WHAT’S INSIDE
Top stories and what you’ll find in our newsletter this month:
● A New European Bauhaus Satellite event
● A book if you’re into wool (and the sheep that give it to us)
● Our news roundup of the latest in T&C including Italy’s new definition of “artisan”, recent studies on recycling and a request from DG Environment
OUR PROJECTS
FABRIX
June 9&11 online: Production / Community
Listed as an official satellite event of the New European Bauhaus Festival, the FABRIX project has organized two online sessions along with sister projects to explore how manufacturing value chains and communities shape each other. To register and join the discussion, see here.
ALADIN
Interconnected Microfactories
Cedecs-TCBL is partner in a brand new Horizon project called ALADIN - along with members of the TCBL community including Mitwill, DITF and VORN. The highly technical project will be creating a network of digitally interconnected microfactories that innovate in circular production and are designed to enhance local, European on-demand production. The kick-off meeting took place at DITF headquarters in Denkendorf; stay tuned to this space for the official launch and future opportunities for our network.
VETRINE
From sustainable T&C training to your wardrobe
Last call for this hybrid event taking place June 4! If you’re in Paris there’s still time to sign up and join us for a morning of interesting talks, an exhibition and a networking lunch. But there’s also room for you ONLINE as the event will be professionally live streamed. Sign up here!
AVANTEX
Save the Date for Avantex at Texworld Apparel Sourcing, August 31 to September 2, 2026 / Paris. TCBL will once again be present with opportunities for members and projects to showcase through display and talks.
TCBL MEMBER NEWS
Know your sheep. From the Woolshed project comes the digital publication Wool Atlas, such titled because an Atlas is usually defined as a bound collection of maps, charts, plates, or tables illustrating a subject, and for the project is a starting point for exploring rustic wool in a non-extractivist way. The approach aims at honoring relationships—with animals, landscapes, people, and knowledge systems—while creating sustainable local economies and regenerative futures in mountainous regions. Download the droolworthy design book of sheep here.
Reimagining The Future's Fashion Factory vision makes it to TED global conference in Vancouver! Congratulations to our member Fiori Zafeiropoulou Fronimopoulou for her TedX Athens talk in which she shares her vision born from many years of work through SOFFA – the Social Fashion Factory, Fashion Revolution Greece, Wear Your Origins, and the wider effort to bring ethical, circular, AI-enabled manufacturing back into the life of our cities.
Watch her talk at TedX Athens, and the full episode of the Ted idea search, a reality TV type episode.
Two TCBL members participated in a day in Paris exploring Europe's role in the fashion industry. The PSL Chaire Filière hosted Printanière recherche Mode & Matière, addressing business history, a panel of European experts on textiles, systemic design and just transition, a PhD gallery review, discussion on opportunities and challenges of rebuilding European value chains, and a talk about the essential dialogue between craftsmanship and creativity in clothing.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- An 18-month study by Fashion for Good in collaboration with Circle Economy and numerous brand partners, testing automated sorting technologies using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to collect product information from discarded clothing to enable sorters and brands to make better decisions. They make interesting observations about why, based on physical evidence, clothes may be discarded. Read the study here.
- A viable European
textile-to-textile recycling system requires major investment: €8–11B in CAPEX and c. €5–6.5B in recurring OPEX per year by 2035. Yet profitability profiles remain unattractive, especially for standalone recyclers. What are the enabling mechanisms to bridge this economic gap?
A study by Boston Consulting Group for ReHubs considers what it would take to scale textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling.
- From the Global Fashion Summit, the report Fashion CFO Agenda 2026: Building Financial Resilience Through Sustainability shows how CFOs can use sustainability to better manage costs, risks, and long-term performance.
- What is an artisan (in Italy)? A new Italian law defines and limits who can call themselves an “artisan”. The definition hinges on two simple factors - being registered in an appropriate trade association for artisans, and the direct production of goods defined as "artisanal". This law leaves a ton of grey space and one hopes it can be revised, for it leaves out independent designer-producers with a VAT number but not registered in a trade association, and it also may include products that are not sustainable or that are based on serial factory productions but that have an “artisan element” at the end. In sum, a bit of a mess. Here’s a good analysis in Italian from Ren Collective (in Italian).
- DG Environment and Fraunhofer IZM are asking for 20 minutes of the T&C industry’s time to fill out a survey for their Impact Assessment Study for Ecodesing for Apparel Textile, namely your views on the design of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) for this product group. Here’s the link.
- Inditex has launched its low-cost Lefties store in France, occupying 4,000 square meters at Valvert Croix Blanche centre. Present in 18 countries with 215 stores (91 in Spain), Lefties began in 1993 as Zara’s outlet. The French outlet features cost-saving measures like 18 self-checkout machines and fitting rooms where unwanted items go into a hatch, transported via conveyor belt to automated sorting. Employees hang garments, which are sorted and placed on racks using RFID tags and an automated carousel.
- The National Center for Costume and Stage Design (CNCS) in Moulins marks its 20th anniversary, highlighting its unique restoration expertise. Originally featuring collections from the Opera, the Comédie-Française, and the National Library of France (BnF), it has expanded through auctions. Restoration by specialists is a growing field since 40 years, requiring as much talent as surgery. Here is the link.
AGENDA
CREDITS
Editors: Alexandra Korey, Frédérique Thureau, Jean-Renaud Cuaz
Photos: Project photos and TCBL Member
News photos © TCBL Association
Copyright: Online programming © 2026 Audasud
