Enschede Textielstad,
the netherlands

We meet Erma van der Neut, Karolien de Bruine and Sylvia Snoeren from OostNL, an overarching company that divides European support between start-ups that focus on circular, innovating, sustainable improvements for society.

Founder Annemieke Koster: ‘I felt the urge to change something in the fashion industry, because there is a lot of unnecessary waste in this industry. Our challenge is to make fabrics greener and more sustainable. In the production there is a lot waste and fabrics are shipped all around the world. We work with local suppliers and aim for a circular industry.’

Enschede Textielstad in an industrial weavingmill in Enschede that started 10 years ago. They produce fashion and interior fabrics with recycled and locally sourced yarns. Up until the late 60’s, Enschede was one of the largest textile producing cities in Europe. A lot of textile factories were in the city centre and many citizens worked in the textile industry. In the late 60’s the majority of the factories closed due to cheaper production facilities abroad.

One of the aims of Enschede Textielstad is to bring textile production back to the city. They learned the craft from skillful retired weavers.

Enschede Textielstad is a small-scale industrial weaving mill that produces garment and interior textiles with local and recycled yarns. They don’t dye. The aim is to produce as sustainable as possible, so the research about this is funding by EU Cohesion money.