TEXTILES.ORG
Alpine Group — a global textile innovation and apparel manufacturing group — and FibreTrace®, a traceability solutions provider have announced a partnership, delivering transparency throughout Alpine Group’s supply chain, while engaging brands and accelerating positive change across the fashion industry.
Ashok Mahtani, co-founder and chairman of Paradise Textiles, the material science and innovation hub of the Alpine Group, explains the company’s mission: “Fashion is a broken system, and we operate in a system that relies on a take-make-dispose-model. We also know that there is lots of misinformation in the industry. Brands are confused, retailers are confused, and the consumer is confused. Given the high negative impact of processing in the fashion industry, scaling climate positive technologies is an urgent action on the fashion industry’s path towards sustainability and echoes Alpine Group’s own mission to make fashion fit for the future; innovating materials and products that mitigate these impacts and enhance the positive too. The business of fashion can no longer continue in its current form. To be true game changing innovators, manufacturers must adapt to new ways of producing textiles and garments. Our partnership with FibreTrace benefits the brands we work with and empowers the end consumer with a transparent sustainability journey they can hold brands accountable to.”
FibreTrace is an innovative transparency technology providing unparalleled visibility into the journey of textile fibers through a combination of digital and physical technology. A patented luminescent pigment is embedded within the raw fiber, tracked and verified with scanning devices then implemented across the global supply chain: all captured within a digital blockchain solution effectively providing a digital passport for each product. By combining FibreTrace’s state-of-the-art technology with Alpine Group’s extensive manufacturing and innovation expertise, expert network and resources, the partnership enables brands to offer their consumers the chance to trace the journey of their garments with one simple scan of a QR code on their phone — taking them on a journey from fiber to finished product and allowing them to make informed purchasing decisions.
Shannon Mercer, CEO of FibreTrace, shared his excitement about the partnership, saying, ‘We are thrilled to partner with Alpine Group to drive sustainable transformation in the textile and apparel industry. Together, we can accelerate the textile and apparel industries’ access to responsible and traceable fibers through to the finished garments.”
FibreTrace’s technology will be available from Q1 2024 with Paradise’s curated collection of sustainable and performance fabrics, known as the ‘Fuze Family,‘ including its textile-to-textile recycling technology, GreenFuze Circle.
Clare Woodford, head of Impact at Alpine Group, expanded on the company’s vision: “In the 40 years that we have been operating, we have witnessed the industry’s evolution first-hand and we know the future deserves better. As an end-to-end business we have a unique vantage point. We have spent years scrutinizing and developing sustainable innovation in our supply chain. From changing our dye process to reduce water usage and environmental impact, to re-imagining materials — working with partners to create tree free fibers and fabrics and transforming textile waste to new fibers — to re-imagining production with our soon to launch new mill in Egypt. Now we’ve reached an inflection point. It’s not just about any one company — it’s about collective, long term, systemic change. We aim to harness our innovation and manufacturing expertise to bring brands and partners onboard our journey to thread the future of fashion, an industry and holistic ecosystem where Every Thread Counts, Every Person Counts, and Every Action Counts. We can get ahead with the right solutions that empower brands and industry partners to embrace a more sustainable model. That is the future of fashion.”
The partnership with FibreTrace precedes an exciting year of upcoming launches for Alpine Group. Alex Apparels, the Group’s Egypt based manufacturing operations, will launch its state-of-the-art facility dubbed ‘The Factory of the Future’, due to launch in Q1 2024. It will be the first LEED Gold Certified factory in the MENA region and will provide an additional 2,000+ jobs for the local community. Additionally, Paradise Textiles is expanding into Egypt with a unique, sustainable knitting and dyeing mill, bringing fabric closer to needle. The mill, due to launch in Q3 2024, is expected to create up to 500 jobs for the local community and will offer polyester filament and blended fabric knitting. The goal is to create 30 to 50 tons of fabric daily in phase one and 70 to 100 tons in phase two. Both buildings have been designed with sustainability in mind; initiatives include optimizing waste- water, reducing water usage and harvesting and re-using rainwater as well as the usage of renewable energy and green energy production to achieve zero carbon emissions and work towards the company’s long term environmental goals.