In May, the Lycra Company opened its brand new, state-of-the-art research & Development (R&D) lab in Nanhai, China. The Advanced Textile Innovation Center (ATIC) represents a significant increase in the firm’s global R&D capabilities and demonstrates its commitment to providing its services to its customers in Asia. The lab will help mills, brands and retailers, as well as Western-based companies with local sourcing offices, accelerate the development of innovative garment solutions that meet apparel market needs and add value to customer’s products.

We are at an Ayurvastra dyeing centre in Balaramapuram near Thiruvan-anthapuram in Kerala, watching how organic cloth is being treated using Ayurvedic principles. Global Organic Textile Standard-certified organic cotton is scoured in fresh water to clean it, then put into vessels filled with water with a small portion of oil. The fabric is then dried and treated with buffalo milk and cow urine mixed in water—the milk and urine taken from cows and buffaloes fed with herbs—as well as cotton seeds and leaves.

People are buying more clothing today than they did 15 years ago. But they’re only wearing it half as long. That means clothing production and sales are both on the rise, and so is the amount of clothing in landfills. In such a climate, “fast-fashion” companies, like Forever 21 and Zaful, are growing, said Karen Leonas, a professor in the Wilson College of Textiles at N.C. State University. And thrift stores and secondhand clothing sales are growing even faster, at 24 times the rate of other retail.