustainable communication’, a theme that as we know has begun to be prioritised even by international directives. The engaging proposal of our winner, puts people and nature at the centre of creation while recalling the great research work around the theme of biofabricate where biotechnology is writing a new chapter of responsible innovation”, commented Giusy Bettoni

Piero D’angelo ranked first among the finalists selected by the international jury composed of:

• Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
• Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
• Rita Airaghi, Director of Gianfranco Ferré Research Centre
• Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana
• Jeanine Ballone, Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
• Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
• Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Sustainable Strategies, Council of Fashion Designers of America
• Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
• Renata Molho, fashion journalist and writer, former editor-in-chief of L’Uomo Vogue and editor-at-large of L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Italia, Casa Vogue
• Stefania Ricci, Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
• Jovana Vukoje, New Brands Senior Specialist, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.

Piero D’Angelo won the 3,000 euro prize made possible thanks to the support of the main sponsors ROICA by Asahi Kasei and Bemberg by Asahi Kasei and the other project sponsors: SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos and ECOSENSOR by Asahi Kasei.
ROICA is a premium stretch fiber with an innovative range of smart features to meet all contemporary wardrobe needs for sports, underwear and fashion. It has always been committed to promoting responsible innovation in the textile industry. The second main sponsor is Bemberg by Asahi Kasei, an extraordinary fibre obtained from the smart-tech transformation of pre-consumer cotton linter and processed through a traceable and transparent closed-loop process.

Thanks to the ambassadors of the initiative: Iris Skrami, CEO and co-founder of Renoon, Valentina Suarez co-founder and CEO of the Latin American sustainable fashion movement  Universo MOLA, Ren Collective and the association Humanity Centred Designs.

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Today we are happy to introduce you our new partner in our PROcess x PROgress category: REVECOL® by ERCA

As demonstration of ERCA TCS’s commitment towards responsible innovation, but also thanks to the important appreciation of its R&D within the industry, the range of new generation chemical auxiliaries REVECOL® by ERCA becomes partner of C.L.A.S.S..
REVECOL® by ERCA, a breakthrough innovation that upcycles a critical waste material, as exhausted oil, into a new generation, complete, safe, certified and high performing line of chemical auxiliaries for the whole textile industry, thus joins C.L.A.S.S. Smart Tools, the area dedicated to innovative and responsible solutions for the fashion textile industry.

“REVECOL® by ERCA, with its new generation chemical auxiliaries with a circular DNA, is the missing piece to complete the creation and production process for textiles and fashion in line with the values of responsible innovation” affirms Giusy Bettoni C.L.A.S.S. CEO & founder.

“The entry of REVECOL® by ERCA into the C.L.A.S.S. platform marks a further affirmation of Erca’s research of highly innovative and responsible solutions, but above all a further strong voice in the market for even more widespread sharing of next-generation solutions in the industry, in order to achieve a true and more complete sustainable wardrobe” says Fabio Locatelli shareholder ERCA Group. 

Discover more on REVECOL® by ERCA watching the below C.L.A.S.S. Smart Interview in which our CEO & founder Giusy Bettoni meets Fabio Locatelli shareholder ERCA Group.

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Today we are happy to introduce you our new partner:

Pozzi Electa S.p.A.
Pozzi Electa S.p.A. brings innovation and sustainable values to Italian premium yarn manufacturing since 1889. The ring yarn collection stands out from the mass-production offers, and guarantees very high standard of quality, research, and unique effects. Nowadays’ fifth generation of visionary producers and entrepreneurs has a tryptic mantra based on “heritage, environment and people”, and the quality of the yarns matches the company’s commitment to ethic, sustainability and welfare values.

Discover more on Pozzi Electa S.p.A. watching the below C.L.A.S.S. Smart Interview in which our CEO & founder Giusy Bettoni meets Francesco Della Porta – Financial and Commercial Director and Bernadette Pozzi – Marketing and Production Director Pozzi Electa S.p.A..

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C.L.A.S.S. Material hub is our section dedicated to producers of innovative ingredients: fiber, yarn, fabric, leather and accessories.

Today we are happy to introduce you our new partner: Marini Industrie.

Marini Industrie is one of the key players working with natural fibers in the Prato district – Italy’s strategic area and vibrant textile production and innovation arena. Marini coordinates local companies to create premium textiles powered by sustainable values – from raw materials selection to dyeing and finishing.

The history of Marini group rests on a strong foundation of tradition, combined with the passion of creative professions. Everything began in 1945 in Prato (Tuscany) when Mario Marini and Enzo Cecconi founded the eponymous woollen mill Marini & Cecconi. Since its inception, the company has created fine fabrics never losing the ability to move along with the times.

In addition to signing the Detox commitment, Marini Industrie joined in October 2016 – along with 26 others italian companies – the Italian Consortium Detox Implementation (CID). The consortium employs a Technical Scientific Committee which includes Greenpeace.

In 2019 they moved from their historic headquarters to a new location born from scratch with a green perspective and promoting the well-being of workers. All in perfect coherence with theGreenpeace Detox program.

Offices overlooking a roof garden full of plants, flowers and a waterfall
Photovoltaic system that covers 100% of thenecessary energy;
Charging columns for electric cars andmotorcycles in the parking lot;
A digital archive that will collect 50 thousand fabrics produced by the factory from the 1960s totoday;

Their goal is to achieve at least 75% sustainable materials for theirproducts by 2025 and to make 100% of our products with sustainable materials and end-of-use by 2030.

Discover more on Marini Industrie watching the below C.L.A.S.S. Smart Interview in which our CEO & founder Giusy Bettoni meets Francesco Marini, Designer & Innovation manager Marini Industrie.

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 ROICA V550: the first Degradable Stretch solution fo

April 2023 – The international eco-tech yarn innovator and manufacturer ROICA by Asahi Kasei leads the way in circular stretch innovation at Kingpins Show, one of the key jeans supply chain events at international level.

From April 12^th, the Japanese company joins the event showcasing its latest innovation, the premium & smart stretch yarn ROICA V550, a pioneer in eco-circular Stretch which is:

• the world-first sustainable degradable yarn by Asahi Kasei. ROICA V550 is a world-first, Cradle to Cradle-Certified stretch yarn with a Material Health Gold Level Certificate.
• It degrades under ISO 14855-1 tested by OWS decomposing to CO2 and water.

So, on top of Asahi Kasei’s premium stretch standard quality and performance, today we can deliver also a contemporary, certified, degradable and safe end of life to denimwear.

ROICA V550 as a special new responsible and innovative solutions introduction, but also key partnerships with leading denim company such as Artistic Milliners, Candiani Denim and Prosperity, that have “adopted” this special eco-high-tech yarn into their special collections   on show at Kingpins and featured at global level to all key jeans’ brands. Sustainability in jeans manufacturing is for real.

Let’s go through them:

1. The one with Artistic Milliners for the Earthcore Line: Artistic Milliners has expanded from a denim mill into a global service ecosystem focused on leading, fashion into a better, more sustainable future, while striving for excellence in every facet of its vertical operation.  Their footprint now includes Star Fades International (SFI), a fully operational denim laundry and design center located in Los Angeles, CA as well as its expansion into Mexico. It also includes Artistic Energy, Artistic Lab in Dubai, Soho Incubator in New York, and Artmill, its first foray into premium wovens. It was the first manufacturer in the world to develop cradle-to-cradle Gold Certified Denim Fabric in partnership with G-Star RAW using ROICA V550 premium and degradable stretch. Its Earthcore platform, focuses on using biodegradable/compostable materials, with stretch being represented by the degradable ROICA V550 premium stretch ingredient, which aligns with the principles of total circularity, generating zero waste.

Earthcore fabrics are Ellen MacArthur Jeans Redesign-compliant and feature the company’s proprietary Crystal Clear 2.0 dyeing tech, which enables salt-free Sulphur overdyeing.

• The one with Candiani Denim for the ReSolve collection:  thanks to its blend of GOTS certified organic cotton/regenagri® certified regenerative cotton with ROICA V550, ReSolve represents a real innovation and uniqueness, a step further on the sustainable properties of fibers. ReSolve is a next step to a greener denim production by combining innovative fiber blends and revolutionary dyeing and finishing technologies.

The one with Prosperity for the LEAVE NO TRACE line:  Prosperity Textiles was founded in 2002 in Shaoguan, China – an area famed for its forests, rivers and mountains. Prosperity has since grown into a denim operation with 2 production sites and 1,900 employees worldwide, with a second state-of-the-art denim mill opened in Vietnam in 2018. LEAVE NO TRACE is dedicated to denimwear that on top of design and quality is taking care of a fundamental element of responsibility: the end of life of denim! The collection features a range of 11 styles using ROICA’s V550 premium degradable stretch fiber, next to bio-based polylactides and CICLO infused recycled degradable polyesters – with Prosperity Textile not just offering the choice of extra comfort and performance but also taking that

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