For decades, the standard route for sustainable textile innovators has been linear: develop a circular fiber or low-impact dyeing process, exhibit at trade fairs, and pitch directly to global fashion houses. Giusy Bettoni, founder and CEO of the Milan-based international eco-hub C.L.A.S.S. , says that model is broken.
In an exclusive interview conducted by Sanjay Chawla, Founder & Global Convener of FashionatingWorld (the international network of web portals focusing on circularity and textile systems), on the sidelines of the Filo exhibition (September 15–16, 2026) in Milan, Giusy revealed an aggressive strategic pivot: her platform is actively turning away from pitching unresponsive brands and instead empowering upstream manufacturers to engage the end consumer directly.
The Broken Link: "Brands are destroying the value chain"
The catalyst behind Giusy’s shift is a growing disconnect in the luxury and mass-retail sourcing ecosystem. While fashion brands aggressively market sustainability claims and hike retail price tags, upstream suppliers doing the heavy lifting, from regenerative fiber spinners to low-impact dyers; rarely see fair margins trickling down.
"We have been working with the value chain in order to go to the brand. But we have seen that the brand is not responsive because they are looking for the best price," Giusy stated. "Despite the fact that the brand is having higher prices, they are not feeding the value chain. Longer term, you are destroying the value chain. But you are also destroying the trust of the consumer."
Instead of waiting for brands to change their procurement habits, Giusy argues the real lever is cultural transparency. Through C.L.A.S.S.’s latest initiatives—including public-facing platforms like InsideOut, staged in Venice—the eco-hub is curating cultural encounters where textile mills, regional tanners, yarn manufacturers, and academic institutions converse directly with citizens and students, purposefully bypassing brand procurement intermediaries.
The C.L.A.S.S. Philosophy: Curation over volume
Founded in 2007, C.L.A.S.S. was established to merge four core dimensions: Innovation, Responsibility, Design, and Communication. While Giusy began with material libraries, she intentionally shifted C.L.A.S.S. away from generic fabric aggregation:
Strict curation vs. Mass cataloging
Unlike platforms that catalog tens of thousands of commodity textiles, C.L.A.S.S. acts as a strategic consultancy and curated membership network. It screens out standard recycled synthetics in favor of step-change innovations, such as next-generation mycelium, closed-loop bio-polymers (like PLA), and clean dyeing and finishing technologies.
The "Reputation First" mandate
A central thesis of Giusy’s consulting practice is that textile manufacturers fail when they market merely on capability ("we can do whatever you want") rather than a distinct technological signature. Without establishing an indisputable global reputation first, suppliers inevitably get pulled into a race to the bottom on price.
The Global Blueprint: Building ‘High-Tech Corridors’ across global markets
Giusy’s network already bridges premier European textile clusters, such as Italy’s Biella hub, through collaborations with consortiums like MagnoLab, and luxury heritage partners like Albini Group; with specialized international producers from Japan to emerging manufacturing hubs worldwide.
Her broader vision is to construct bilateral corridors connecting the world's most advanced regional manufacturers directly to international markets, fundamentally shifting how global suppliers position themselves. Breaking out of the historic "commodity trap" requires overcoming three systemic hurdles across international manufacturing centers:
First, global sourcing departments have traditionally pigeonholed international manufacturing hubs as high-volume, low-cost commodity centers. To overcome this margin squeeze, Giusy advocates isolating and spotlighting only the top echelon of producers, companies pioneering circular cellulose, bio-based materials, and traceable sustainable practices; through dedicated regional incubators and curated platforms rather than undifferentiated mass directories.
Second, the global recycling sector remains fractured, with mechanical recycling and standard recycled synthetics frequently competing strictly on price rather than technical superiority. The path forward requires elevating regional processing standards by pairing select tier-one manufacturers worldwide with advanced European technical consortiums, ensuring that recycled fibers meet the structural and aesthetic criteria required by top-tier global brands.
Finally, the conventional market-entry mechanism, where mills pitch directly to brand procurement departments; inevitably defaults to cost cutting. Giusy's model flips this dynamic entirely: suppliers must establish their technological reputation and cultural credentials through public showcases, academic alliances, and transparent storytelling before commercial negotiations ever begin.
"If you don't have the reputation, they will ask for a low price. Always the pull would be towards low price," Giusy noted, outlining her goal to unite the very best manufacturers across Italy, Asia, and Africa under a shared standard of excellence.
The Road Ahead: Upcycling and grassroots demand
Giusy’s outlook underscores that circularity cannot scale without activating consumer-level literacy around garment lifespans, repair, and genuine upcycling. For the fashion value chain, the message delivered in Milan is clear: if brands continue to absorb retail margins while treating sustainable advancements as an off-the-shelf discount commodity, the textile innovators upstream will find their own voice, and take their story straight to the people buying the clothes.
