Cotton for People!

This is the motto of the 32nd International Cotton Conference Bremen which is being jointly organised by the Bremen Cotton Exchange and the Fibre Institute Bremen e.V.. Cindy Crawford once said “I am a product that everyone wants”. We can say the same for cotton. Cotton is one of the most important fibres in the clothing industry. But does the end consumer see it the same way? From Wednesday to Friday our extensive conference programme will attempt to see inside cotton in the textile end product – with a view over the entire textile chain.

This includes the wide, comprehensive view of a giant:

Mast Global Fashions / MGF Sourcing is one of the three largest sourcing companies in the field of clothing in the world, alongside VF Corporation and Sunrise Brands. Victoria’s Secret, La Senza and Abercrombie & Fitch are just a few names from the MGF stable. Mark Neuman of MGF Sourcing will present his company’s vision of cotton. What factors influence large fashion companies when deciding for or against cotton? Brands are close to the end consumer, therefore consumer behaviour determines decisions, says Neuman.

As well as individual decisions:

The fashion designer is also as close to the decision for or against a material as it gets. In 2007, Magdalena Schaffrin founded the label * magdalena schaffrin, for which she designed timeless men’s and women’s collections in ecological materials until 2010. Today she works as a freelance lecturer at the Berlin Media Design University and organises the Green Showroom and the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin. Magdalena Schaffrin will give us an insight into the practice: how does the designer see the cotton fibre?