The Textile Institute 2024 Parliamentary Lunch

It was my greatest honour as Chair of Council of the Textile Institute to provide closing comments at The Textile Institute Parliamentary Lunch on Friday. Over 100 experts from the textile, clothing/fashion, footwear and associated industries joined The Right Honourable Lord Haskel to network and share ideas in this wonderful location. Our two after dinner speakers Fiona Johnson, Senior Performance Innovation Consultant at UK Sports Institute, and Beatrice Russell, Owner of Flomotion Limited, were insightful and passionate.

Fiona shared with us how innovation in functional and performance apparel in the UK had contributed to team GB success in terms of performance, safety and wellbeing. She was passionate about all things sports and particularly the wellbeing of athletes. A great ambassador for the UK Fashion and Textile industry bringing creativity and technology to the forefront of design. Fiona handed the baton over to the wonderful Beatrice Russell, who shared her business journey - Flomotion a new company set up with assistance from the Princes Trust to provide innovation in wearable solutions. She talked us through how she supports individual clients through offering bespoke designs driven by her passion to achieve outstanding sporting results - sustainably and ethically.

During the course of the afternoon, I was fortunate to speak to many individuals from all our sectors connecting with individual and corporate members from academia, commerce and the charity sectors along with their friends and guests. It was truly an honour to be share in the rich discussions and I hope this will be the start of new networking opportunities and global collaborations leading to many impactful outcomes.

The Textile Institutes next World Conference Oct 2025 will be hosted by Aquitex in Porto, Portugal. The conference theme, "Fibre to Future - Transforming Fashion and Textiles through Sustainability and Digitalisation," were we will explore the significant shifts shaping the fashion and textile industry today. Aquitex, a leader in innovative textile chemicals, has over six decades of experience and is committed to sustainability, safety, and social responsibility. Their partnerships with universities and R&D institutions strengthen their role in driving sustainable, cutting-edge solutions for the global market.

Collaborations between universities, charities, and commerce, locally and globally are essential to drive innovation forward; and some of the discussions will be the start of new opportunities, networks and partnerships that will really make a difference to some of the key global sustainability challenges we currently face. Please reach out to the Textile Institute network’s and get involved in Section and Special Interest group activities – our extensive calendar is available on the web click here.

I would like to thank all involved in the event but particularly Taylor and Frances for their generous sponsorship and the wonderful Lord Haskell for hosting this prestigious event.

Professor Jess Power

Chair of Council Textile Institute

Linkedin: Prof Jess Power PFHEA NTF CText FTI FCMI | LinkedIn

?If you are an individual, company or education establishment who is interested in joining the Textile Institute, please visit our website for more information click here. The Textile Institute is the only International professional body representing the whole supply chain in the textiles industries connecting students, professionals and organisations in up to 70 countries.

#textileinstitute Stephanie Dick Jason Kent Robyn I. Ellen Talbot Angela Aires Augusto Clive Brown Nic Beech David Buxton Dr Alana James Ian Smith CText FTI Janice Allan Gemma Moran Beatrice Russell Fiona Johnson Charles Wood Charles Knight Helen Rowe Gianpaolo Vignali Jane Wood Pammi Sinha Rohana Kuruppu Barbara Waters Tim Isherwood Bashir Aswat ANASTASIA VOUYOUKA Helen Boden Colebourn Dr Julie King Alistair Knox