Hogeschool van Amsterdam welcomes international Textile ETP Conference

At a crucial moment for the European textile and fashion industry, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) welcomes the international Textile ETP Conference from 26 to 28 May 2026; the European platform for future-proof clothing and textiles. In Amsterdam, science and industry will consider the profound change that awaits the sector, thanks to new European laws and regulations. The ‘digital product passport’ that Europe is introducing is one example.

Science and industry are meeting in Amsterdam this month to discuss the need for digitisation and data-driven models for the textile and clothing industry. Because new legislation from Brussels is forcing companies to design, produce and sell differently.

“The ‘Digital Product Passport’ introduced by the EU is digitising a sector that doesn’t really want to be digitised,” says Troy Nachtigall, lecturer in Fashion Research and Technology. “The industry is still very little engaged in this. We see, for example, that the footwear industry was less willing to change than hoped. But this passport, from the ‘Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and extended producer responsibility are going to dramatically change the playing field.”

ETP’s conference in Amsterdam is crucial so that science and industry can help each other make that change. Together with the network, Nachtigall’s lectureship has been thinking about the future for the past 10, and that knowledge is now coming in handy.

“We explore ideas that still seem impossible or just barely feasible, and then help companies develop and apply them further. We do that with forerunners like Knitwear Lab and ByBorre.”

The HvA has a ‘microfactory’ in which researchers and students, fully robotised, can produce customised jumpers. Robotisation and automation are becoming increasingly important, according to Nachtigall.

Nachtigall outlines a future where designers test garments before they are produced. “A designer can create a design, post it on Instagram and already sell ten copies, before it goes into production. And if such a garment is made by someone closer to you, I think a stronger connection will be created with the product.”

Globally, there are only a few knowledge institutions working on the potential of robots and digitalisation for the garment industry. Besides the HvA, Nachtigall mentions Politecnico di Milano, the Swedish School of Textiles and MIT, among others. “It’s a small group of people who already work in this way, and we actually all know each other,” he says.

That Amsterdam gets to host this conference of European frontrunners provides the Fashion Research & Technology lectorate and AMFI with an international stage to showcase the power of practice-based research and their expertise.

“Unique to our research group is the holistic perspective: we do not zoom in on one part of the garment industry, but look at the entire ecosystem,” says Nachtigall. The HvA does this in the NewTexEco network, together with other knowledge partners: for the task of sustainability, the researchers look at the whole chain-from fibre to sales and residual product.

The anniversary conference in Amsterdam is organised by AMFI, the HvA and Modint in collaboration with the European Network for Textile and Clothing Innovation.

The European Union is working on new rules to make sustainable clothing and textiles the norm. A key part of this is the Digital Product Passport (DPP): a digital passport that shows exactly what a garment is made of, where the materials come from, how it was produced and how it can be repaired or recycled.

The passport is part of the ‘Ecodesign sustainable product regulation’. The rules will apply to all brands selling clothes, textiles or shoes within the EU. In addition, large fashion companies will not be allowed to destroy unsold clothes and shoes from 2026. For medium-sized companies, the ban will apply from 2030. Small brands are exempted for now.The EU expects to set the final rules around textiles and the Digital Product Passport in 2027.