From the Sector

New ideas were exchanged, brainstormed, and discussed freely at members’ booths at the Swiss Textile Machinery Pavilion during the recent Techtextil in Frankfurt. “Customers and researchers met Swiss textile machinery companies to explore the possibility of the not-yet-invented. “We regard our Pavilion as the place where future innovations catch a spark,” says Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association. Further developments in the field of hybrid yarns were a hot topic. One example of this involves producing a yarn which has all the typical characteristics and advantages of carbon – but which also prioritizes careful use of resources, combining carbon fibres with thermoplastics.

Technical textiles cover a vast range of applications, and it’s still growing thanks to intensive research by specialist institutes and universities. Many members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association maintain long-standing partnership with such bodies. Innovations are often joint efforts.

Feel-good technical fabrics
Some technical textiles feel like a second skin. A well-known example is activewear from the ‘sport tech’ field. Activewear includes breathable clothing, usually consisting of a three-layer-laminate: an inner lining, a breathable membrane in the center, and an outer fabric. The challenge is to bond the individual layers without losing breathability or softness, while meeting technical requirements such as resistance to a number of wash cycles.

Bonding solutions meeting top quality requirements, as well as ambitious standards for environmental protection and sustainability, were reinvented by the Cavitec brand from the Santex Rimar Group. This company’s hotmelt technology uses one-component polymers applied to textiles in a hot, molten state. Bonding based on hotmelts is both water- and solvent-free. Drying and exhaust air cleaning are not necessary, which is an ecological advantage. Energy consumption is also significantly lower. Cavitec hotmelt technology is also developed for laminated medical protection fabrics which are safe, high-quality and sustainable. These fabrics can be washed, sterilized, and used again.   

A second skin with added value is the result of Jakob Müller Group’s cooperation with an institute for an established outdoor fashion brand. They have devised a heating mat applied as an inner jacket. Outdoor gear with a heated inlay offers the wearer a comfortable feeling even in a cold climate. The heating mat is particularly light, breathable, flexible and adjustable to three temperature levels.

Fabrics with these advantages are now possible thanks to multi direct weaving (MDW) technology from the Jakob Müller Group. A lacquer-insulated heating strand is inserted into the base textile as a ‘meander’ using MDW technology. The technology is offered with both label weaving machines and the latest generation of ribbon weaving machines. The textile pocket calculator is another MDW based future-oriented application developed in cooperation with a textile research institute.

Safety and health
Life-saving reliability is a must for vehicle airbags. They have to fulfil high security aspects, and must remain inflated for several seconds when an accident occurs. Airbags made of flat-woven fabric – cut and seamed – can show weakness at seams during the inflation phase. Latest Jacquard technology by Stäubli enables one-piece-woven (OPW) airbags to be produced, creating shape and structure in a single process. The final product is an airbag consisting of a sealed cushion with woven seams. OPW airbag weaving reduces the number of production steps, and increases the security aspects.
Another big advantage of Stäubli’s new weaving technology is the flexibility in formats required in today’s mid- and upper-range cars, where lateral protection (in the seat or in the roof over the door) has become standard and is designed in line with the car shape. Safe airbags are woven on modern high-speed weaving machines. The warp material, the variety of fabric patterns, and the importance of precisely shaped airbags require the use of a robust and reliable Jacquard machine.

A revolution for orthopaedic patients is a knitting machine from Steiger Participations, which uses compressive yarns developed to meet the needs of the specific health market. This machine model was exclusively designed for production with inlaid elastic yarns and offers optimum performance with guaranteed final product quality.

In the orthopaedic field, many Steiger flat knitting machines have already been operating as automatic, custom-made production systems. For example, the dimensions of an injured limb are taken by the doctor and fed into a web-based application. The doctor selects the compression class in the various sections of the item and a data file created by the software automatically applies a preconfigured program. With no human intervention required, the program is generated and produced on the machine, precisely matching the patient’s dimensions. Each product is different, and generally available within 48 hours.

• BTT’s woven geotextiles can reduce CO2-emissions in infrastructure projects by a factor of 10 compared to more conventional methods
• Product specific Environmental Product Declarations for woven geotextiles transparently communicate their sustainability
• EPDs an essential tool to communicate sustainability performance
• Helps carbon-conscious customers in their purchasing and decision making

Beaulieu Technical Textiles (BTT) has unveiled the next step in its mission to deliver sustainable solutions to customers - product specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), an essential tool for communicating sustainability performance - to fully support green certified construction projects by providing accurate information in readily available formats.

The carbon footprint of BTT’s woven geotextiles is amongst the lowest in the industry, making them one of the most sustainable solutions for civil engineering projects. An EPD shows a manufacturer's commitment to measure and reduce the environmental impact of its products and report these impacts in a very transparent way.

Construction products, like geotextiles, follow the very comprehensive European standard, EN 15804+A2. The third-party verification and approval by the international EPD® System officially demonstrates the low environmental impact of BTT’s geotextile products.

Focus on eccentric screw pumps and pumps for shear-sensitive materials

Improved productivity and increased lifespan and tailored solutions also for the most demanding applications within the chemicals and plastics industries and in PUR applications – these are the convincing arguments with which Oerlikon Barmag is showcasing its precision metering pumps at this year’s ACHEMA between August 22 and 26, 2022 in Frankfurt. The focus is on the new pump for shear-sensitive conveying media and the new eccentric screw pump.

Eccentric screw pumps – robust all-rounders convey any medium
The requirements for pumps are considerable, as the demand for customized solutions for increasingly complex processes is rising. This is particularly true for Oerlikon Barmag’s new eccentric screw pump range. High wear-resistance, increased durability and robust operation – the new pump is tailor-made for conveying highly-filled, high-viscosity and abrasive media, such as filled adhesives, filled silicones and filled casting compounds, for example. The is the multi-stage seal system, which considerably increases the pump’s lifespan. The upstream shaft sealing ring protects the slide ring seal against excessively-fast wear caused by challenging media. In turn, the optimum alignment of the drive shaft – ball bearing-supported and centrally-guided through the shaft sealing ring – prevents any metal debris caused by friction and hence ensures considerably greater durability. Producers benefit from considerably greater productivity, as the pumps’ maintenance intervals and hence machine downtimes are significantly reduced.

New pump for shear-sensitive materials
For increasingly complex customer-specific process solutions, Oerlikon Barmag is now expanding its GA series, developed especially for the challenging conveying of high-viscosity media, to include the GAB51F for shear-sensitive conveying media. The newly-developed pump with its viscosity range of max. 300 Pas is tailored to conveying high-viscosity, shear-sensitive materials such as adhesives and silicones, for example. “The shear forces impacting the medium within the pump are reduced to a minimum as a result of a specially geometry”, explains Thorsten Wagener, Senior Sales Manager within the Pump Construction business unit. The material is conveyed through the pump in an as gentle and low-pulsation manner as possible and metered precisely at the outlet – ensuring it retains its characteristic properties.

High-speed metering pump with sealed product space
The high-speed metering pump has been especially developed for metering poorly-lubricating media. Here, the main benefit is the sealed product space, which extends the pump’s lifespan considerably. The space that comes into contact with the media is limited to the area around the gears. “As a result, the high-speed pump is particularly suited for applications in the chemicals industry, which frequently involve aggressive acids”, comments Thorsten Wagener.

GM series for low-viscosity media
The pumps in the GM and GA series provide precision metering with low-pulsation feeding of the conveying medium. The multi-stage GM pump conveys low-viscosity media (i.e. 250 bar, 100 mPas) even under high pressure and in the most challenging conditions. The square design from the proven GM series is the standard pump for many metering tasks. The development of the multi-stage pump expands the applications range for the GM series considerably. The round 2-stage GM pump has been developed especially for use in high-pressure technology. It masters the particular challenge of conveying small throughputs with low viscosities. The pump is perfect for 0.05 through 20 cm³/rev feed sizes and is excellently suited for use in high-pressure machines for PUR molded parts, foam slab stock, refrigeration unit insulations and sandwich panels, for example.

GA series pumps for high-viscosity media
The Oerlikon Barmag GA range has been especially developed for the challenging conveying of media with higher viscosities. The GA series pumps are available for conveying volumes of between 1.25 and -30 cm³/rev (0.6-144 l/h). They have been designed for pressures of up to 200 bar, for viscosities of up to 1.500 Pas as well as for temperatures of up to max. 225 °C. With this range of pumps, Oerlikon Barmag offers its customers tailor-made solutions for many technical processes in which high-precision and even metering is of paramount importance.

The drum pump – conveying and metering using a single unit
With the drum pump, the Oerlikon Barmag pump specialists have created a pump designed specifically for conveying and metering high-viscosity materials such as adhesives, silicones and other high-viscosity materials from drums and other large containers and for pressures of up to 250 bar. Its special features not only include the fact that it removes high-viscosity materials from the drum, but that it also meters the medium directly without any additional interim stops.

With global consumers becoming more conscious about personal hygiene and environmental protection, exhibitors at Cinte Techtexil China will spotlight materials and technologies for products that respond to these trends. The fair will probe into the associated growth opportunities as the country is one of the leading markets for nonwovens and technical textiles. The event will be held from 6 – 8 September at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

The technical textiles and nonwovens industries, the latter notably, are significantly expanding amid the pandemic. A recent forecast[1] predicts that the global polypropylene nonwoven fabric market will continue to rise at a CAGR of 6.7%, reaching USD 39.23 billion by 2028. The anticipated growth is bolstered by demands in end-use industries such as sanitation, medical, automotive and more. In 2020, Asia Pacific was named the largest regional market in the world and is expected to grow significantly over the forecasted period.

The prediction reaffirms the growth prospects of nonwovens. In this regard, industry players expressed much optimism about associated future opportunities during Cinte Techtextil China last year. “The field of nonwovens is poised for a positive growth as the awareness of personal hygiene and pandemic prevention sustains in the domestic market,” commented Mr James Gao, Head of Marketing and Textile Technologies, Uster Technologies (China) Co Ltd. He added: “We decided to join the fair and showcase our new launches as we remain confident in the future development of the industry, especially since China is dominating the global scene.”

Going green is the way forward
Turning to yarns and fibres, the sector is shifting to greener and smarter production that echoes the trend towards sustainability that is gaining considerable traction across the globe. Meanwhile in China, this movement was observed by many exhibitors at the 2021 edition, including Mr Roberto Galante, Plant Manager of FMMG Technical Textiles (Suzhou) Co Ltd, the Chinese subsidiary of the Fil Man Made Group. He mentioned: “The market is paying more attention to environmental protection, and we receive enquiries about special yarns for this every day. We focus on technical yarns for filtration as well as anti-bacterial properties, which are very important for the environment. The potential here in China is incredible and this is a big opportunity for everybody.”

Cinte Techtextil China’s product categories cover 12 application areas, which comprehensively span across a full range of potential uses in modern technical textiles and nonwovens. These categories also cover the entire industry, from upstream technology and raw material providers to finished fabrics, chemicals and other solutions. This scope of product groups and application areas ensures that the fair is an effective business platform for the entire industry.

The Techtextil and Heimtextil Summer Special exhibitions, taking place together in Frankfurt from June 21-24, represent an opportunity for Monforts to showcase its finishing and coating technologies for two of its major markets – especially at a time when energy prices continue to soar for textile manufacturers in Europe.

Existing customers of Monforts include many manufacturers in the field of home textiles, as well as those making geotextiles, automotive fabrics and other functional materials – all of whom will be well represented in Frankfurt this June. Dedicated Montex lines have also been supplied to producers of airbags, flame retardant barrier fabrics and spacer fabrics, as well as high-temperature filter materials.

Energy prices are rising steeply everywhere and a particular emphasis for Monforts in Frankfurt will be on the energy and heat recovery that can be achieved with Montex stenters, through features such as better insulation of the treatment chambers or the MonforClean system, in which waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air resulting in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required compared to gas and thermal oil heating. The modular system for heat recovery can also be extended for exhaust air cleaning and odour elimination. Monforts can provide a range of further resource-saving and energy recovery options tailored to each individual line installation including modification of the heating source.

With the Qualitex 800 visualization software, all article-specific settings can be stored and the formulations for thousands of treatment processes called up again at any time. Individual operators can also personalise their dashboards with the most important machine functions and process parameters.

The Qualitex 800 system is available for the automatic and continuous operation of the company’s Montex stenters, as well as its Thermex continuous dyeing ranges, Monfortex shrinking systems and Montex®Coat coating units.

Monforts Montex®Coat coating units serve an equally diverse number of markets, including tents, tarpaulins and awnings, black-out roller blinds and sail cloth, automotive interior fabrics and medical disposables. Full PVC coatings, pigment dyeing or minimal application surface and low penetration treatments and solvent coatings (in explosion-proof conditions) with knife coating, roller coating or screen printing can all be accommodated with this system.

All of these very different materials require coating and finishing for maximum efficiency, using Monforts technologies which provide the ultimate in flexibility and the ability to switch quickly from one fabric run to the next, without compromising on the economical use of energy or raw materials.

The Monforts EcoApplicator offers further potential for sustainably achieving perfect finishes via a precise direct application system, as an alternative to conventional padding – where fabrics are immersed in a bath of the required finishing chemicals. It can significantly further reduce the energy and water required and finishes can be applied on just one side of the fabric, or both, and even separately on each side, to be sealed in place via different heating zones in the stenter.

Huntsman Textile Effects, a global leader in innovative solutions and environmentally sustainable products, is featuring high-performance end-to-end systems for protection effects and sustainable solutions for any wear at Performance Days on April 27-28, 2022, in Munich, Germany.

With more consumers seeking comfort and protection when buying sportwear, they expect their sports apparel to dry quickly, resist stains and odors, and offer breathability. Achieving these functionalities with on-trend aesthetics whilst realizing sustainability, are possible.

Resource saving solutions
Huntsman will introduce the AVITERA® SE Fast process at Performance Days. The revolutionary technology delivers the lowest environmental impact for dyeing polyester-cellulosic (PES-CO) blends. It combines alkali-clearable TERASIL® W/WW disperse dyes and AVITERA® SE reactive dyes to cut processing time from around nine hours to just six, helps mills reduce the water and energy required for production by up to 50% and increases output by up to 25% or more while delivering outstanding wet-fastness to ensure that sportswear will not bleed or stain during home laundering, or while in storage or transit.

EROPON® E3-SAVE is another next-generation water saving innovation. An all-in-one textile auxiliary for PES processing, it allows pre-souring, dyeing and reduction clearing to be combined in a single bath and eliminates the need for anti-foaming products, which shortens processing time and saves water and energy.

Eco-friendly stain and rain resistance
In partnership with Chemours, Huntsman will present the new eco-friendly finishes that repel water and stains, and help garments looking new for longer. Teflon™ EcoElite with Zelan™ R3 technology contains 63% plant-based materials and is the industry’s first renewably sourced water-repellent finish. It exceeds performance levels possible with traditional fluorinated technologies, with excellent water repellency and durability while reserving breathability.

Innovative odor control solutions
Huntsman will also showcase revolutionary antimicrobial and odor-control solutions as part of their partnership with Sciessent. Sciessent’s latest anti-odor technology – NOBO™ specifically developed to reduce odors in natural and synthetic fabrics. It can be incorporated into virtually any fabric – from base layer and activewear tops to socks and underwear to jeans and chinos. It offers a cost-effective way to upgrade everyday garments.

In addition, the partners will also present Sciessent’s Agion Active X2®, a next-generation odor-control solution that combines advanced antimicrobial and odor-absorbing technologies to both capture and fight odor-causing bacteria, and Lava X2®, a standalone odor adsorption product and key component of Agion Active X2® that attracts, absorbs and degrades odors for long-lasing odor protection.

• Participants Embrace Renewed Face-to-Face Business with Global Leaders in Nonwovens & Engineered Materials at IDEA® 2022 and FiltXPO™

Approximately 5,000 participants embraced the opportunity to again engage in face-to-face business meetings with global leaders in nonwovens and engineered materials at IDEA® 2022 in Miami Beach, Fla., co-located with the second FiltXPO™,  North American’s only exhibition and conference dedicated exclusively to filtration and separation.

Industry participants at IDEA® 2022,  the 21 st edition of the world’s preeminent event for nonwovens and engineered fabric professionals, expressed their business confidence through the floor exhibits and the return to face-to-face business interaction. Scott Beir, Executive Officer, CFM Global, called IDEA® 2022 “an exceptional show.”

Bob Usher, Technical Director, US Fibers, added that his company made valuable business connections. According to Rolk Kammermann, Head of Sales and Marketing, Innovative Swiss Made Nonwovens, “the size and scope of IDEA and FiltXPO have been excellent for us as both exhibitors and as visitors.”

Organized by INDA, IDEA® also featured five essential nonwovens training classes; market presentations from China, Asia, Europe, North America and South America; industry recognitions with the IDEA® Achievement Awards and the IDEA® Lifetime Achievement Awards; and a welcome reception celebration.

Also, organized by INDA, FiltXPO™ featured five panels of global leaders in filtration and separation for the first-ever “Summit for Global Change,” discussing societal challenges such as indoor air quality, environmental sustainability, pandemic readiness, clean water, and filtration standards.  The event also featured a 1.5-day filter media training course, and sessions highlighting filter media market trends and filtration industry statistics.  

Exhibitors and attendees noted the welcome return to meeting face-to-face among industry senior leaders participating in the three-day event.

A highlight of IDEA® was the announcement of the IDEA® Achievement Awards by INDA, in partnership with Nonwovens Industry magazine. Moderated by Rousse and Karen McIntyre, Editor, Nonwovens Industry the awards recognize the leading introductions in equipment, raw materials, short-life, long-life and nonwovens products, and sustainability, since the previous IDEA® Exposition in 2019.

In addition, INDA presented the IDEA® 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award to Val Hollingsworth, board chair and CEO of Hollingsworth & Vose, and Nonwovens Industry presented the IDEA® Entrepreneur Achievement Award to Doug Brown, president of Biax-Fiberfilm/5K Fibres at the event.

IDEA® 2022 Achievement Awards winners:

• IDEA®  Equipment Achievement Award – Elastic Thread Anchoring (ETA) Sonotrode – Herrmann Ultrasonics, Inc.
• IDEA®  Raw Material Achievement Award – ODOGard – Rem Brands, Inc.
• IDEA® Short-Life Product Achievement Award – LifeSavers Wipes – LifeSavers LLC
• IDEA® Long-Life Product Achievement Award – Nanofiber Cabin Air Filter – MANN + HUMMEL GmbH
• IDEA®  Sustainability Advancement Award – Fiber-based Screw Caps – Glatfelter Corp. and Blue Ocean Closures
• IDEA®  Nonwoven Product Achievement Award – HYDRASPUN® Aquaflo – Sustainable Nonwoven Substrates – Suominen Corporation
• IDEA®, the Preeminent Event for the Nonwovens & Engineered Fabrics Industry, will next be held on its new 24-month schedule on April 23-25, 2024 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Names of the IDEA® Achievement Award honorees pictured:

Row 1, Left to right:
IDEA® Long-Life Product Achievement Award winner, Jon Nichols, MANN + HUMMEL, GmbH and Dave Rousse – Nanofiber Cabin Air Filter – MANN + HUMMEL, GmbH
IDEA®  Nonwoven Product Achievement Award winners, Pramod Shanbhag, Suominen Corporation, Karen McIntyre, Nonwovens Industry Magazine, and Avinav Nandgaonkar, HYDRASPUN® Aquaflo – Sustainable Nonwoven Substrates – Suominen Corporation
Row 2, left to right:
IDEA® Short-Life Product Achievement Award winner, Georgia Crawford, LifeSavers Wipes – LifeSavers LLC, and Karen McIntyre, Nonwovens Industry Magazine
IDEA® 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Val Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth & Vose, and Dave Rousse, President, INDA
IDEA®  Equipment Achievement Award winners, Uwe Peregi, Dave Rousse, and Thomas Herrmann – Elastic Thread Anchoring (ETA) Sonotrode – Herrmann Ultrasonics Inc.
Row 3, left to right:
IDEA®  Raw Material Achievement Award winner, David Schneider, ODOGard – Rem Brands, Inc. and Dave Rousse, INDA
IDEA®  Sustainability Advancement Award winner, Chris Astley, and Karen McIntyre Fiber-based Screw Caps – Glatfelter Corp. and Blue Ocean Closures
IDEA® Entrepreneur Achievement Award winner, Doug Brown, Biax-Fiberfilm / 5K Fibres

JEC World announces the dates of the show in 2023, taking place from April 25 to 27, and in 2024, from March 5 to 7, in Paris Nord Villepinte in the same halls.
Taking place every year for more than half a century, JEC World gathers the whole value chain of composite materials in Paris. The event brings together not only all major stakeholders of the composites industry but is also the place to be for innovative startups in the field of advanced materials, and for experts, academics, scientists and R&D leaders. For professionals from the various application sectors of composite materials, it is a unique showcase of what composites can offer, and an unlimited source of inspiration. So, with this two-years schedule, professionals can plan their participation while ahead to make the most out the show.

• Sustainability and security combined:
• RF security labels from Checkpoint Systems can be fully recycled as part of kerbside paper-based recycling collections

To ensure that its retail customers are not negatively affecting the recyclability of product packaging by attaching security labels,Checkpoint Systems partnered with PTS – an organisation with over 70 years’experience researching the use of fibre-based solutions – to conduct a series oftechnical tests on its range of labels. The technical report concluded that consumers can safely dispose of a Checkpoint security label in a household recycling bin, without having to separate the label from the packaging, knowing that the entire pack will be recycled.

The Germany-based research consultancy PTS tested a range of Checkpoint labels. PTS analysed the labels, which were different sizes and materials, to ensure that following the standard kerbside recycling process, the recycled, fibre-based material would be of acceptable quality. Each label was applied to a piece of cartonboard to simulate a real-world scenario and the results show that all are classified as being recyclable in accordance with current regulations. All labels – including the 410 RF, 2928 RF and 4210 RF labels – achieved an excellent overall recyclability rate of over 94%.

Sustainability is essential

With brands making strong commitments to sustainability – including investing in more environmentally friendly forms of packaging like cartonboard – and consumers increasingly demonstrating their preferences for sustainable packaging it is pivotal that anything applied to an item – at any point along the supply chain or in-store – does not affect the recyclability of its packaging.

Security labels play a vital role in ensuring products remain available to purchase. Retailers have been using a diverse range of labels to protect their merchandise, working with suppliers to ‘tag’ items at source or relying on store associates to apply labels in-store. As one of the largest suppliers of RF-based Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) labels globally, Checkpoint’s labels are applied to millions of products, which are packaged in different materials. Typically, when recycled, packaging labels tend to end up in a combination of different rubbish and recycling streams, depending on the packaging material and the consumer commitment to recycling.

Until today, the recyclability of these labels has been relatively unknown. It means that retailers and consumers could inadvertently be contaminating the paper-based packaging recycling stream with millions of security labels – still attached to packaging which could have otherwise been recycled up to 25 times.

“Security labels play an important role in helping retailers protect their profits, but it is vital they don’t stop packaging from being recycled. We are delighted to have achieved this accreditation from PTS that shows our labels can be recycled through the existing kerbside collections. It means that brands and retailers can be assured they are not negatively affecting a country’s recycling rate, while also knowing their customers can conveniently dispose of the entire pack, packaging material and label, in the same household recycling bin. Our labels passed all of PTS’ stringent tests meaning they have little to no impact on the recyclability of a piece of cartonboard packaging." 

Sistema Moda Italia confirms its Innovation Area for the 34th edition of Milano Unica, an area which responds to the growing demand for innovation in products, processes and services able to give specific performances or made with innovative and sustainable systems. And right here we find Sitip’s technical fabrics for clothing, with the COSMOPOLITAN Fashion-tech fabrics collection, modern and comfortable, dedicated to contemporary urbanwear/sportswear style and which perfectly meets the new needs required by the market and by the final consumer: performance and design.

COSMOPOLITAN Fashion-tech is declined into urbanwear through the sartorial technical fabrics that the company has defined Techno Sartorial: a tailoring that combines flawless cuts with exceptional fabric performance.

For the production of contemporary urbanwear, thought for the city, Sitip showcases the man’s suit made of jacket+trousers in warp-knit Cosmopolitan Citylife fabric: bi-stretch nylon with UV protection (UPF 50+), quick drying, easy care and skin comfort. Highly performing, breathable, comfortable, insulating and with an exceptional fit: incredible elegance and comfort that enhance the contemporary urbanwear style.

For women, Sitip presents COSMOPOLITAN Fashiontech fabrics dedicated to athleisure, with leggings made - for the summer version - in Cosmopolitan London, a bi-stretch circular knitted fabric, no seethrough, breathable, comfortable on the skin with UV protection (UPF 50+), with easy care and perfect shape retention, and - for the winter version - in Cosmopolitan Paris GZ, a circular knitted fabric raised on the reverse side, with the same properties as the previous one and thermoregulation characteristics.

The Instinct fabric is available in the recycled and raised version NATIVE INSTINCT GZ: a GRS certified thermal fabric made with pre-consumer recycled yarns, bi-stretch, breathable, resistant to pilling, easy care and high comfort, ideal for sporty knitwear and urbanwear part of the NATIVE SUSTAINABLE TEXTILES family, the Sitip fabric collection produced with GRS certified recycled yarns and low environmental impact chemicals with a lower consumption of natural resources , able to respect the environmental and social criteria extended to all the stages of the production chain, including the traceability of raw materials. Sitip also operates in line with international certifications such as OEKO-TEX®, BLUESIGN®, GRS and adheres to the ZDHC gateway, adding to these an ISO 14001 environmental management system, which certifies the company’s commitment to reducing pollution risks.