Workshops for students
May to December 2024
During the span of its third year, EUCOTTON organized 10 workshops for students in cooperation with 10 fashion & textile schools in Greece, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. With the support of external cotton and fashion experts, the students were familiarized with the European cotton production & heritage, with main focus on its sustainability and quality aspects. In Italy, the workshops resulted in a capsule collection by the students of Fashion Design Area of NABA-Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in the framework of an EUCOTTON X NABA collaboration for the promotion of sustainability in fashion. The outfits were presented in a ceremony in Milan on December 5th, and also travelled to Paris for exhibition at the EUCOTTON French event in the next weeks of December.
Event for French fashion and textile industry
December 2024
EUCOTTON turns heads in Paris! On December 10th, more than 100 high profile professionals gathered at Espace Clery in order to participate to EUCOTTON’s event in the European capital of fashion. The event included a presentation by Antonis Siarkos, the president of ECA and a round-table discussion with ECA members Antonios Siarkos (Chairman of ECA and President of SIARKOS SA), Dimitris Polychronos (CEO of Nafpaktos Yarns SA), Vassilis Markou (Ginner, member of the Hellenic Inter-professional Cotton Association), Josep Artigas (Cotton agent and President of Centro Algodonero Nacional) and also experts Ilian Moundib, author and climate strategy engineer, Elizabeth Perret Sénécaille CSR director at IKKS, Bruno Nahan, President of the Fédération de la Maille et de la Lingerie et du Balnéaire and textile manufacturer as CEO of Bugis and François Souchet, consultant in sustainability strategies. The event was moderated by Victoire Satto, founder of The Good Goods.
Participation at Genova Jeans Week
October 2024
EUCOTTON participated at the 2024 Genova Jeans Week, a week-long tribute to the celebrated jeans garment which took place in its birthplace. From 4-6 October EUCOTTON welcomed guests to its designated booth at the beautiful show and side activities organized by the City of Genoa.
Fam trip in Andalusia
September 2024
At the end of September, a team of 20 cotton, fashion and textile professionals from Germany, Italy, France, Greece and Spain have been able to discover on the ground the sustainability and quality that distinguish European cotton through a visit to Andalusia. Specifically, the representatives of the European textile and fashion industry visited the fields and facilities of two benchmarks in the Andalusian cotton sector: Algosur (Algodonera del Sur), in the province of Seville, and the Las Lomas Agricultural Complex (Cadiz), which has the oldest active ginning mill in Spain. These two farms carry out many of the best practices that make European cotton special, such as 100% mechanised harvesting, the use of non-GMO seeds, highly professionalised employees and the implementation of water management and Integrated Pest Management plans.
Event for German professionals
September 2024
On the first day of Munich Fabric Start, EUCOTTON hosted a panel discussion on the sustainability and traceability of European cotton in the framework of the new EU legislation on Green Deal , with a roast of panelists including representatives of ECA mr Antonis Siarkos, Dimitris Polyhronos and Vasileios Markou, alongside esteemed professionals such as mr Jens Wirth, Managing Director of Bremen Cotton Exchange, ms Michela Puddu, manager at Gherzi Textil Organisation, ms Anne Oudard, cotton specialist of Cotton Diaries and ms Laura Pianazza, fashion specialist. The panel concentrated on the key challenges and trends of the European fashion industry for the production of sustainable and traceable fashion apparel, bringing to light EUCOTTON’s innovative approach to creating European, sustainable, high-quality fashion apparel that are 100% traceable from farm to store.
Participation at Munich Fabric Start 2024
Munich, 3-4/09/2024
A successful participation of EUCOTTON at Munich Fabric Start (September edition) took place on 3-4 September 2024. The campaign participated with a specially constructed booth where visitors could receive materials and visualize the life cycle of cotton throughout the supply chain. In addition, EUCOTTON was the proud sponsor of The Buyers’ Club in the show, in a specially dedicated exhibitors’ area welcoming 400 guests during the show duration.
Event for Italian fashion and textile brands
Milan, 10/07/2024
European cotton took centre stage in Milan on 10/07/2024, as over 80 professionals from prestigious fashion and textile brands gathered for the presentation of the EUCOTTON initiative. The event included presentations by the representatives of ECA board Antonios Siarkos and Dimitris Polychronos on the quality and sustainability properties of European cotton, as well as its traceability from farm to final garment. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Maria Cristina Pavarini, Senior Editor of THE SPIN-OFF, exploring possibilities and synergies for the European cotton industry and the Italian fashion & textile industry for more sustainable and conscious garment production. The round table consisted of Dimitris Polychronos and Vassilis Markou, CEO of Violar SA, Simon Giuliani, Head of Sustainability at Candiani Denim, Flavio Berto, CEO of Berto Industria Tessile, Tommaso Cumerlato, Chief Sales Officer at MIC Spa and Lucinda Spera, Chief Marketing Officer at John Richmond. During the cocktail event that followed, artist Emina demonstrated the traditional dyeing batik technique, creating for the guests’ hand-painted scarves made with premium European cotton.
Event for Greek fashion and textile brands
Thessaloniki, 27/06/2024
The Greek fashion and textile industry gathered in Thessaloniki for the first event liaising the European cotton production sector with the world of fashion. Over 80 participants from 65 enterprises and organizations participated at the event, finding out more on how to pave a sustainable future with European cotton! The event included a moderated panel discussion which included Antonios Siarkos and Dimitris Polychronos of European Cotton Alliance, Giorgos Eleftheriadis, Designer and vice president of the Hellenic Association of Fashion Designers, Theofilos Aslanidis, Director of Association of Knitting – Ready Made Garment Enterprises of Greece (SEPEE) and Panos Sofianos, representative of Munich Fabric Start trade show.
Participation at Phygital Sustainability Expo
Rome, 4-5/06/2024
The sustainable and quality properties of European cotton were recently presented in Rome, during the Phygital Sustainability Expo – Italy’s biggest sustainability event which yearly attracts more than 10.000 visitors and reaches an audience of more than 70 million. The 2-day event, organized by the Sustainable Fashion Innovation Society on June 4 & 5 at the impressive Imperial Fora Museum, has the support of the European Union Delegation in Rome, the European Parliament, the Italian government, UNESCO, FAO and many more national and international organisations.
EUCOTTON was represented by the President of the European Cotton Alliance Antonios Siarkos, who presented the initiative in the dedicated 1st International Round Table on Cotton: From Crop to Shop alongside speakers from Europe, Africa and the USA. The panel discussion, which was broadcasted by RAI, touched on topics such as the sustainability properties of cotton, the global trade environment for the fibre and the opportunities for local supply chains.
During the 2 days of the Phygital Sustainability Expo, an EUCOTTON booth was set up in the Museum of Imperial Fora, which included presentation of clothes inspired by Greek mythology and prepared with European cotton by students and professors of the International Hellenic University –Department of Creative Design and Clothing.
Workshop for fashion students
Kilkis, 29/05/2024
EUCOTTON joined forces with the International Hellenic University – Department of Creative Design and Fashion for the implementation of a dedicated student workshop on the sustainability and quality of European cotton production. Over 75 students attended the workshop, which included presentations and discussion with Antonios Siarkos, President of ECA, Panos Sofianos, representative of Munich Fabric Start show and Kyriakos Kitoudis, cotton grower. The students had the opportunity to also learn more about the history and tradition of cotton cultivation in Greece and discuss with farmers on the realities of cotton cultivation.
Working Group in Seville
The “EUCOTTON Info Day: a Roadmap to More Sustainable Textiles” was celebrated on March 30th, 2023, in the centre of the Spanish city of Seville, at the headquarters of Fundación Cajasol were over 100 guests between textile industry professionals and media gather to understand deeper the benefits of EUCOTTON.
Working Group in Thessaloniki
On the morning of the 24th, 2022, over 50 representatives of the European cotton sector as well as the textile industries participated at the EUCOTTON Working Group held at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki where they had the opportunity to further be informed about the EUCOTTON initiative and engage in a round table discussion with valuable contributions and insights.
Mediterranean Cotton Roads
On November 24th, 2022, representatives of various levels of the European cotton chain had the opportunity to share their success story with colleagues from participant countries, at the 5th Mediterranean Cotton Roads, a top-level conference linking the industries in the Mediterranean Basin that took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. The celebratory industry event was co-sponsored by EUCOTTON.
Bremen Cotton Conference
EUCOTTON was platinum sponsor at the 36th International Bremen Cotton Conference (Bremen, Germany, 29-30/9/2022). In its 2022 edition, the Bremen Cotton Conference brings in the spotlight the European Union as Region in Focus and adopts sustainability as a key theme of the conference works.