When a fashion industry sustainability group called out China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims, the idea was to nudge Beijing toward human-rights reforms while cleaning up a troubled corner of the $60 billion global cotton business. Western brands have learned the hard way that things dont work that way in China.

Cotton USA recently organised the 2018 edition of its annual “Cotton Day” and used the event to kick off its global campaign “What’s new in cotton?” and showcase innovative technologies made with US cotton.