A model presented creations on April 4, 2022, during the Kornit Fashion Week in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
After about a two-year halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fashion week returned to the Tel Aviv port on Sunday, attracting thousands of guests from around the world with the same vision: striking a balance between fashion and environmental protection.
JERUSALEM, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The Kornit Fashion Week 2022, which concluded in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, shed light on how the dazzling fashion industry blends with eco-friendliness and sustainability through cutting-edge technology in production.
After about a two-year halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fashion week returned to the Tel Aviv port on Sunday, attracting thousands of guests from around the world with the same vision: striking a balance between fashion and environmental protection.
A model presented creations during the Kornit Fashion Week in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
The fashion industry, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, causes pollution next only to the oil industry. It is the second biggest consumer of water and responsible for 8 percent to 10 percent of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Statistics also show that about 30 percent of annually produced clothes end up in landfills even before reaching customers. This overproduction in the fashion industry leads to unnecessary consumption of water, generating 20 percent of the global wastewater.
As co-organizer of the fashion week, Kornit Digital, an Israel-headquartered manufacturing company, has been striving to reduce the waste of water and land pollution from clothing production. By 2026, the company is expected to enable the production of 2.5 billion clothing items while saving about 4 trillion liters of water.
Models presented creations during the Kornit Fashion Week in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)
The company's sustainable strategy of on-demand clothes production by 3D printing could also save 95 percent of energy and 17.2 billion kg of greenhouse gas emissions in the coming four years, according to a statement of the company.
Ronen Samuel, CEO of Kornit Digital, said in an interview with Xinhua that future consumers would prefer tailored garments that express in the best way their own tastes and identities, so revolutionary steps, namely pre-orders through digital technologies, should be taken from the beginning as a solution to overproduction.
Industry insiders believe that one more breakthrough in the industry is the transition to fully automated production lines, which could lower the costs and facilitate on-demand customized manufacturing of apparel.
A model presented creations during the Kornit Fashion Week in Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun)■