General objectives and partners

The BALI Chair is a programme for education and research on technological innovations. It was founded on the mission of accelerating the industrial deployment of circularity in the textile and fashion sector through the development of solutions that deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits. The current partners of the BALI Chair include a diverse range of stakeholders:

• Schools and academia: ESTIA – École Supérieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancées and ESMOD Fashion School;

• Service providers: E-SCM Solutions, a digital services company designed to optimise the traceability of fashion and luxury supply chains; CETIA – Centre d’Expertise du Tri et du Démantèlement des Articles, a new and innovative centre dedicated to advancing the recyclability of textile and leather products;

• Leading international wearing apparel brands: Petit Bateau, Decathlon, and Groupe Eram;

• Other relevant circular actors: Gebetex Tri, a textile sorting and recycling company specialising in the wholesale supply of second-hand clothing and footwear;

• Institutional actors: the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, which supports the initiative

This diverse partnership ensures that the BALI Chair benefits from a broad, practical perspective capable of driving sustainable change, fostering transformation within businesses in terms of skills, structures, and technologies.

BALI Chair activities

In its first phase (2017–2020), the BALI Chair focused on awareness-raising and setting up steering committees. From 2020 to 2023, the Chair entered a more operational phase, formalising the first standards for circular fashion and initiating collaborations in EU-funded projects. Currently in its third phase (2023–2026), the BALI Chair is focusing on the challenges of scaling up circular fashion, deploying technical solutions and business models that prioritise resource efficiency and local value creation whilst remaining competitive at the same time.

The Chair's work is structured around three working groups (WGs) that include Chair members as well as external participants:

• WG Traceability, led by Belharra, Groupe Eram, and Petit Bateau: Sharing feedback on the deployment of a digital passport among companies experimenting with circular tools and practices. In 2024 BALI Chair carried out, on behalf of the European Commission, a study on the Digital Product Passport for the Textile sector.

• WG Future Sorting Processes, led by CETIA and Gebetex: Exploring the future organisation of textile collection, sorting, and recycling. 

• WG Eco-design, led by Groupe Eram: Developing indicators for repairability, durability, and recyclability.

As part of its cooperation initiatives, the BALI Chair also regularly hosts Scientific Committee gatherings, i.e. occasions for EU wide dialogue and exchange with key players in the European textile sector. The last session, held on 8th July 2025, featured discussions on textile recycling actors in Europe, online resale trends, data governance and the Digital Product Passport, as well as valorisation strategies for smart textile waste, with contributions from institutions such as CETIA, AITEX, Lusíada University, the University of Leeds, and Mondragon University.

Educating for circularity

A fundamental pillar of the BALI Chair is education. Through its modules at ESTIA, the BALI Chair equips university students with the skills and tools needed to design, develop, and implement circular models, whilst raising their awareness of the environmental and societal impacts of their future careers. Additionally, by collaborating with BALI Chair partners, students gain hands-on experience in cutting-edge projects, practical applications, and innovative real-world solutions.

In this area, the Chair reported the following achievements in 2024:

• Over 150 students were involved in BALI Chair training modules;

• Four Textile 4.0 certificates were awarded to students, acknowledging their skills in digital and circular textile technologies;

• One doctoral thesis was successfully defended, advancing the scientific foundation of circular textile solutions;

• 30 European researchers were brought together through the Textile Circularity Scientific Committee to share knowledge and harmonise practices;

• Three working groups actively collaborated on industrial pilot projects and shared research activities.

Conclusion

Over the past decade, the BALI Chair has developed an ecosystem that brings together industrial innovation and academic research to support the textile industry's transition towards sustainability. The multi-partner, multi-disciplinary approach serves as one method for addressing systemic change. The initiative connects local activities with broader European and global objectives, demonstrating how circular practices can deliver benefits at different levels of the ecosystem.