Material innovation companies are becoming potential stocks in the eyes of capital and consumer markets

According to the “Global Fashion Business Report 2020” released by McKinsey, 45% of the apparel companies surveyed hope to integrate more innovative bio-based materials, and >67% of production and procurement executives say that the use of innovative and sustainable materials is very important to the company . Most of the companies interviewed believe that functional materials are also important for the development of the entire enterprise. For example, outdoor brands such as GORE-TEX and POLARTEC, as well as companies such as Uniqlo, have been cultivating functional materials for a long time. McKinsey also estimated in the report that from 2013 to 2019, the number of annual patent applications in the textile sector in innovation will increase by 8 times.

In the past five years, 49 new material innovation companies have emerged in the international market, providing many brands and consumer markets with alternative materials that are less resource-intensive, cheaper, and animal-friendly. Whether it is the many strategic measures for sustainable development, or the increasing attention and application of environmentally friendly alternative materials, they are no longer unfamiliar industrial models in the fashion industry. However, with the investment in the capital market, the participation of more and more brands, and the recognition from the consumer market, new alternative materials with sustainable fashion as the original intention will become an increasingly vigorous track and promote more innovations. The enterprise changes the traditional values and development model of the fashion industry.

Therefore, for brands, how do they use “sustainable development concepts” to impress consumers in the post-epidemic era? How to practice sustainability with new thinking? How to understand the concept of sustainable development in the context of the new era? How to promote social progress while assuming social responsibilities? And so on, these are real problems that urgently need them to think and solve. Through these issues, brand companies can better understand consumers and help them better communicate with consumers, so as to promote the realization of sustainable development goals.

For consumers, in addition to rational consumption, what other channels are there to practice their responsible consumption and how to use their personal power to gather sand into a tower to promote society to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals. These questions are a testimony to the gradual deepening of the concept of sustainable development and a manifestation of its core and continuous enrichment of content.

In terms of policy, according to the data released by the United Nations “Action Now” campaign: “The annual greenhouse gas emissions of the fashion industry (clothing and footwear) account for more than 8% of the total global emissions, and the waste water emissions account for 20% of the total global emissions. Just make a pair of jeans requires about 7,500 liters of water from the production of cotton to the market of the final product.” China has been promoting energy conservation and emission reduction in the clothing industry in recent years. In 2017, the China National Textile and Apparel Council released an online reporting system for carbon emissions data to assist textile companies in setting scientific carbon goals.