The work Marion Röttges, Co-CEO Remei AG from Swittzerland, describes begins in the cotton fields of central India and Tanzania, where around four thousand smallholder farmers grow organic cotton within a purchase-guarantee system that Remei has been building for thirty years. In conversation with The Silent Luxury, Röttges reframes textile traceability as something that begins before the finished garment exists: with the raw material, the farmers, the soil and the relationships that make a transparent supply chain possible.
“Transparency is the beginning of everything. Not the end goal.” The German word for traceability, Rückverfolgbarkeit, gives her pause. “Traceability only functions when you have built it from the very beginning, from the raw material onwards. Then it becomes the result, rather than the great goal.”
Her phrase for this is Start of Life. In India, Remei’s subsidiary is developing biodynamic cotton timed to the lunar calendar. The farming practices involved are ones the farmers have long followed; Remei is formalising them through biodynamic certification.
In Tanzania, the same network is moving towards landscape-level regeneration. The QR code on the finished shirt links the wearer back to farmers in the field. This visibility matters to Röttges because it changes how producers see their own position in the supply chain. “I always experience this pride,” she told The Silent Luxury. “The producers and farmers find it truly wonderful to be part of a transparent supply chain, to be seen.”
The next project she has in mind is biodynamic Indian cotton made into pyjamas for slow hotels and mountain retreats. “Places like South Tyrol,” she said.
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From Fibre to Skin: Inside Remei’s Start of Life Cotton
In India, cotton follows the moon. In Tanzania, regeneration changes the fields. In Switzerland, Remei turns fibre origin into textile traceability.
Read the full feature →
In Conversation: Marion Röttges on Cotton, Origin and the Start of Life
In this conversation with The Silent Luxury, Marion Röttges of Remei AG explains why textile traceability begins with the raw material, the farmers and the relationships that make organic cotton possible. Her answers connect Start of Life thinking, biodynamic cotton farming in India and Tanzania, the LUMA shirt and the future of textiles for slow hospitality.
The Silent Luxury (TSL) How do you reframe traceability?
Marion Röttges: “Transparency is the beginning of everything. Not the end goal. Traceability only functions when you have built it from the very beginning, from the raw material onwards. Then it becomes the result, rather than the great goal.”
TSL: What is Start of Life thinking?
Röttges: “I personally believe we have to also lead the discussion of Start of Life. Where does the textile come from, where does the raw material come from? Who are the people growing it?”
TSL: How small is organic cotton in the global picture?
Röttges: “Organic cotton is one to three percent of the global cotton fibre volume. We have been working in a mini-mini-niche for thirty years. We are now entering regenerative organic cotton in Tanzania as well as in India, and practice biodynamic farming in India.”
TSL: What does biodynamic cotton farming look like in practice?
Röttges: “The farmers follow organic farming practices, plan according to the lunar calendar and use biodynamic preparations as inputs for their fields. It is the cultural link. It is how they have always worked.”
A biodynamic certification formalises a practice that predates industrial agriculture by several centuries.
TSL: What does the next phase of this biodynamic cotton look like?
Röttges: “I would like to make pyjamas from this. We could address hotels with it, or retreats. Places like South Tyrol.”
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What Touches the Skin: Notes on Cloth and Origin
Natural fibres in luxury fashion shape origin, traceability and trust. A report on wool, cotton, milk fibre and the future of cloth.
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TSL: What does traceability mean for the people on the ground?
Röttges: “I always experience this pride. The producers and farmers find it truly wonderful to be part of a transparent supply chain, to be seen.”
TSL: How does Tanzania fit into the Remei network?
Röttges: “Eighty percent of our cotton comes from Tanzania. In Tanzania there is a real awakening, a real boost. The farmers are developing.”
The landscape-level regeneration looks beyond the individual farm, taking in water, soil, biodiversity and the way the farming community lives in the broader landscape.
TSL: What does the conversion from conventional to organic require?
Röttges: “Converting a field from conventional to organic takes three years. Remei commits to buying the cotton for five years. That commitment makes the conversion possible.”
TSL: What does the LUMA T-shirt demonstrate?
Röttges: “I was really impressed by how you called it the LUMA Principle. That’s exactly what it’s all about. It’s not just the product. It’s really the principle.”
The LUMA T-shirt by Lotta Ludwigson, developed in collaboration with Remei’s Start of Life cotton, carries the full logic of the conversation: origin, farmer visibility and textile traceability made visible in one garment.
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Lotta Ludwigson: The LUMA Principle
Bio-circular, yarn-dyed, fully traceable: with the LUMA T-Shirt, Charlotte Piller extends the principle of her collection to the most everyday garment — in cooperation with Remei.
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This interview was conducted by The Silent Luxury as part of its editorial research on Remei AG, Start of Life cotton, textile traceability and regenerative luxury systems. It serves as a supporting source for the main Cloth and Skin feature on Remei and the LUMA Principle.
