In an industry dominated by fast fashion, our next US National Science Foundation funded Regional Innovation Engine is working to bring sustainability and circularity to the textile industry.

Headquartered in Morganton, the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina –or The Textile Engine–is working to make the Southeast’s Textile Belt a home for innovation and the lifeblood of its communities. I sat down with Co-Deputy CEO Molly Hemstreet and CEO Anne Wiper to talk about the future of textile production, the true cost of fast fashion, and how each of us can reduce and recycle the pounds upon pounds of textile waste Americans produce each year.

Molly Hemstreet is Co-Deputy CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads workforce development and regional engagement initiatives. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Industrial Commons, which supports over 2,500 workers through its collaborative, member-led network of textile manufacturers and workplace development programs.

Through her experience and leadership, she has organized economic development initiatives across rural Western North Carolina, founded Opportunity Threads, which has grown into the largest U.S.-based worker-owned cut-and-sew facility, and co-founded the Carolina Textile District in 2013, a strategic value chain focused on revitalizing textile manufacturing across the Carolinas.

Anne Wiper is the CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads efforts to strengthen the U.S. textile industry through cutting-edge research, commercialization of circular and regenerative materials, and workforce development. Her work centers on advancing innovation, resilience, and collaboration within the domestic textile supply chain.

Anne brings decades of industry experience to The Textile Engine, drawing on her previous roles as Vice President of Product for Smartwool and Icebreaker, brands under VF Corporation, as well as leadership positions at Salomon Sports and Nike across the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Anne has been a faculty lecturer in the University of Colorado Masters of the Environment program since 2022.  

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How offshoring textile production impacts not only our economy but our emergency preparedness
• Breaking down the forces that have led to overproduction and offshoring of the vast majority of our textile production
• Why keeping textile waste management in the US matters 
• How sustainable systems in textiles can actually lower the cost of goods and positively impact works and their communities
• How the Textile Engine is addressing their core pillars and building consortia among institutions
• The challenges to revitalizing an industry in communities that prior downturns have impacted

Learn more about Molly Hemstreet:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anne Wiper:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

• Social Venturers
• Sign up for Impact Curator
• Instagram: @socialventurers

Resources:

• NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina
• The Industrial Commons
• Opportunity Threads
• Material Return
• TOSS
• Next Technology Tecnotessile
• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough, Michael Braungart 
• The Book of Hope A Survival Guide for Trying Times, Jane Goodall