#Sustainability

2025-04-30

Cone Denim 2025 Sustainability Report highlights key initiatives, sustainable innovations, and collaborative projects

Cone Denim®, a leading denim innovator for more than 130 years, is pleased to release its 2025 Sustainability Report. Within the report, Cone reflects upon its sustainable progress over the previous year and discusses metric goals set by parent company Elevate Textiles that it aims to achieve by 2030.

The report follows the theme of Compounding Our Future, a play-on-words message derived from the company’s Cone3D program, a research and design incubator for technical product development that focuses on new technologies and innovations. In addition to highlighting sustainable milestones, the report discusses how Cone’s actions “compound” to create the foundation for a more sustainable future.

The 2025 Sustainability Report highlights 2024 achievements across Cone Denim including:

+ Achieved 2025 goals in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and absolute water consumption

+ Launched Cone’s first solar panel installation at its Jiaxing, China facility

+ Honored the five-year anniversary with fiber and source tracing partner Oritain

+ Completed multiple design and development collaborations

“Looking back on 2024, I am incredibly proud of the progress Cone Denim has made in sustainability,” stated Cone Denim President Steve Maggard. “I celebrated 30 years with Cone this year, and being able to witness and shape the impact we have had has been a gift. In 2024, we launched our first solar project, had incredible industry shaping collaborations, and exceeded several sustainability goals.”

Through themes of Denim Made Responsibly, Design for the Planet, and Develop for the Future, Cone aims to educate its customers, suppliers, and vendor partners alike on the cross-functionality synergy that allows the company to reach and surpass its sustainability targets. Maggard believes that these efforts allow Cone to maintain its leadership as a sustainable denim supplier.

“My hope for the remainder of 2025 is that our customers and suppliers continue to look to Cone Denim as a leader in sustainability,” added Maggard. “When you think of Cone, I hope you think ‘transparent’, ‘traceable’, and ‘trustworthy’. We invest in sustainability every day and are never satisfied with the status quo.”

To read the full Sustainability Report, visit https://conedenim.com/home/sustainability/.

Artistic Milliners acquires majority stake in Cone Denim

Artistic Milliners, a global leader in denim innovation, today announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Cone Denim from Elevate Textiles. The new multi-national company will operate under the historic Cone Denim name. Artistic Milliners' Pakistan operations and business will continue to operate independently. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

Cone Denim to launch collaborative hub The Cone Collective

Cone Denim® will debut The Cone Collective, a virtual hub for its cross collaborations with designers and students at the end of June. The Cone Collective is a creative initiative within Cone Denim aimed at supporting and highlighting designers, brands, and students who help tell Cone’s story using its denim fabric through unique creations and art.

Cone Denim and AMK Atelier honor Rooted collaboration at Kingpins Amsterdam

Cone Denim® will debut Rooted, a denim collaboration with AMK Atelier and videographer Eduard Nijgh, at Kingpins Show Amsterdam April 16-17. The collection follows the work of farmers at De Stadsgroenteboer in Amsterdam, documenting wear patterns and testing fabric durability for a full year in custom workwear designed by AMK Atelier. Rooted garments utilize a range of Cone Denim fabrics, including the most recent Cone Denim Community Deforestation selvedge fabric.

ITMF names three winners of the Sustainability & Innovation Award 2026

Three projects from the UK, Korea and China have been selected as winners of the ITMF Sustainability & Innovation Award 2026. The projects address textile-to-textile recycling, chemical recycling for automotive textiles and a regenerative approach combining silk production with ecological restoration.

180 years of TESTEX: From Zurich silk testing to global certification

For 180 years, TESTEX has developed alongside the textile industry while maintaining the same underlying purpose: creating trust through independent and reliable measurement. Founded in Zurich in 1846 as the Zurich Silk Conditioning Institute, TESTEX has grown from a local institution serving the silk trade into an international Swiss testing and certification institute for textiles and leather.

Cascale launches member-led process to shape 2030 strategy

Cascale has launched a member-led process to define the industry alliance’s strategic direction for the next decade. At the Cascale Annual Meeting 2026 in Athens, CEO Ying McGuire announced that members will contribute to an industry system map that will inform Cascale’s 10-year vision, its 2030 strategy and priorities for 2027. The new strategy is scheduled to be finalized in December.

KARL MAYER invites the Global Textile Industry to celebrate its 90th anniversary at its German Headquarters in 2027

KARL MAYER is turning its anniversary year 2027 into a milestone for the textile sector. To mark its 90th anniversary, the industry leader is inviting customers, partners, and experts from around the world to a unique event series in September aimed at pushing boundaries, unlocking new opportunities, and jointly setting the course for a new era in textiles – just as KARL MAYER has done throughout its history. The company’s headquarters in Obertshausen, near Frankfurt, is the place to be.

Durak Maxibalance thread supports users’ movement and balance comfort

Durak Tekstil, a leading brand in its industry, has developed Durak Maxibalance, a new product engineered with bio-ceramic and FAR IR technology. Ushering in a new era for sportswear, activewear, and medical textiles, this technology offers features designed to support balance and movement comfort by reflecting the energy absorbed from the body back into it.

Yarn Expo Autumn 2026 draws to a close, weaving sustainable innovation into global sourcing

Yarn Expo Autumn 2026 concluded with approximately 600 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions, connecting with nearly 22,000 visitors from 110 represented markets, bringing the textile industry’s evolving material agenda into sharper focus. Held alongside Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition, CHIC and PH Value, the fair connected upstream fibre and yarn innovation with fabric development, garment production and fashion-market demand.