From the Sector

KARL MAYER has already produced a wide range of electrically conductive warp-knitted items for a wide variety of applications in the TEXTILE-CIRCUIT division of its TEXTILE MAKERSPACE, including a sensor shirt, a gesture control system and a conductive charging station. In order to drive the topic of wearables forward, the textile machine manufacturer has signed a cooperation agreement with the Grabher Group and delivered an MJ 52/1-S to the specialist for high-tech textiles in Lustenau. Managing Director Günter Grabher officially inaugurated the key machine for project work in the smart textiles sector in May 2023.

The machine is involved in various research projects, but is also available for new projects and tasks. The smart textiles competence team at KARL MAYER and Grabher is looking forward to supporting the ideas and work of interested parties also outside the research network with its know-how and the possibilities of the MJ 52/1-S.

The MJ 52/1 S is also an extremely flexible project machine. The 138″ model in gauge E 28 produces a wide range of warp-knitted fabrics and incorporates conductive material directly into the textile surface - exactly where it is needed and with the structure that is required. The basis for the tailor-made fiber placement is KARL MAYER's string bar technology. The system for controlling the pattern guide bars ensures a fast, established textile production process and a high degree of pattern freedom.

Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) has collaborated with PDS Ventures to launch a new Trailblazer Programme. The new initiative seeks to identify early-stage innovators and support them on their journey to scale.

As part of the Trailblazer Programme, PDS Ventures will award one innovator a significant investment of up to USD 200,000* to accelerate the company’s growth and positive impact in the fashion industry. The winner will also receive commercial and operational support from PDS Group’s Positive Materials - a textile company and strategic research partner supporting the development and acceleration of low impact textile innovation through collaboration between early-stage start-ups, supply chain partners and brands. Further scaling opportunities will be gained through access to PDS Limited’s extensive global supply chain.
 
GFA and PDS Ventures are presenting an open call for solution providers addressing different challenges across the fashion value chain to apply for the programme. Applicants will be reviewed and shortlisted by an esteemed Jury including representatives from GFA, PDS Ventures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Ralph Lauren Corporation, Fashion For Good and H&M Group. Eight shortlisted innovations will be enrolled in a group of Trailblazers, receiving feedback and investment pitch training from industry experts and PDS representatives.     
 
Each shortlisted innovator will then pitch for a potential investment, with the winning Trailblazer being revealed at GFA’s Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2024 - an international forum for sustainability in fashion, on 22-23 May at the Copenhagen Concert Hall. All shortlisted Trailblazers will also have the opportunity to showcase their businesses within an exhibit at the Summit to connect with other key industry stakeholders and potential investors.
 
The Trailblazer Programme corresponds with the theme of the upcoming Global Fashion Summit - ‘Unlocking The Next Level’. Inspired by a significant milestone, 2024 marks 15 years since the inaugural Global Fashion Summit was hosted in 2009. This pivotal anniversary offers a special moment to not only take stock of the evolution of the sector and the progress made so far, but, most importantly, look ahead at what actions must urgently be implemented in the near term, and the gaps that must be filled to accelerate industry transformation.

Having recently celebrated the club’s 120th anniversary with a special kit for the 2021/2022 season, this year, Y-3 and Real Madrid have come together once again to bring Yohji Yamamoto’s perspective to the club with a seven-piece travel collection.

Inspired by the signature monochromatic color palette of both Real Madrid and Y-3, the travel collection itself consists of a sleek and elegant selection of pieces in all black. Crafted at the intersection of tailoring and athletic-wear, the suite of pieces includes a short sleeve polo, a long sleeve polo, a pair of shorts, a pair of track pants, a track top, a coach jacket, and a premium faux leather jacket – each made with soft sporting fabrics and finished with collaborative details such as Yohji Yamamoto’s recognizable handwritten signature script wordmark and the Real Madrid crest.

Accompanying the launch of the travel collection is a campaign shot by trailblazing London-based photographer Gabriel Moses featuring past and present Real Madrid icons including Naomie Feller, Jude Bellingham, David Alaba, Misa Rodríguez, and Zinedine Zidane.

Kelheim Fibres is showcasing recent research findings at this year's Cellulose Fibres Conference (13rd-14th of March). The development, led by Dr. Ingo Bernt, Project Leader of Fibre & Application Development at Kelheim Fibres, and Dr. Thomas Harter from Graz University of Technology, provides insights into the correlation between the geometry of viscose fibres and the liquid absorption of tampons.

Kelheim Fibres has long been engaged in the functionalization of viscose fibres, including the specific adaptation of fibre cross-sections. The trilobal Galaxy® serves as an example. The current study underscores the properties of the fibre, primarily rooted in its geometry. This involves taking a closer look at the underlying mechanisms. It has been confirmed that, in contrast to the traditionally round viscose fibres and despite similar chemical compositions and mechanical properties, Galaxy® enables significantly better liquid absorption.

While the higher specific surface area of trilobal fibres already promotes improved liquid absorption, this is not the main factor accounting for the difference in absorption. Instead, the geometric shape of the fibres proves to be crucial. Trilobal fibres create and maintain a more voluminous, extensive network within the absorbent body, providing a larger volume for liquid absorption.

Dr. Ingo Bernt emphasizes, "The results of our study are not limited to tampons—any application requiring increased absorbency can benefit from the properties of our Galaxy® fibres."

The lecture "Geometry Matters: Unveiling Tampon Absorption Mechanisms" by Dr. Ingo Bernt und Dr. Thomas Harter takes place on the 14th of March at 2:50pm.

As of March 1, 2024, Dr. Denis Hinz will become new Head of SGL Carbon's Carbon Fibers Business Unit. The previous Head, Roland Nowicki, will leave SGL Carbon on May 31, 2024 at his own request to pursue new professional challenges. He will be available to the company as a consultant until his leaving date to support a smooth transition.

Roland Nowicki took over as Head of Carbon Fibers in November 2020 and has successfully driven forward the realignment of the business unit over the past three years.  

Dr. Denis Hinz has been with SGL Carbon for more than six years and has held various management positions during this time, including Head of Operations of the Fuel Cell Components division and Managing Director of SGL Fuel Cell Components GmbH in Meitingen since December 1, 2021. The graduate engineer from the Technical University of Munich is an experienced manager who is well networked within SGL Carbon and has closely followed the development of Carbon Fibers in recent years.

Eastman announces a partnership with Patagonia to address textile waste.

The outdoor apparel company teamed up with Eastman to recycle 8,000 pounds of pre- and post-consumer clothing waste, which Eastman processed through its molecular recycling technology. The process involves breaking down Patagonia’s unusable apparel into molecular building blocks that Eastman can use to make new fibers.

"We know apparel waste is a major problem, and consumers increasingly want better, more sustainable solutions when their most loved clothing reaches the end of its life," said Natalie Banakis, materials innovation engineer for Patagonia.

"Our collaborations show the world what’s possible when it comes to sustainability,” said Carolina Sister Cohn, global marketing lead for Eastman textiles. “We have the technology to make the textiles industry circular, and we know it requires collaboration with innovative brands to make circular fashion possible. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to more collaborations throughout 2024."

At this year's JEC World 2024 from 5 to 7 March, KARL MAYER GROUP will be exhibiting with KARL MAYER Technical Textiles and its STOLL Business

One focus of the exhibition will be non-crimp fabrics and tapes made from bio-based yarn materials for the reinforcement of composites.

"While our business with multiaxial and spreading technology for processing conventional technical fibres such as carbon or glass continues to do well, we are seeing increasing interest in the processing of natural fibres into composites. That's why we have a new product in our trade fair luggage for the upcoming JEC World: an alpine ski in which, among other things, hemp fibre fabrics have been used," reveals Hagen Lotzmann, Vice President Sales KARL MAYER Technische Textilien.

The winter sports equipment is the result of a subsidised project. The hemp tapes for this were supplied by FUSE GmbH and processed into non-crimp fabrics on the COP MAX 5 multiaxial warp knitting machine in the KARL MAYER Technical Textiles technical centre.

The STOLL Business Unit will be focussing on thermoplastic materials. Several knit to shape parts with a textile outer surface and a hardened inner surface will be on display. The double-face products can be made from different types of yarn and do not need to be back-moulded for use as side door panels or housing shells, for example. In addition, the ready-to-use design saves on waste and yarn material.

Eltex of Sweden, a pioneer in the adoption of electronic sensors by the weaving machinery industry, is marking its 60th anniversary this month.

The electronic detection of broken or missing weft yarns during production was the problem Eltex founders Åke Rydborn and Ragnar Henriksson set out to solve with the development of the world’s first electronic weft-stop-motion. Its potential was recognised on its introduction at the 1963 ITMA exhibition in Hannover, Germany, leading to the foundation of the company in a modest 12-square-metre workshop in Älmhult, Sweden, in February 1964.

By 1968 the company was operating from a modern 3,000-square-metre plant and beginning to establish a global presence, introducing the first all-in-one printed circuit board (PCB) for its sensor systems in 1971. As exports increased, further Eltex operations were established in the USA and Ireland and the company expanded its product range including energy control devices, temperature and humidity loggers, food handling safety systems, and military grade battery chargers. Further textile milestones in parallel to advances in weaving technology included optical arrival detectors for air-jet weaving machines at the beginning of the 1980s, and the QTV system for warp preparation, which introduced digital stop-motion control to the industry at the start of the 1990s. In 2009, the company branched out into carpet tufting, first with the CoTS clamp-on tube sensor for tufting machines, followed by the Compact sensor for tufting machines in 2013. In 2019 the Compact II further cemented the company’s position in this sector.

Newly developed Eltex EyETM and ACT-R
Most recently, Eltex has launched the Eltex EyETM system for the monitoring of yarn tension on warp beams. Not only does it eliminate problems when warping, but also in the subsequent weaving or tufting processes. Eltex EyETM monitors the yarn tension on all positions in real-time and a minimum and maximum allowable tension value can be set. If any yarn’s tension falls outside these values the operator can be warned or the machine stopped.

The Eltex ACT and ACT-R units meanwhile go beyond yarn tension monitoring to actually control yarn tension. This extends the application range greatly. The plug and play system automatically compensates for any differences in yarn tension that arise, for example from irregularities in yarn packages.

Eltex has been owned by Brian Hicks, Seamus O’Dwyer and Jonathan Bell since 2007, following a management buy-out and the subsequent formation of Eltex Global Holdings in Ireland. Today, its head office, Eltex of Sweden AB, is in Osby, Sweden where it provides research and development, administration and global sales for the group. Eltex Manufacturing in Ireland is now the group’s primary production facility and Eltex US, Inc. provides sales and service for North America.

Under adidas’ ambition to help athletes overcome high pressure moments in sport, it has teamed up with leading sport neuroscientists, neuro11, to understand the impact it has within a game of football, basketball, and golf during penalty shootouts, high-stake putts and must-make free-throws.

Working with Emiliano Martínez, Ludvig Åberg, Nneka Ogwumike, Rose Zhang, and Stina Blackstenius, as well as amateurs in the game, adidas and neuro11 delved into their minds to identify and analyse where pressure peaks, to help athletes across the globe to better understand it.

Understanding from this study that grassroots athletes and their elite counterparts experience similarly intense levels of pressure in the biggest sporting moments - but elite athletes were up to 40% more effective at managing pressure during these moments¹ - a toolbox of techniques has been developed, built from the specific findings, to assist next-gen athletes in managing and overcoming the feeling within their game.

Covering in-depth detail on what pressure looks like within each sport, how it has been proven to impact specific in-game moments, the brain zones that neuro11’s state-of-the-art brain technology measures and the main insights from each athlete’s training session, each report sets out to support all athletes in accessing the optimal zone - the brain state in which they perform at their best.

Rounded off with science-backed tips that reveal the optimal area of a goal to strike a penalty, how to use time to regain focus before netting a free throw, as well as the impact of dwell time on putting in golf – the guides are shaped around enhancing mental focus during some of the most pressured moments across sport.

1 Findings captured during athlete training sessions, as part of adidas SS24 Brand Campaign, in collaboration with neuro11 (November ’23- January ’24). Study carried out with Emiliano Martínez, Ludvig Åberg, Nneka Ogwumike, Rose Zhang, and Stina Blackstenius, in addition to 5 grassroot athletes.

Building upon an existing three-year relationship with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, adidas announced a formal two-year agreement with the nation's largest youth development organization as part of both parties’ efforts to spread the joy of sport to kids and teens in all communities across the nation. By coming together to help drive substantive, long-lasting impact, the partnership will serve as a reminder that through sport, we have the power to change lives.

Over the course of the two-year partnership, adidas will grant $1 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of America to allocate across Clubs representing majority under-resourced Black and Latinx communities in more than a dozen U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Participating Clubs will receive funding to provide kids and teens with sport, wellness, education and e-sports programming.

adidas will also contribute additional funds to Boys & Girls Clubs of America through optional round-up donations from consumers at adidas locations throughout the U.S. Through these round-up efforts over the course of the last three years, adidas has generated nearly $2 million in funding for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and expects this route to unlock additional possibilities for young people across the country.

adidas’ support for Boys & Girls Clubs of America is part of the brand’s promise to invest $120 million to empower Black and Latinx communities in the U.S. through 2025. Other investments under the Creating Lasting Change Now effort include Cultivate & B.L.O.O.M., now titled, adidas Community LAB, an accelerator program for social entrepreneurs of color, and sustained funding for S.E.E.D. (School for Experiential Education in Design), a strategic pipeline to welcome diverse talent into the brand and the design industry.