Interstoff Asia Essential – The Home of Cutting-Edge Textiles

As part of its major push to become the number one trade fair worldwide for eco-textiles, Interstoff Asia Essential, Spring 2008, will feature a specialist speaker panel from the world’s top eco-textile accreditation companies, plus a special stand where they can distribute information to exhibitors and visitors. It will also feature a new eco-labelling system developed in association with one of the world’s top textile experts, allowing buyers to more easily understand the myriad materials and processes that make fabrics ‘eco-friendly’. A special display forum, ‘Eco-textiles: Fabrics That Care’, will house a wide selection of exhibitor fabrics labelled according to the new system. The fair will take place from 12 – 14 March 2008 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

New eco-textile labelling system to be implemented from Spring 2008 onwards

‘Eco-friendliness’ continues to be one of the hottest topics in the modern textile and garment industry, and Interstoff Asia Essential in Hong Kong is one of the only apparel fabric trade fairs in the world to make it the focus of the show. Working closely with Ms Sachiko Inoue, one of Japan’s top textile experts who in turn works with some of Japan’s leading eco-textile makers, the Interstoff Asia Essential team has created and defined a new labelling system to be implemented at the fair from Spring 2008 onwards, allowing buyers to easily identify and understand the raw materials and processes. The labelling system consists of four categories:

Green Label – fabrics that are made from certified organic or environmentally-friendly raw materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, corn fibre, soy beans, charcoal, polylactic acid fibre, or paper

Brown Label – fabrics that have been manufactured by a certified environmentally-friendly process, where usage, contamination and pollution of air, water, noise, and energy sources have been controlled

Blue Label – fabrics that have been manufactured with a certified environmentally-friendly finishing process, such as through natural and non-toxic dyes, or where remedial measures for water treatment have been taken.

Silver Label – fabrics that are made from certified organic or environmentally-friendly raw materials, using an environmentally-friendly manufacturing and finishing process.

Exhibitors fabrics displayed in the special forum ‘Eco-textiles: Fabrics That Care’ will each be labelled using the above system. Exhibitors will need to show proof of certification before their products will be accepted for display, ensuring very high quality. Ms Ornella Bignami will be responsible for the co-ordination and design of the special eco-textiles display area.

World-leading eco-textile accreditation companies will be at Interstoff Asia Essential Spring 2008

The certification of textiles and their manufacturing processes as ‘ecologically sound’ is a growing and complicated sector of the international eco-labelling business. To provide fabric manufacturers and buyers with top-notch information about certification programmes available worldwide, the fair Organizers have confirmed the participation of two world-leading certification companies, Testex Swiss Textile Testing Institute and the Institute for Marketecology. 

Testex Swiss Textile Testing Institute are the official accreditation company for the Oeko-Tex Standard, first introduced in 1992 to test for harmful substances used in the production of textiles. Today, more than 6,500 textile and clothing manufacturers 80 countries use the Oeko-Tex system to make quality improvements. More than 50,000 certificates have been issued to date for millions of individual products.

The Institute for Marketecology (IMO) was the first officially approved certifier for the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The Global Organic Textile Standard is the result of a technical harmonisation procedure between reputed standard organizations. As of October 2006, the International Association of Natural Textile Industry (IVN), the Soil Association (SA), the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and the Japan Organic Cotton Association (JOCA) had all decided to adopted the GOTS.

Each of the two companies will give an hour-long presentation on the accreditation programmes they run, applications and certification procedures, and the benefits of certification. They will also each have a stand inside the exhibition halls where visitors can collect information and speak directly with senior company representatives.