WtiN will host its first Innovate Summit from 26-28 October 2021. It will include live presentations and panel discussions to deliver strategic insight into how the macro environment will influence industry transformation over the next five years and help all participants build a competitive, resilient, customer-driven and value-added future.

Sponsored by Epson and Ricoh, the event takes place during WTiN Innovate – Textile Innovation Week – which runs from 25-29 October 2021.

A live environment is a learning environment and the WTiN team want their visitors to view sessions and ask questions during the Summit.

A live environment is also a social environment. Real-time social interactions and live networking are crucial to developing meaningful and lasting working relationships and partnerships. We invite our summit and exhibition attendees to connect with each other as much as possible. Live also allows for maximum exposure, making sure your valuable time is well spent.

Day 1

The first day of the event (Tuesday 26 October) will kick off with a keynote speech from Dirk Vantyghem, Director General, Euratex entitled The EU textiles strategy – a new framework for the European textile and apparel industry. It will consider new business models, sustainability, circularity, transparency, digital skills and common standards.

Following this, there will be panel sessions on the state of skills in the apparel industry in 2021 and the impact of Covid-19 in accelerating digitalisation and sustainable production in textile manufacturing’. Panellists for these sessions include Catherine Cole, CEO, MOTIF and Christian Schindler, Director General ITMF.

A second keynote speech will come from Ian Cronin, Community Curator at the World Economic Forum, Circular economy – digital systems to authenticate fashion goods, fight counterfeiting and unlock the resale market. The session will explore the growth of the second-hand retail market as manufacturers and consumers strive to reduce waste and costs, support a circular economy and meet ESG goals.

A panel session, chaired by the American Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), will then look at the smart textile and apparel industry, from lab to commercialisation.

Day 2

The second day of the event (Wednesday 27 October) will open with a keynote from Xu Yingxin, Vice President of the Chinese National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC). The role of China’s textile and apparel sector within climate change mitigation, will focus on China’s 14th Five-Year-Plan and on policies and the latest practices in climate mitigation and initiatives in resuming production and export promotion post-Covid.

Supply chain resilience in the textile and apparel value chain will be the next keynote on the second day of the event, presented by Joshua Hinkel of Partner, Bain & Company. It will discuss how changes in the business environment have altered demands on supply chains and the essential need for traceability and transparency.

The day will also host a number of panel sessions, such as Future supply chain relationships hosted by the International Apparel Federation (IAF), Innovation in nonwovens hosted by the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) and What transparency means for apparel supply chains hosted by Serai Trade. Matthijse Crietee, Secretary General, IAF, David Rousse, President of INDA, and Vivek Ramachandran, CEO of Serai will be among the panellists.

Day 3

The final day of the summit (Thursday 28 October) will host a number of panel sessions. The day will begin with a panel from Leeds City Region (LCR), Textiles 2030: Leeds City Region and India – Driving textile sustainability. The discussion will include a number of speakers from both the UK and India, including Professor Parik Goswami, Head of Department Fashion and Textiles, and Director of the Technical Textiles Research Centre, University of Huddersfield, UK, Senior Vice President of Welspun India and Abhijit Majumdar, Institute Chair and Professor of the Indian Institute of Technology.

The session will explore how key organisations and businesses in India and LCR are working together to drive global textile sustainability.

Other panel sessions include those from Epson, Kornit and supply chain expert QIMA.

https://innovate.wtin.com