MELANGE, led by Aalto University with Textile ETP handling outreach, brings together nine partners across seven countries to reduce the environmental impact of interior textile colouration. The project promotes low-impact fibre-stage dyeing (spin, dope and solution) and reframes deliberate colour variation as an aesthetic advantage. Inspired by pre-coloured fibre blending in Prato, Tuscany, MELANGE targets up to a 50% reduction in water and chemical use versus finishing-stage dyeing and will pilot new practices, business models and policy recommendations to scale adoption.
MELANGE: Design-Led EU Project Targets 50% Cut In Textile Colouration Impact
MELANGE aims to treat colour variation as a signature of uniqueness rather than a defect. Credit: Textile ETP
MELANGE is an EU-funded initiative led by Aalto University in Finland and delivered by a nine-partner consortium from seven European countries. The project focuses on reducing the environmental footprint of colouration in interior textiles, an often-overlooked segment that represents roughly one-third of global textile production. Textile ETP will lead dissemination, communication and stakeholder engagement for the project.
Why Colouration Matters
Colouring fabrics is one of the most resource-intensive steps in textile manufacture. Conventional finishing-stage dyeing aims for near-perfect uniformity, but it consumes large volumes of water, energy and chemicals and can undermine circularity by discouraging the reuse of recycled or intrinsically variable materials.
What MELANGE Will Do
MELANGE uses design as a lever for sustainability and competitiveness in the interior textile sector. The project will develop and scale low-impact fibre-stage colouration methods — including spin-dyeing, dope-dyeing and solution-dyeing — and promote a shift in mindset that treats deliberate colour variation as an aesthetic asset rather than a defect.
The project draws inspiration from a traditional practice in Prato, Tuscany, where pre-coloured recycled fibres are sorted and blended by shade to avoid re-dyeing and celebrate variation. By prioritising fibre-stage approaches, MELANGE aims to reduce water and chemical use by up to 50% compared with conventional finishing-stage processes.
Approach And Activities
MELANGE adopts a cross-disciplinary, practice-led approach across the fibres-to-fabrics value chain. Activities include analysing current colouration practices and heritage fibre-stage techniques, designing and prototyping textiles that embrace fibre-stage colouration, and piloting new industrial workflows from fibre through to fabric.
The project also applies a "design locks" framework to address four core barriers to change: aesthetics, production practices, business models and policy. MELANGE will test new B2B marketing approaches, examine commercial pathways for adoption, and make recommendations for industry standards and policy to support wider implementation.
"While everybody focuses on clothing and fashion, next gen fibres and recycling, MELANGE will tackle two stepchildren of the textile sustainability transformation: interior textiles and colour management," said Lutz Walter, Secretary General of Textile ETP. "We will provide interior textile designers with tools and best practices to make colour a lever for sustainability and demonstrate through our industry partners that these new design practices can be effectively integrated and scaled in the world of business."
Collaboration And Outreach
Textile ETP will manage MELANGE's outreach — including the project website, newsletters and social media — and will integrate activities with ECOSYSTEX, an initiative that fosters collaboration among EU projects working on textile circularity and builds a lasting European Community of Practice for innovation in textile sustainability.
By combining heritage techniques, design-led thinking and industrial testing, MELANGE aims to make a measurable contribution to reducing the environmental impact of interior textiles while offering new aesthetic and commercial opportunities for the sector.
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