Zellik – 19 April 2017
Near Brussels, I visited the ‘Something about labelling’ event, organised by Creamoda. In the Belgium Fashion House in Zellik, the focus was on the lack of clarity these days in terms of labelling products. In addition to debunking a few ‘myths’, they talked about the existing legislation around this and what this actually looks like.
The keynote speaker was Sue Bolton, president of the International Standards Organisation ISO TC38 SC1. This Brit is an authority in the international clothing market and has over forty years of fashion experience, with the focus on quality. In an extremely compelling way, she treated the more than sixty attendees to a presentation about all the important facets related to labelling clothing (including confection, workwear, children’s clothing), socks and shoes. She spoke about the relevant European regulations, as well as international labelling for washing instructions. Afterwards, there was an opportunity to ask questions, which were all effortlessly answered in detail.
Jo van Landeghem of Creamoda, perfectly complemented the presentation by mentioning relevant topics and asking critical questions. He is the Quality, Safety & Sustainability Officer at the professional association and is also part of a work group that follows developments in ‘smart clothing’: clothing that uses biometric data. Although the focus of the ‘Something about labelling’ event was on the current situation, it became clear that the ‘worlds’ of clothing and electronics are continually coming closer together as a result of innovations. Something that will undoubtedly affect labelling in the near future.
All in all, it was an inspiring knowledge session and a very successful event.