Textile Opportunity Space 13 (TOS13)

The textile, clothing, leather and footwear industries are facing major changes. European regulations require greater transparency regarding materials, production and the life cycle of products, including through the Digital Product Passport (DPP). At the same time, the sector is highly fragmented and many production processes remain largely analogue. TOS13 is investigating how digitalisation can contribute to a better-connected, more circular and future-oriented textile supply chain.

TOS13 brings together research, technology and practice. Companies can test new technologies and working methods there in a realistic production environment, alongside researchers and other partners from the supply chain. The approach is based on ‘research through design’: solutions are designed, developed, tested and improved on the basis of specific real-world challenges.

The field lab focuses on three interrelated areas of development:

• Connecting the sector
  TOS13 is investigating how businesses can gain faster access to knowledge, expertise and partners. Work is also underway on applications that make digitalisation and the Digital Product Passport more accessible to smaller businesses.
• Digitising analogue production processes
  Much of the knowledge and production processes in the textile sector are still analogue. TOS13 is investigating how these processes can be supported digitally, without losing sight of craftsmanship. This involves working with digital twins, digital sampling and microfactories, amongst other things.
• Extending the lifespan of textiles
  Digitalisation can also contribute to circularity after production. Through better information on materials and products, and new digital applications, research is being carried out into how textiles can remain in use for longer, for example through repair, reuse and remanufacturing.

TOS13 is not a theoretical innovation project, but an environment in which solutions are actually developed and tested. Companies can experiment with, amongst other things, Digital Product Passports, data infrastructures, AI tools, digital production workflows and circular applications. The knowledge, tools and demonstrators developed within the field lab can subsequently be utilised by other organisations in the sector as well.

The field lab brings together stakeholders from different parts of the textile supply chain: from design and production to repair and reuse. This creates an opportunity not only to develop individual technologies, but also to explore how different parts of a circular and digital textile supply chain can be linked together.

TOS13 aligns with NewTexEco’s ambition to use design as a driving force in working towards a circular and regenerative textile supply chain. ArtEZ University of the Arts is one of the initiators of TOS13, alongside Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and Eindhoven University of Technology. The field lab also collaborates with, amongst others, TextielLab Tilburg, technology partners and companies from the textile supply chain.

TOS13 thus provides a space where research, design, technology and production come together, and where new solutions for the textile supply chain can be developed and tested in practice.

Eindhoven University of Technology (project leader), ArtEZ University of the Arts, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), Saxion, TextielLab Tilburg, Hollanders, Vodde, Fashion Tech Farm, Vlisco, Sympany, Code for Good, United Repair Centre, Settels Savenije Group, Greenful, Patience Studio, NXP, EnhanceThat, NewTexEco, ACT and Tilburg City Council.

Location: Textile Campus Tilburg

Image credits: Shutterstock