ACCORD KNITS X SOLTEC: A collaboration for young people willing to grow

In response to high poverty rates and a lack of school education in Madagascar SOLTEC was founded in 1996. SOLTEC stands for “Solar and Technical” but unlike the name evokes, SOLTEC is a training center that teaches needy youth various skills like knitting and embroidery, mechanical manufacturing, electricity and plumbing, woodwork, agriculture, culinary arts and sewing. Teachers help the young students developing their talent, becoming professional in a field, earn an income and improve their well-being within 2 years of classes.

To support the development of SOLTEC, and to help give these young people a better future, Accord Knits has donated stock yarn for the knitting, sewing, weaving and embroidery sections. Furthermore, we invited 4 teachers to visit our factory and get insights in big scale textile manufacturing. For one month, the teachers worked on industrial machines, strengthened their capacity, and improved their performance. The collaboration was successfully completed this week, the teachers are now heading back to school, sharing the fresh knowledge with their students.

Biomass energy promoted by Global Green Energy!

Madagascar loses about 100,000 hectares of forest per year, most of which is transformed into firewood energy and charcoal. Indeed, the majority of the population still uses charcoal as a source of cooking energy. To reduce the pressure on Madagascar’s natural resources, especially its forests, Flexknit has initiated Global Green Energy. One of its major activities is the plantation of “Fy Juncao”, a fast-growing plant species that will be used as biomass to produce ecofriendly briquettes. One hundred hectares of Fy Juncao have been planted in the village of Antotohazo, about 80 km from the capital of Madagascar. The plantation generates employment for a hundred people from the village during the planting and the upcoming harvest. After the harvest and drying, the collected Fy Juncao will be used to manufacture bio-charcoal in a dedicated production unit at the Global Green Energy factory. This way, GGE provides an alternative energy to firewood and common charcoal for households and industries.

Sustainable energy and a more efficient production!

At the end of last year, we received financial support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGGF) for our sustainably driven business strategy and the related project “Global Green Energy”. We are very happy about the support of the Dutch Ministry and the trust they have in us and our projects. With the help of the loan we can drive our projects forward to achieve our goals: using sustainable energy and create a more efficient production, while contributing to a greener environment in Madagascar.

For more information you can visit the website of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

E-Lookbook available now!

Special situations request special actions. That is also the reason why we have prepared an E-Lookbook for you. This way we can continue working with you and show our new developments and ideas – from distance. Be curious about the new styles for Spring/Summer 21.

You are not a client yet? Or wondering how to get the new E-Lookbook?
Just get in touch with us at showroom@flexknit.com!

WE’VE GOT THEM!

Sustainability is more important than ever! To offer you products that are socially and ecologically sustainable, our factory Accord Knits has teamed up with various partners. Next to our long cooperation with BSCI, you can now buy products which are certified by GOTS, Oeko-Tex and OCS. Furthermore, we collaborate with BCI for better cotton farming.

Let´s take the step together towards a better and sustainable future!

We are here! We are creative!

The current situation affects us all, and everyone has to deal with the challenge. Our sales office in Düsseldorf is still active – some colleagues work from home and some stay on site. In Madagascar, the production works as usual.

Unfortunately, the first Corona cases are also being reported there. To protect our workers in our factory we have taken necessary precautions. In addition to disinfectants, which are distributed throughout our production, our health team ensures that the temperature of all our employees is measured every morning.

The health of each and every one of us comes first.

PITTI FILATI: PROTEST FOR MORE SUSTAINABILITY

A few days after the Berlin Fashion Week we went to Pitti Filati in Florence where more than 130 exhibitors presented their yarn trends for SS21.

“This time Pitti is talking flags. A rectangle of material, an inlay of lines, colors, and designs. (…) Fabrics in constant movement,they are not unlike the clothing we wear: mobile symbols of identity, belonging, thought, feeling.”

With slogans such as “bees, love and harmony”, “stop pollution” or “say no to plastic” the Pitti calls for more sustainability. Yarn suppliers advertise a transparent supply chain with various labels and sustainable certificates. But of course, the fair has also dealt with the new trend colors, tape optics, dyes and various foil prints.

GETTING INSPIRED AT BERLIN FASHION WEEK

PANORAMA – PREMIUM – NEONYT. This week we are at the Berlin Fashion Week to be inspired by new trends and discover the latest innovations in sustainability. Panorama and Premium showed both, traditional and young brands presenting great colour concepts and their latest AW20 collections. The most striking topics at the Neonyt were “Circular Fashion” and “Waste Treatment”. In general, fair and eco-friendly productions as well as sustainable materials were the common approach for many brands – no matter which fair we visited.

Recap – Fair Trips Summer 19

This summer we made sure to get to know the trends for AW 20/21.
Therefore we visited the trade fairs Pitti Filati and SpinExpo. Our design team discovered stunning collections like eye-catching colours, colour combinations and print effects as well as mesh patterns and cute floral jacquards. This is a little inside of our creative development for you…enjoy!

We are social responsible!