Fibre2Fashion Magazine June 2018 June 2018 | Page 136

Summit
Startups dream of a
What Italian industrialist Paolo Canonico, President at ETP (European Technology Platform of Textile and Clothing),
likes most is that new technologies and urgent sustainability requirements create numerous opportunities.
Over the last few years, a vibrant and
growing startup scene in the textiles and
fashion industry has sprung up all over
Europe. Jozef De Coster reports from
Brussels.
136  | FIBRE 2 FASHION JUNE 2018
O
ur times are fond of innovation. Many
textile and apparel companies mention
“innovation” in the text of their Vision and/
or Mission statements. But then, where can
more daring—even disruptive—innovations
be found, than in startups? This was at the heart of the
European Apparel and Textile Confederation Euratex in
Brussels on April 17–18—the First European Textile Startup
Summit.
Lutz Walter, Director of the Innovation and Skills
department at Euratex, enthusiastically hailed the some-
20 young starters who pitched their company at Brussels,
saying: “Over recent years, a vibrant and growing startup
scene in the textiles and fashion industry has sprung up