Towards ‘integral’ sustainability

From the conference "Made in Italy in the textile industry: challenges and opportunities from a circular economy perspective – what future prospects?" organized by the Ecomondo & AISEC scientific technical committee

The textile industry is undergoing profound changes, and the principles of the circular economy, traceability, and sustainable innovation are essential for the resilience and competitiveness of businesses in a challenging economic environment. The next frontier of sustainability in the textile sector requires innovation, regulatory alignment, and the adoption of new, regenerative, circular business models. To explore these priorities, the Ecomondo & AISEC (Italian Association for the Development of the Circular Economy) Scientific Technical Committee has invited industry experts and presented successful case studies.

Sustainability and the EU

According to Guido Bellitti (Studio Chiomenti), 2025 has seen a scaling back of the Green Deal’s ambitions, with a trend toward simplification and deregulation, as evidenced by Omnibus 1. This has lightened the compliance burden for businesses but has also created legal uncertainty for those that had already begun investing to comply with CSRD and CSDDD. At the same time, competition authorities have stepped up scrutiny of unfair practices in the fashion sector (e.g. labor exploitation and greenwashing). The approval of the Green Claims Directive — currently stalled — remains crucial to providing legal certainty around sustainable communications.

Ecodesign and Traceability

Eleonora Foschi (ENEA) notes that the Ecodesign Regulation, in force since last July, identifies textile products as a priority, defining 16 criteria and introducing tools such as the digital product passport. ENEA is supporting SMEs in Italian textile districts (Biella, Prato) through the compliance process. A pilot study in Emilia-Romagna found that many companies have over 500 suppliers, making traceability highly complex. Rinaldo Rinaldi (University of Florence) stresses that the value of Made in Italy is increasingly shifting from material quality to production process transparency, requiring complete, accurate, and interoperable data across all actors in the supply chain.

The Districts

Valerio Barberis highlights the strategic role of Italian cities, which generate 80% of European GDP. Industrial and artisan districts, such as the textile district of Prato (accounting for 3% of European textile production), should be regarded as circularity laboratories. Dedicated national policies are needed, as current regulations risk hindering the good local practices already underway.

Partnerships for Innovation

Raffaella Arista (Studio Legale Improda) illustrates how patents and partnership agreements are enabling innovation in sustainable materials. A prime example is Orange Fiber, which produces a fabric from the cellulose found in orange juice by-products, already adopted by Ferragamo. Collaborative business networks are also emerging, such as Innovation for Luxury — an open network involving major players including Louis Vuitton — focused on sharing projects around innovation, digitalization, and sustainability.

The Recycling Sector

Attila Kiss (Gruppo Florence) highlights the sector’s challenges: few mature technologies, limited demand, and a prevalence of “down cycling” over genuine recycling, with high costs making recycled materials poorly competitive. Gruppo Florence, with 5,000 employees, aims to drive change through aggregation, material sorting, and creative collaboration with brands. Louis Vuitton also takes a structured approach to circularity: it operates around ten repair centers worldwide, carrying out 500,000 repairs per year, practices eco-design, and has introduced a repairability index (A, B, C), with the goal of having 85% of its collection classified as A or B.