Around 34 thousand professionals from the textile and apparel sectors from more than 120 countries flocked to Première Vision Paris, one of the largest trade events in the field, and showed particular interest in the innovations marked with a Portuguese label that the be@t project – bioeconomy in the textile industry – presented at Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte, from February 3 to 5, within CITEVE’s creative stand, as announced in a press release.
According to the same source, the space, “breathing originality and located right in front of the entrance, did not go unnoticed nor leave visitors indifferent, who were immediately attracted by the colors of the experimental clothing demonstrators: 12 mannequins strategically placed and wearing final products developed with industrial partners in the spinning, weaving, finishing and garment sectors, as a result of be@t research in the fields of sustainability and bioeconomy”.
Digital Product Passport reinforces transparency: environmental indices above 70%
Placed around the space, which hosted guided tours for specialty journalists, the 12 demonstrators thus revealed the work the project had developed in the search for new raw materials alternatives to fossil-origin sources, new recycling methods, more environmentally friendly production processes, attractive and functional design capable of competing in fashion markets. This work was materialized in garments based on biomaterials and recycled materials (including linen, viscose, lyocell, PLA/polylactic acid, hemp, cork-based components, pine, recycled fibers and bio-residues such as bagasse, grape pomace and drèche) and achieving environmental and circularity indices above 70%.
Those characteristics could also be verified by visitors through another of the major novelties presented there by be@t: the Digital Product Passport (DPP). It was materialized in a QR-code – which was read by more than 650 visitors – attached to each piece and whose reading with a mobile phone gives access to its entire production history, allowing the environmental footprint to be traced from production to the consumer.
The be@t project was also the central theme of the lecture “Reinventing Fashion Through Bioeconomy”, which took place on the second day of the event. Thanks to a panel of excellence, it was presented how innovation driven by the bioeconomy is transforming the way fashion is conceived, produced and valued.
From biobased fibers and regenerative resources to nature-inspired processes, motivational solutions for circular, resilient and sustainable systems were shared, presenting a credible vision for a fashion industry that works with nature, not against it.
In addition to having been the topic of the most attended of the talks in the Première Vision Paris parallel program, be@t managed with this participation at the CITEVE stand – the project coordinator with 60 national companies, universities and research centers – to stand out among more than 1,200 exhibitors from 44 countries and to exponentially reveal the integrated approach that links all facets of the sector, such as research, raw materials, fiber, dyeing, technology, production, always with sustainability as a reference. And sustainability here understood from an environmental, but also economic, perspective, which gives the be@t products a high market potential for Portuguese textiles in the international context.
“Be@t is a large-scale applied research project that came to Paris to demonstrate with evidence how it is integrating bio-based materials, circular processes and digital tools in industrial textile production,” notes António Braz Costa, general director of CITEVE, highlighting that “the coordinated displays also showed the aesthetic and functional potential of the project’s results, as well as the capacity for transfer to the market, in order to support the international promotion of ‘Made in Portugal’ as a synonym of quality, sustainability and fashion.”
Be@t thus lived up to the invitation extended to Portugal to be a country with a special focus in this edition of Première Vision Paris, together with France and Japan, as “Territories of savoir faire.” The professional fair, which already regularly values creativity, thereby emphasized diversity and excellence even more, allowing Portugal to display its state of the art in textiles.
Under the topic “Portugal – living sustainably”, be@t contributed to publicizing this territory of industries and artisans committed to sustainable fashion; to explaining how an ecosystem that prioritizes sustainable innovation can bring together industry, artisans, designers and high-performance technology centers; and to showing how tradition and cutting-edge technologies complement each other to create a foundational platform for responsible European fashion.
