Show Points to Eco-luxury Knitwear

July 18, 2008 - Fashion starts with the yarn, and the latest Italian Pitti Filati Yarn Exhibition in Florence confirmed that the organic and eco-friendly movement is gathering exponential pace. The amount of time and investment which has already been expended in Italy and elsewhere means that companies that supply the top brands and designers in the fashion world are convinced that eco approaches now make commercial sense. Despite the difficult economic climate, buyers are still looking for organics and sustainable alternatives.

The recent knitwear yarn exhibition provided further evidence that bio and organic fibers and yarns have been identified as a way of moving into the higher value European knitwear market for fall-winter 2009/2010. Most of the big brands in this region, and increasingly in the United States, are looking more seriously at organic and eco-friendly lines with full certification throughout the manufacturing process also becoming more important.

One of the big talking points at the event was the dyeing process. Many of the spinners had developed ranges with low-impact dyes (i.e. organic accredited) along with a range of natural dyes - yet there is still great debate about commercial viability and the use of mordants (heavy metals) to fix these dyes.

For spinners, there was 100 percent organic wool by Toscano and Vimar's Pura Natura, a totally organic wool yarn combined with low-impact dyes.

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