Inside Outdoor Fall 2017

At an event hosted by The Taiwan External Trade Development Council at the most recent Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Far Eastern New Century Corporation presented two “world-first products.” First was Top- Dry Zero, the first PFC-free DWR polyester filament. The polymer, says FENC, is intrinsically water-repellent, offering permanent and superior DWR performance. Meanwhile, TopClean is the world’s first PFC-free polyester filament allowing for easy soil removal, said FENC. The polymer naturally eases removal of soil and stains when soaked in pure water, while offering nylon-like comfort. New DWR Options out of Taiwan This summer, Woolam Gin in O’Donnell, Texas, was awarded the Global Organic Textile Standard (“GOTS v5.0”) certification, making it the first certified U.S. organic cotton gin utilizing Applied DNA’s molecular tagging system, dubbed SigNature T. Applied DNA’s system provides a single platform to tag, test and track the organic cotton fibers throughout a certified supply chain. According to the Control Union Cer- tifications, a global certification body, Woolam Gin is 100 percent compliant with all standards and requirements for the GOTS v5.0 audit. Those standards and requirements examine the high level environmental criteria for pro- cessing organics, as well as socially re- sponsible manufacturing practices. The GOTS certification coupled with USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) cer- tification for organically grown cotton is the highest possible measurement standard, said the certification body. “SigNature T assures that the or- ganic cotton grown and ginned in Texas is not blended with other cottons from different origins or with non-organic cot- ton, thereby remaining pure throughout the supply chain, all the way to the con- sumer,” said Dr. James Hayward, presi- dent and CEO of Applied DNA. Since 1999, on a world scale, there has been a four-fold increase in organic agricultural land – from 11 million to 43.7 million hectares in 2014, says Organics International. The GOTS stan- dard provides chain of custody assur- ance covering cotton processing, manu- facturing, packaging, labeling, trading and distribution of home and apparel textiles made with organic fiber. The standard prohibits the use of toxic inputs during the processing stages and includes strong labor protections, including prohibitions on child labor. “The deployment of our tagging system, starting first with Pima cot- ton and continuing on to the Upland varietals and organic cotton, reflects the importance industry participant’s today place on the use of technology to change the way that they source cotton and take control of their supply chain,” Hayward continued. “Partici- pating in the supply chain of certified organic cotton now sets the precedent for our participation in other certified organic supply chains, providing the assurance that both the manufactur- ers and consumers demand.” The first molecularly verified organic cotton is expected to debut at retail in spring 2018, using the “OrganiCott” cotton fiber brand. New Zealand brand Kathmandu is employing Archroma and its EarthCol- ors range of plant-based dyes to create a new capsule collection of the brand’s signature hoodie. Archroma’s EarthCol- ors range recently came to public atten- tion for being the Gold Winner of the OutDoor Industry Award 2017, Sustain- able Innovations category, where Kath- mandu also presented its first hoodies just off of the production line. Archroma’s EarthColors is a line of patented plant-based dyes, sourced from up to 100 percent renewable resources. Archroma developed EarthColors using non-edible waste products, from agriculture and herbal industries, to replace petroleum de- rived raw materials; which are the conventional raw materials used to synthesize dyes currently. The colors available in the capsule collection: slate blue, burnt olive and burlwood rose, are made from the non-edible parts of nutshells, almond shells, rose- mary, saw palmetto, bitter orange and beetroot, left over from agriculture industry or herbal extraction. “Dyeing techniques using plants have been around for centuries, but they re- quire adding huge amounts of mordants and fixatives, which could lead to water pollution,” said Manu Rastogi, textile R&D and responsible materials manager for Kathmandu. “They also tend to have poor light and wash fastness, which is undesirable for the consumer and does not promote article longevity. So when we heard about Archroma’s EarthColors, we were immediately excited by what is probably the first technology allow- ing colors to be synthesized from plants rather than petroleum while keeping similar performance.” “Kathmandu will surely inspire other brands and retailers to explore and adopt eco-advanced innovations,” said Paul Cowell, head of brand mar- keting in Archroma’s Brand & Perfor- mance Textile Specialties business. Woolam Utilizing Organic Cotton Traceability System Kathmandu Utilizes Plant-based Dyes Archroma’s EarthColors FALL 2017 | Inside Outdoor 33