Global Fashion Roundup: Researchers Discover New Technique To Produce Viscose From Recycled Cotton, Odd Concepts Unveils AI Platform For Fashion, And Many More

This week in fashion news from around the world, researchers discover a new technique to produce viscose from recycled cotton, Odd Concepts unveils artificial intelligence discovery platform for fashion and many more.

Researchers Discover New Technique To Produce Viscose From Recycled Cotton

Researchers have come up with a new technique to recycle clothing made from cotton. This makes them the first to produce viscose filament yarn made from recycled cotton. 

The fibre, which was produced by a team of scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, can be used for mass manufacture of textiles. Working with Swedish company Re:newcell, the research team have succeeded in converting the pulp from recycled cotton into viscose rayon fibres made of pure cellulose. 

Usually, the textile industry uses pulp as a starter for producing regenerated cellulosic fibres such as viscose rayon and modal. Since the pulp does not melt, it has to be dissolved into a solution and passed through a spinneret to be spun into cellulosic fibres.

“However, Re:newcell sent us cellulose sheets made of recycled cotton and asked us to find out if they could be converted into viscose rayon fibres,” said Fraunhofer’s André Lehmann. “We were able to extract the foreign fibres from the pulp by setting the right parameters for both the dissolving and spinning processes, for example, with effective filtration stages.”

The process produced a filament measuring several kilometres long made of 100 per cent cellulose and with comparable quality to those made from wood-based cellulose. The team claims the technique is compatible with standard procedures for producing viscose rayon and so is suitable for mass manufacturing.

Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO Of Copenhagen Fashion Week, Is Requiring Sustainability For The Scandanavian Haven

In recent times, conditions have changed dramatically and standards are being raised to meet environmental and health expectations.

This is why Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, has decided to put in place a 3-year action plan for sustainability and a checklist that would require brands to increase their ethical and environmental practices and processes. This idea was first introduced in January 2020 but the minimum standards that make up a good part of the plan will not be mandatory until 2023.

For their fashion week participants, Copenhagen has created a 17 point checklist of Sustainable Requirements as well as a points system demanding a minimum level of sustainability across all aspects of the value chain. This also includes the companies that create staging for the shows and all surrounding events and trade shows.

Through this, the Copenhagen Fashion Week is initiating and establishing a platform for fashion brands to have less of an environmental impact than before. Fashion brands are being encouraged to cultivate ideas and practices throughout their design process that are reciprocal to the environment. 

Fashion Entrepreneurs Unite For Flash Sale Event

A group of entrepreneurs and fashion innovators have collaborated to hold a 5-day flash sale event from August 11 to August 15, 2020. This event is set to connect shoppers to various fashion brands at discounted prices of up to 80 per cent off.

This event will launch as BestKeptSecret, an innovative digital shopping platform and flash sale event. BestKeptSecret was created to help the fashion industry during these trying times with the aim of generating over $1 million in charitable donations for philanthropic partners Baby2Baby and Know Your Rights Camp.

BestKeptSecret is coming to life with the help of 5 fashion industry professionals and entrepreneurs, Andrew Rosen, Maxwell Osborne, Dao-Yi Chow, Ben Fischman, and Jens Grede.

The event is set to bring together over 35 premier fashion brands offering some of the best sales ever, in addition, to live events with designers and influencers.

“Creative ideas are born in times of necessity, and we recognise an opportunity to do something different by pushing the envelope of a traditional sale,” Andrew Rosen said. “BestKeptSecret has unified a diverse group of leading fashion brands that will offer a broad selection of merchandise at incredible prices to create an exciting shopping event through a singular shopping platform.”

Some of the brands that will feature at the 5-day event include Rag & Bone, Rosie Assoulin, FRAME, Mansur Gavriel, Jason Wu, RE/DONE, and Alice + Olivia.

BestKeptSecret will attach a $5 consumer donation to every unit sold, with 100 per cent of the proceeds donated to philanthropic partners Baby2Baby and Know Your Rights Camp. 

“BestKeptSecret was designed to tackle the fashion industry’s response to COVID-19 while supporting social issues at the forefront of the global zeitgeist,” Maxwell Osborne said. “We’re not only thrilled to bring BestKeptSecret to life, we’re proud to be supporting causes that will aid communities across the country during these difficult times.”

Myntra Buys Out Partner Deepika Padukone From Fashion Brand

The fashion and apparel focused e-commerce subsidiary of Walmart-owned Flipkart, Myntra, has bought out its partner, Deepika Padukone from the All About You fashion brand. 

The brand, which was established in 2015, markets and sells ethnic, formal and casual wear, with Padukone and Myntra holding 50 per cent stake each.

“Over the years, we have successfully managed to create a brand that resonates with the modern Indian woman and as part of the next phase of growth, Myntra has now acquired full stake in the brand,” Manohar Kamath, Myntra fashion brand’s head said in a report.

The acquisition comes at a time when Myntra is expanding its presence to more markets in India as well as to international markets. The firm recently launched Myntra Fashion Brands in West Asia through partnerships with regional e-commerce platforms.

Myntra has also had other celebrity-focused partnerships including Hrithik Roshan’s HRX and Saif Ali Khan’s House of Pataudi.

Odd Concepts Unveils AI Discovery Platform For Fashion

Odd Concepts, an AI-based fashion tech company, has launched an AI style discovery platform, StyleCrush, to introduce a new paradigm in online fashion consumption to Singapore.

Odd Concepts is a fast-growing vision computing company with certified technology and performance in AI fashion marketing market. It is headquartered in Seoul, Korea. 

StyleCrush is a fashion discovery platform where consumers collect fashion style images according to their tastes in a digital album and the AI technology assists users to enjoy fashion by helping them conveniently search and purchase similar products.

When consumers upload style images like those of popular celebrities or paste in image links to StyleCrush, the AI system searches similar style products and connects consumers to shopping malls where they can purchase the products conveniently. If an image contains a bag or shoes in addition to clothes, the AI system also finds the accessories, Odd Concepts stated in a media statement.

The platform also allows users to create wish lists amongst the fashion products discovered through search and create an album with their preferred style images. In essence, StyleCrush is an online platform where fashion lovers can build their collection of fashion styles.

Odd Concepts is also collaborating with Suggesty and Sta1 of Korea, as well as Qoo10, the largest shopping mall in Singapore, to help consumers discover and enjoy a greater variety of fashion styles on StyleCrush.

“StyleCrush reflects a new wave of needs which arises from the next-generation consumers, amid the radical shift in the online fashion industry. AI assisting fashion discovery solely from a user style will become a new norm for the coming years. We look forward to connecting online shopping malls to style wannabes across Asia,” Brian S. Bae, Chief Strategy Officer at Odd Concepts said.