Charles Beauduin, President of CEMATEX, commented: “Sustainability, as we all know, is a major concern for global businesses involved in the textile and garment making chain. Hence, we have adopted the theme 'Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation' for ITMA 2015.”

“We are pleased to launch the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award to make ITMA the meeting place where captains of the industry converge to source technologies and share their expertise in the area of sustainable innovation."

Business sustainability

The ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award comprises three categories, two of which are open to post-graduate students. The award recognises textile and garment manufacturers who have leveraged on technological innovations to advance business sustainability that benefit people, planet and profit.

The winner of the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award will receive a cash prize of EUR 10,000 and a prestigious trophy, among other rewards. Cash prizes of EUR 4,000 and EUR 5,000 will be awarded to the winners in the Masters and Doctorate categories, respectively.

Nominees of the Industry Excellence Award ITMA 2015 must be nominated by exhibitors. Institutions participating in the ITMA 2015 Research and Education pavilion are eligible to nominate their postgraduate students for the ‘Research & Education Excellence Award’ that recognises achievements in textile and garment related postgraduate research.

Knowledge hub

Complementing the exhibition are several initiatives that will promote knowledge exchange and networking. “All the initiatives are designed to help industry members heighten their engagement with the very important subject of sustainable innovation at ITMA 2015,” explained Beauduin.

The Research and Education pavilion showcases leading-edge research that will power textile innovation and well-known institutions that develop world-class human resources.

World Textile Summit

The World Textile Summit made a successful debut at ITMA 2011. It is owned by CEMATEX, MP Expositions and World Textile Information Network.

To be held on 13 November 2015, the second summit will explore sustainability strategies that create business value in the textile manufacturing value chain.

Nonwovens Forum at ITMA

ITMA 2015 has the support of International Association for the Nonwovens and Related Industries (EDANA). EDANA and ITMA 2015 organiser MP Expositions will jointly organise a nonwovens forum on 16 November 2015.

The programme will feature topics related to global industry trends, opportunities and challenges, as well as production technologies and management.

Textile Colourant and Chemical Leaders Forum

The Textile Dyestuff and Chemical Leaders Forum, launched at ITMA 2011, was an industry initiative that drew lively participation from dyestuff, colour and chemical professionals.

The forum has been rebranded as Textile Colourant and Chemical Leaders Forum, to be in line with the ITMA index of products change from dyestuffs to colourants. This forum will be held on 14 November 2015.

Innovation launch pad

ITMA is returning to Milan after 20 years, and response for exhibit space for the 2015 exhibition has been positive, CEMATEX reports.

Sylvia Phua, MP's strategic partner of ITMA 2015, said: “ITMA has a strong reputation as the world's most established textile and garment technology showcase. Every four years, the entire global industry converges at ITMA to witness the launch of cutting-edge innovations.”

Owned by CEMATEX, ITMA is the largest textile and garment technology showcase held since 1951. The last ITMA exhibition was held in Barcelona, Spain, in 2011. It featured 1,355 exhibitors from 45 countries, 100,067 visitors from 140 countries and some 50 delegations from 27 countries.

www.cematex.com