Katie McKenna, a representative for Virus Collective, talks about how the brand is creating Covid-19 themed fashion to raise money for the World Health Organisation’s response fund. 

Megan Eddings, CEO of Accel Lifestyle, explains how the company has switched up its manufacturing to produce face masks instead of sportswear using its proprietary fabric called Prema. 

In the first episode of The WTiN Podcast’s series on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Flora Davidson, co-founder of SupplyCompass, talks with Jessica Owen about supply chains, reimagining the future, and how she’ll be celebrating after the crisis blows over.

Jemina Pomoell, co-founder and COO at Astrid Wild, talks about the brand’s sustainable outdoor garments that have been designed by women for women.

After finding nothing to wear for a hiking trip to Norway, Maria Paulsson Rönnbäck decided to design some of her own functional outdoor clothing. She then met Pomoell at a start-up incubator project in Stockholm in January 2019 and Astrid Wild came to fruition later that year.  

To find out more about Astrid Wild’s journey and sustainable feminine designs, check out this podcast from WTiN.

Giulio Bonazzi, president and CEO at Aquafil, talks about the company’s Econyl regenerated nylon and its numerous possibilities.

The Italian company Aquafil started producing Econyl from ghost fishing nets and carpet waste on an industrial scale back in 2011. Since then, every year the brand produces around 40,000 tonnes of regenerated nylon yarn and has collaborated with many well-known brands in both the luxury apparel, fast fashion, and automotive sectors.

Have a listen to our latest podcast with Giulio Bonazzi to find out how the company produces its recycled nylon, the latest collaborations and future plans to expand into other areas.

Thomas Stanton, a PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham, talks about his research on microfibre pollution, presenting a somewhat surprising conclusion.

Earlier this year, Tom and other researchers published a paper in the journal Science of the Total Environment that quantified the abundance of both natural and synthetic fibres found in freshwater and atmospheric samples in Nottingham, Leicestershire and Staffordshire, UK.

They took regular samples between November 2017 and July 2018 and found that, actually, natural fibres are far more abundant in the environment than the microplastic fibres that are most commonly mentioned in the press.

To find out more about his research, check out this latest podcast from WTiN.

Janne Poranen, CEO and co-founder of Spinnova, talks about the company’s process of converting wood pulp into textile fibre without the use of harmful chemicals.

After spending many years conducting research in the pulp and paper sector, and after listening to an inspiring presentation at the University of Oxford, researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland created a process for converting wood pulp into sustainable textile fibre … without the use of harmful chemicals. After realising just how innovative their method was, they founded Spinnova in 2015.

Have a listen to the podcast to learn more about the company’s origins, sustainable fibre production process and plans to scale up industrially in the future.

Dr Matthew Tipper, business director at the Nonwovens Innovation and Research Institute (NIRI), and David Jackson, consultant and former senior technical leader at Kimberly Clark, discuss all things wipes.

Wipes haven’t had the best press recently. There have been reports about them contributing towards large ‘fatbergs’, research indicating that flushable wipes are indeed not flushable at all, and then there is the issue of them adding to plastic waste.

With so much going on in this sector of nonwovens, we thought it would be best to call in some experts and clarify some of these statements.

Megan Eddings, CEO and founder of Accel Lifestyle, chats about the brand's anti-stink apparel made from its proprietary fabric called Prema. 

The company is using its exclusive, antibacterial Prema fabric to manufacture the all new Accel Prema Anti-Bacterial Face Masks, which will be available to both the public and medical professionals.

Professor Parik Goswami, director of the University of Huddersfield's new Technical Textile Research Centre, speaks with Fiona Haran about how it will benefit and support the industry.

The Technical Textile Research Centre (TTRC) will focus on high-performance technical textiles that are bespoke and high quality but produced speedily and efficiently so that they are competitively priced and respond to an increase in global demand. And to do this, the TTRC will pool knowledge from various sectors – primarily science – as, according to the centre’s founder, Professor Parik Goswami, “it’s difficult to see a real impactful innovation in technical textiles where chemistry didn’t play a part”.