Candiani has won the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award. © ITMA

One of Europe’s largest denim producer Candiani has won the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award, held in conjunction with ITMA 2019. Its innovative product, Candiani Re-Gen is a circular denim fabric created from regenerated and recycled raw materials.

Fifty percent of the Re-Gen fabric comprises Tencel x Refibra Lyocell made of pulp from cotton scraps and wood pulp using Lenzing’s efficient closed-loop process; the other 50% consists of post-industrial recycled Candiani fibres. Candiani’s fabrics are also dyed using green technologies, resulting in substantial reduction in the use of water and chemicals in the fabric production and jean washing process.

According to Alberto Candiani, President of Candiani, the fabric was created to commemorate Candiani’s 80th anniversary. “We are a strong believer in sustainability. In creating the Re-Gen fabric, we leveraged Lenzing’s Tencel Lyocell fibres with Refibra technology, and combined it with our inhouse expertise to create an innovative product that is fashionable and environmentally friendly at the same time,” he said.

Nominated for the award by ITMA 2019 exhibitor Lenzing, Candiani received the trophy from CEMATEX President Fritz P. Mayer, at a presentation ceremony on the opening day of ITMA 2019. “We would like to congratulate both Candiani and Lenzing for their excellent collaboration. CEMATEX launched the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award in 2015 as we would like to encourage greater industry collaboration and synergies, as well as spur more research and development efforts. Ultimately, we need innovation to drive our business and contribute to a more circular economy,” said Mr Mayer.

Other finalists

The two other finalists of the ITMA Industry Excellence Award – Levi Strauss & Co, and Lee – were also praised for their efforts to introduce green innovations into their products and processes.

Winner of the first ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award in 2015, Levi Strauss & Co launched FLX Customisation Studio, which revolutionises in-store customisation by allowing customers to pick their denim finish and create a unique pair of jeans in less than two hours. The mobile studio uses sustainable garment finishing technologies and operates on 100% recycled water. It leverages ITMA exhibitor Jeanologia’s water recycling system, H2Zero.

Established denim jeans brand Lee leverages Tonello’s innovative garment finishing system for its denim jeans. The All-in-One System combines four technologies that drastically reduces the water needed in the finishing stages of jean manufacturing thus reducing processing time and total production cost.

R&I Excellence Award

The ITMA Research & Innovation (R&I) Excellence Award for Master’s students of R&I Pavilion exhibiting institutions was won by Mathias Zidda, Institut Für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen University for his thesis: Development of a gear driven 3D rotational braiding machine and its control concept. He will receive the prize money of EUR 10,000.

The ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award is one of the components of ITMA Innovation Lab, which brands a series of activities promoting research and innovation. Other components are the Research and Innovation Pavilion, Speakers Platform and the Innovation Video Showcase.

www.itma.com

Further reading

ITA student recognised by ITMA