Audience:
Open industry. All apparel and footwear industry professionals, regardless of AAFA membership, are encouraged to participate.
Description:
A robust textile recycling industry will power tomorrow’s apparel market. If the fashion industry could achieve a closed-loop system, garments would be endlessly recycled and made into new garments. Textiles would no longer need to go to landfills or be incinerated. To achieve this - at scale - we need to collaborate far more within the apparel industry so that system-wide transparency is achieved. With widespread use of digital identification technology and proper investment in global recycling facilities, fashion can become truly circular.
Attendees of this webinar will learn:
- How upcoming EU digital product passport legislation is putting digital ID technology in the spotlight.
- How Circ has developed pioneering technology that transforms polycotton into reusable fibers.
- Insights into how item-level product data accessed via Digital IDs can help recyclers like Circ carry out complex textile processing.
Speakers:
Michael Colarossi
VP of Innovation, Product Line Management and Sustainability
Avery Dennison
As a Senior Executive in Avery Dennison's $1.2B Apparel Solutions division, Michael Colarossi is the driving force behind its culture of innovation, leading a global technical innovation team, whose products deliver double-digit revenue and enhance performance. Under his leadership, the organization has adopted a strategic view, prioritizing solutions that shape the industry’s future, while meeting rigorous compliance standards. Colarossi was instrumental in developing Avery Dennison’s 2025 and 2030 sustainability goals and the Apparel Solutions’ Global Experience Centres. Prior to joining Avery Dennison (2013), he held numerous manufacturing and engineering positions in the U.S. and China. Colarossi holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, is a frequent speaker on innovation and sustainability, and fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Peter Majeranowski
Co-Founder & CEO
Circ
Peter Majeranowski is Co-Founder and CEO of Circ, a company revolutionizing the fashion industry's environmental impact with recycling technology for mixed fabric textiles. Before creating Circ, Peter worked in finance for an investment
group focused on early-stage projects and companies across various sectors in Eastern Europe. On behalf of the group, he served in the C-suite of several portfolio companies. Peter also served 6 years as a US naval officer with several deployments
to Iraq and the Middle East. In addition to being named to the 2022 Vogue Business 100 Innovators list, Peter has spoken or presented at Textile Exchange, Circularity 19, Fashion Impact Fund, United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, Taiwan Textile Research Institute, Planet Textiles, Move! Sustainable Fashion Summit by Modaes, and many others. Peter earned a BS in Applied Economics from Cornell University and an MBA from Duke University.
Moderator:
Jennifer Hanks
Director, Brand Protection
AAFA
As the chief advocate and spokesperson for AAFA on intellectual property (IP) and brand protection issues, Jennifer Scoggins Hanks serves as the staff liaison to AAFA’s Brand Protection Council. She connects with government officials; members of Congress; and representatives of global e-commerce, social, and digital platforms to shape IP policy, protect U.S. branded products, and advance AAFA member online and offline priorities.
Jennifer’s unique background of public policy, advocacy, coalition management, and strategic communications experience was earned serving across a series of bicoastal public and private sector positions, including with a Washington D.C. public affairs firm, CNN Worldwide, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her career began working in the California State Legislature and the California Governor’s Office.
Unable to join on September 28?
Register for the webinar to receive an email containing the direct link to access/download the recording of the webinar and a link to the PDF version of the presentation. The email will be sent 1-3 days after the webinar.
CONTACT | QUESTIONS
Stephanie Paendong