To encourage knowledge sharing around sustainability in the textile and fashion industry, Lenzing Global Business Development Team from Fashion Wovens and Fashion Knits Segments hosted the “Lenzing Connect 4 Trends Conference AW2324” alongside industry partners, P W N E W and Lenzing Innovation & Technology (LIT+) team. The conference covered the latest innovations and developments for the fashion woven and knit segments, discussing emerging trends including color and theme direction.

To drive the discussion and stay at the forefront of industry trends, Lenzing invited two expert guest speakers from P W N E W to share insights. First to join was Pascaline Wilhelm, Founder of P W N E W who was named in Business of Fashion’s “The BoF 500” list, a professional index for fashion industry players. Sabine Le Chatelier, Creative Consultant at P W N E W, also joined the conference as a guest speaker as she focuses on trend forecasting to provide creative consulting services to clients.

The lively sessions covered five key trends for the AW2324 season: Fluidity, Shine, Volume, Jumble, and Downy. The first trend, Fluidity, looks at fabric feel and drape when handling, providing garments with the desired structure and feel to match the season. Secondly, Shine is the trend of consumers looking for fabrics that are not only aesthetically pleasing, fun, and luxurious, but also offer extreme silky softness. Andrew Chen, Director of Innovation Development at Lenzing AG, shared that specific yarn design enables the characteristic of TENCEL™ branded lyocell fibers to come through, including enhanced fluidity and light reflectiveness for maximum drape versatility and shine.

The next trend, Volume, refers to the visual effect of volume through texture and structure. Similarly, the Jumble trend focuses on the finishing effects in wool blends and fine tailoring fabrics, such as soft blur, texture, and color dilutions. Hale Saracoglu, Head of Global Business Development for Fashion Wovens and Sweaters Segment at Lenzing AG, shared how TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers are ideal for creating layered materials together with synthetic fabric layers, which supports the quick-drying through superior moisture absorbance and distribution properties. Meanwhile, TENCEL™ Modal fibers are used for long-lasting colorfastness, providing design flexibility for fabrics. Hale also explained how LENZING™ ECOVERO™ Viscose ­fibers in black color could be used to provide texture for knitting and woven fabrics while upholding a high standard for sustainability.

Finally, Downy explores the most essential need – comfort. Following the loungewear trend brought about by the pandemic, consumers are looking to maintain a high level of comfort. Bernd Schleuchardt, Global Business Development Manager Knits at Lenzing AG, explains that the textures sought after for comfort – such as corduroy, velvet, knitted velour, terrycloth, and brushed fabrics – are a perfect match for TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers as their unique physical properties lead to a high tenacity profile and gentleness to skin.

The sessions were a great success and were enjoyed by almost 400 attendees, for both live and through recordings.