New international Eco Textile Magazine published in Britain

A new magazine for the textile industry entitled EcoTextileNews has recently appeared on the market. It will be published as ten issues a year by the British publisher Mowbray Communications. The current issue of the B2B magazine includes articles on organic dyes, shoes from recycled suits, the organic textile newcomer Marks&Spencers, Fairtrade merino wool in Australia and an overview of the countries growing organic cotton in Africa.

A couple of days ago he started with an additional e-mail newsletter service for all his subscribers.

Picture: John Mowbray

Organic-Market.Info asked the editor John Mowbray (41):

How did you get the idea of starting EcoTextileNews?

Although I’ve been a textile journalist for the last eight years, editing and contributing to magazines such as “Knitting International” and “Textile Month”, I have a BSc (Hons) degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Manchester, UK.
My interest in environmental science/issues and my career in textile journalism put me in a good position to see a gap in the market for a magazine which dealt with the sustainable production of textiles and apparel. I had the idea almost two years ago, but I needed to undertake enough research to make sure it would be a viable publication since I took the risk of giving up my job and remortgaging my house to launch the magazine!
The idea was also born out of my time at Pergamon Press and then Elsevier Science in Oxford where I edited science and environmental technology publications. Here, I also helped to launch a newsletter called Fuel Cell Bulletin and also did some preliminary work on the launch of Re-Focus a magazine for the renewable energy industry. I used this experience to launch Ecotextile News. I’d say my time at Elsevier was the most important factor in my decision to launch the magazine.
 
What are your aims?

Without doubt my biggest aim is to drive change throughout the global textile and apparel supply chain. It obviously will not be easy, and certainly will not happen overnight. But I believe it will happen. You could say that a tipping point has now been reached. The debate on sustainability will only grow with new legislation, and because the planet has only a finite amount of natural resources, and a growing population, government policies will trend towards sustainable practice across all industries.
In the textile industry, the changes that I would like to see include driving up the process efficiency during manufacturing so the production of clothing consumes less water and energy; and our aim is to minimize and prevent the use of potentially harmful chemicals in the wet processing and agricultural stages of textile production. We also aim to raise awareness of new and innovative sustainable products and processes; promote sustainable product design, and ensure that garments are made in a socially responsible way.
Ecotextile News now provides a platform and a voice for these changes and I hope that the launch of the magazine is a step towards achieving these goals.
 
Which kind of readers do you have in mind?

My primary readership are the fabric specifiers and buyers at apparel retailers and brands. I believe that these readers, at the top of the supply chain, are the people who can really drive change by ensuring their suppliers think about sustainability in a meaningful way. If Ecotextile News can help to change the hearts and minds of the big retailers and brands, then this will be a huge step towards changing the way textiles and apparel are sourced.

In addition to these readers, we also have subscribers at fibre companies, yarn spinners, dyes and chemicals suppliers, dyehouses, fabric processors, governments, universities and apparel companies.
 
How many copies do you think to sell in two years and how many do you distribute now?

It’s very early days as yet for the magazine. We have only published three issues (February, March and April). At the moment we distribute 15,000 copies of each issue. As we are a sustainable publisher we only print 1000 hard copies of each issue (recycled paper), and we have an electronic version which is seen by the rest of the readership.
My objective is really not about selling huge numbers of subscriptions. It’s more about effecting real change. In fact, a percentage of our subscription revenues will go towards an annual prize for sustainability.  
 
Organic-Market.Info wishes you much success!