Our May 14 TexTalk brought together industry leaders making groundbreaking strides in sustainable textiles including Andrea Ferris, co-inventor of CiCLO® technology and Co-Founder and CEO of Intrinsic Advanced Materials (IAM); Cheryl Smyre, Vice President of Parkdale Advanced Materials Division; Marci Zaroff, Founder and CEO of ECOfashion Corp, home to sustainable lifestyle brand Farm to Home®; and Walter Bridgham, Senior Business Development Manager at the Lenzing® Group. Moderated by host Jody Folino, Chief Marketing Officer of Blue Ridge Home Fashions, these panelists led an inspiring conversation on sustainability, its perception across the globe, and its impact on retailers and consumers alike.
How are the geopolitical climate and tariff shifts impacting business, and how do you think they are influencing the retailer focus on sustainability?
Panelists shared that the uncertainty caused by tariff shifts directly affects their ability to make decisions — especially those fundamental to business, like the strategic sourcing of materials. And for companies like CiCLO®, who are focused on developing new technologies, they have noticed a short-term disruption in the development of new materials as retailers focus on meeting current consumer demands.
However, despite these challenges, our panelists have been encouraged by the commitment to sustainability from both retailers and the people behind them. Many retailers have prepared for these shifts months in advance by investigating new suppliers and countries that can help them meet the increase in consumer demand for brand transparency and accountability. And, though there has been a pause in the development of new materials, they are hopeful that the sustainability champions within each of these brands will be ready to innovate more when the time is right.
What are consumers’ expectations when it comes to sustainability? How are brands adapting? Are consumers willing to pay for sustainability?
To our panelists, it is clear that consumer consciousness around sustainability is actively evolving. To that point, Cheryl Smyre shared that in her company’s research of consumers ages 18-65 they found, “91% [of consumers] said that they consider sustainability in their shopping decisions. So out of that 91%, 23% said they actively seek sustainable products, and 31% said that they prioritize it.” They also found affordability to be the biggest factor for consumers, with durability and quality coming in second.
All of our panelists agreed that affordability is deeply important in creating sustainable products and recognized the importance of companies like theirs to remove the burden from consumers and to build better products from the start. Though studies show that Gen Z and Millennials are willing to pay more for these products, it is important to understand just how much more they are willing to pay. Walter Bridgham of the Lenzing Group noted that consumers are currently seeing a price differential of 2% to 3%, significantly less than the 12% to 15% differential they were seeing 10-15 years ago. Furthermore, home retailers are incorporating more ways to signal their commitment to sustainability to consumers by using certified ingredients and becoming certified themselves. These actions continue to make it easier for consumers to decide what products to purchase and recognize the impact those products are having on the environment.
If you could get the entire industry to agree on one action tomorrow to move sustainability forward, what would it be?
For this question, each of our panelists provided short and urgent advice, calling for industry leaders to prioritize sustainability.
Marci Zaroff emphasized focusing on the creating sustainability from the source, encouraging retailers to “drive positive outcomes for nature…by adopting only organic, regenerative, and sustainable fibers and materials. That’s where 70% of social and environmental impacts are happening.” Walter Bridgham led with a similar sentiment advising retailers and suppliers to “choose materials that have the lowest CO2 greenhouse gas impact. Those are the things that are going to make a difference as far as how this earth is for the next generations.”
Andrea Ferris called for a commitment to incremental change, sharing, “As an industry we need to accept progress over perfection and really just continue to make incremental change. Every bit that we do that makes a better product is incredibly helpful if we can all commit to even just incremental change over time.” And Cheryl Smyre called for accountability. “We need to take action as leaders…without legislative mandates. Do the right thing, because once we know, it’s our responsibility to do the right thing.”
Finally, our panelists closed by noting the complexity and ever-changing nature of this work and the importance of collaborating with each other, just as they have done themselves, to move the field of sustainable textiles forward. They’re optimistic that together we will rise above and overcome the challenges that the industry currently faces.
About the Host:
Jody Folino is a senior executive with a background in retail, sales and manufacturing. Jody is highly skilled in developing merchandising, marketing and omni channel business strategies. Jody provides effective results in all aspects of management with impressive communication and leadership skills. Priding herself in solid core values of honesty, integrity and commitment to excellence. Jody Folino is currently the Chief Marketing Officer for Blue Ridge Home Fashions.
About the Panelists:
Andrea Ferris is co-inventor of CiCLO® technology and Co-Founder and CEO of Intrinsic Advanced Materials (IAM), a joint venture with Parkdale Mills, the world’s leading manufacturer of spun yarns. Launched in 2017 after five years of R&D, CiCLO is a textile ingredient that helps reduce microplastic pollution by enabling synthetic fibers to biodegrade when they end up as environmental pollutants, while maintaining durability during use and recyclability at end of life.
Throughout Andrea’s decade-long journey from inventor to CEO, she has experienced firsthand the challenges and triumphs of commercializing a scientific textile technology in the often misunderstood industry of biodegradable plastics. She has been involved in many areas of the business including product development, testing, manufacturing, supply chain, sales and marketing, but most enjoys educating on the issue of synthetic microfiber pollution and how biodegradation is a practical solution.
Cheryl Smyre leads the Parkdale Advanced Materials division, with a keen focus on the creation of new fiber and polymer technologies that deliver sustainable and innovative solutions to the textile industry.
Over the past 7 years, Cheryl’s prime focus has centered on market development and growth of the CICLO® technology, a revolutionary patented chemistry that catalyzes the biodegradation of polyester and nylon at rates similar to natural fibers when they become pollutants in the environment.
During her 27-year career with Parkdale, she has led International Sales, Global Supply Chain, R&D and Customer Relations. Her International Business degree from the University of South Carolina, multi-cultural background and extensive textile manufacturing experience, have served as an asset to the company on a global scale.
Cheryl enjoys traveling with her family, playing golf and serving her church family.
Marci Zaroff coined the term “ECOfashion” in 1995 and is an internationally-recognized ecolifestyle expert, educator, innovator, serial entrepreneur, and Author of “ECOrenaissance: Co-Creating A Stylish, Sexy and Sustainable World.” Founder/CEO of ECOfashion Corp—a “Greenhouse of Brands”—including a turnkey tech-enabled B2B private label apparel & home manufacturing platform, regenerative/organic cotton farm project RESET, affordable sustainable lifestyle brand Farm to Home, and (e)co-creation retail marketplace YesAnd. Marci is also Founder of Under the Canopy, Producer of “THREAD: Driving Fashion Forward,” and Co-Founder of BeyondBrands, Good Catch, and The Institute for Integrative Nutrition—and has been instrumental in driving authenticity, environmental leadership, and social justice worldwide for over 35 years. Co-founder and Board Chair of the Textile Exchange, Marci is the recipient of countless awards, including the 2023 “WWD ESG Leadership Award,” “New York Moves Power Woman Award” and “Real Leaders Impact Award,” is featured in the book “ECO AMAZONS: 20 Women Who Are Transforming the World,” and is a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute. @marcizaroff
Walter Bridgham is the Senior Business Development Manager at the Lenzing Group where he educates and inspires the home and interior industries on the benefits of TENCEL™ branded fibers and LENZING™ ECOVERO™ branded fibers. Previously, Walter led the domestic and international teams at WestPoint Home in developing innovative bed and bath textiles as the Director of Product Innovation/Development. Walter has over 35 years in retail experience overseeing several home categories as Director of Product Development for Private Brands at Macy’s. In his early career he was a home categories buyer at Burdines nameplate before moving to Macy’s in 2004 as home textiles buyer. [email protected]
Joi Harper
Account Executive, Content & Editorial
Kellen Company
