In order for fiber companies to best serve their downstream partners, they need to be sensitive to their concerns and challenges. Here, four leading voices bring us up to speed:
Simon Whitmarsh-Knight
Global Marketing and Sustainability Director
Hyosung
One of the biggest challenges we’re hearing from downstream partners is around marketing and storytelling. The reality is that our bio-based spandex performs exactly like standard spandex. That’s a good thing, because customers don’t have to compromise on performance, but it’s also a challenge because consumers can’t feel the difference—and it’s a premium product.
Price is definitely part of the conversation. On a per-kilo basis, bio-based elastane is currently about 30% more expensive than our standard product. That sounds significant, but when you work it down to the garment level, where elastane may only represent 5% of the total fiber content, the actual cost impact is relatively small. Even so, we’re operating in a challenging global environment, and any premium can be difficult for brands to absorb. The question we often hear is how to justify that additional cost to consumers when they can’t physically see or feel the difference.
The benefit is in the carbon reduction and the renewable feedstock, not in a different hand feel or performance characteristic. Brands are asking, “How do we tell that story?” At the same time, regulations are becoming more complex, and companies want to make sure they’re communicating sustainability claims in the right way. We’re seeing what many people refer to as “green hushing,” where brands are becoming increasingly cautious about what they say publicly.
Another challenge is education. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, but there is still confusion in the market about what bio-based is and what it isn’t. We still encounter questions about whether bio-based means biodegradable, or whether a material made from sugar somehow behaves differently in use. That’s why we’re working with organizations across the industry to help clarify language and definitions. Bio-based is not the same thing as biodegradable, and helping customers understand those distinctions is an important part of driving broader adoption.
Finally, I think one of the broader challenges is that the industry is still divided across different sustainability pathways. Some customers are focused on recycled materials, others are focused on bio-based solutions, and many are waiting for future textile-to-textile recycling technologies to mature. We try to offer a range of solutions because different customers are at different stages of their journey, but the lack of alignment can slow momentum. If the industry could coalesce more strongly around common priorities, investment, regulation, and adoption could move much faster. The opportunity is clearly there; the challenge is helping the industry move toward it together.
Ruth Farrell
General Manager
Eastman‘s Textiles Business
One of the biggest concerns we hear from downstream partners today is the growing complexity of the environment in which they operate. Brands and manufacturers are being asked to respond simultaneously to evolving regulations, increasing expectations around traceability and circularity, ambitious sustainability commitments and consumers who continue to demand high levels of comfort, performance and quality. At the same time, cost pressure, geopolitical uncertainty, tariffs, logistics volatility and input unpredictability are making sourcing decisions more complex than ever.
In this context, the industry is not abandoning global sourcing, but rebalancing it.
Nearshoring and stronger regional ecosystems are gaining importance because they can offer more reliable lead times, closer supplier coordination, greater operational flexibility and better visibility across the value chain.
As a result, our partners are looking for more than innovative materials alone. They need trusted collaborators who can provide scalable, high-performing solutions, transparent documentation, technical expertise and reliable supply. At Eastman, we see our role extending well beyond supplying fibers. We work alongside our partners to help them navigate this increasingly complex environment, supporting them with innovative materials, technical knowledge, transparency and long-term collaboration.
Laura Armstrong
Head of Demand Creation
The Woolmark Company
The biggest concern we are hearing from downstream partners is around supply confidence in a tighter global wool market. Demand for quality wool remains resilient, but global production has been under pressure, which means manufacturers, processors and brands are placing greater importance on reliable access to the right fiber at the right specification.
At the same time, wool prices are recovering from historically challenging levels, and that needs to be understood in the context of long-term industry sustainability. Prices must be viable enough to support woolgrowers and give them the confidence to continue investing in their businesses, while also remaining workable for processors, manufacturers and brands operating in a competitive retail environment.
The balance lies in creating stronger demand and clearer value for wool at every stage of the supply chain. When consumer demand for natural, renewable and high-performing fibres is strong, and when brands can clearly communicate wool’s performance, provenance and premium qualities, the industry is better positioned to manage price movements and sustain value from farm through to finished product.
What is encouraging is that many partners are approaching this as a strategic supply-chain issue rather than a short-term pricing challenge. They are looking more closely at long-term partnerships, better forecasting, greater transparency and stronger technical collaboration across the pipeline.
That is where Woolmark has an important role to play. By supporting innovation, testing, technical knowledge transfer and stronger connections across the value chain, we can help reduce barriers to adoption and give brands and manufacturers greater confidence to invest in wool.
Wool has always been a premium fiber, but its value increasingly lies in the combination of performance, provenance, natural benefits and consumer trust. In that sense, a tighter supply environment reinforces the need for deeper collaboration across the industry, so that wool is used in the right products, positioned effectively and valued appropriately by brands and consumers.
Tuncay Kılıçkan
Head of Global Business Development for Denim
Lenzing
Supply operations have become far more complicated these days compared with previous years. Changing sourcing maps, tariffs, wars, and fluctuating raw material prices have all made the sourcing process much more difficult. Decision-making, especially for large programs, has become harder, pushing orders to the last minute. This creates particular challenges for the supply chain.
Diversification in sourcing is crucial today, but of course such a shift does not happen in a day or two. Brands may have to accept the risk of lower product quality in new sourcing countries where major investments are being made. However, there are still a handful of brands and retailers doing a very good job, thanks to the relentless efforts of their upstream manufacturing partners.
