From the Sector

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel (Freudenberg Apparel) announced the production opening of its state thermal insulation factory located in Long Thanh District, Vietnam. This facility specializes in the production of comfortemp®, Freudenberg’s renowned high-performance thermal insulation material, designed to elevate fashion and sportswear apparel.

This additional new factory extends Freudenberg Apparel's thermal insulation production across key Asian markets, including the Chinese mainland and South Korea. It also significantly strengthens Freudenberg Apparel’s global production capabilities and supply network. This expansion will bolster the company's competitive edge in Asia and reaffirms its ongoing dedication to innovation and evolution within the apparel industry.

"By localizing the production of our thermal insulation materials in Vietnam, we are not only reducing lead times for our customers but also streamlining the supply chain, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional value for customers," stated John McNabb, Chief Technology Officer at Freudenberg Performance Materials. The Vietnamese facility is equipped to produce sustainable thermal insulations, providing customers with options that align with their sustainable garment production initiatives and goals.

Everyday clothing may soon be able to capture and record body movements, according to new research published by the Universities of Bath and Bristol.

Harmless low voltages are passed through conductive threads which are stitched into garment seams to create electrical circuits. Their resistance changes with the movement of the wearer's body.
This work opens up new possibilities to make digital clothing which senses and captures movements much more accurately than is possible using current phones and smart watches.

The paper describing the new clothing concept, presented this week at the Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference in Copenhagen, lays the foundations for e-textile designers and clothing manufacturers to create cutting-edge garments that could enhance exercise, physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

Paper co-author Dr Adwait Sharma from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath said: "Our research focuses on integrating technology into everyday clothing to track the effectiveness of physiotherapy exercises done at home. Doing these exercises correctly to recover from injuries is crucial, but it's difficult to know if you're doing them properly alone.
“SeamSleeve helps address this challenge by enabling physiotherapists to monitor your progress remotely. This technology could be particularly beneficial for conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, where monitoring movement is essential.”

According to Dr Sharma, current fitness trackers often don’t provide enough detail for physiotherapy. SeamSleeve is unique in that it covers the entire arm, allowing it to capture important movement data.

“We’ve successfully developed a working system based on machine learning to track 12 different arm exercises using SeamSleeve,” said Dr Sharma. “This paves the way for exciting future remote physiotherapy and exercise monitoring applications."

Professor Mike Fraser from the University of Bristol’s School of Computer Science added: "We're excited by the opportunity for clothing manufacturers to implement our designs in sleeves and other garment seams.
“We've shown that common overlocked seams in standard garment constructions can do a good job of sensing movement. The design avoids the need for a separate power source by pairing the seam with a charging coil, drawing the energy wirelessly from a mobile phone placed in the pocket.

“This means advanced motion sensing garments could be made without altering existing manufacturing processes.

"We have also shown that smartphone apps using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques can use this movement data to match body movement to specific postures or gestures such as physiotherapeutic exercises."

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games are just around the corner and a global sports frenzy is underway. However, intense summer workouts often lead to sportswear absorbing excessive sweat, becoming clingy and cumbersome, causing discomfort and potentially impacting performance. A research team from the School of Fashion and Textiles at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed the iActive™ sportswear range which features a root-like liquid transport system and a skin-like active perspiration dissipater and utilises nature-inspired, anti-heat textile fabrics to expedite sweat removal, effectively reducing the weight and stickiness of activewear caused by sweat accumulation during exercise.

The human body has millions of sweat glands that are vital for regulating body temperature by dissipating sweat for evaporation to cool the skin’s surface. With unabating greenhouse gas emissions, the number of very hot days annually is expected to increase significantly. This will lead to elevated energy consumption and increased sweating during physical activity and outdoor labour. Even when wearing highly breathable clothes with good sweat-wicking properties, individuals may still experience discomfort due to excessive sweat accumulation.

A research team led by Dr SHOU Dahua, Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies and Associate Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles at PolyU, has invented the iActive™, intelligent, electrically activated sportswear with a nature-inspired active perspiration function.

Its nature-inspired technologies, including low-voltage-driven artificial “sweat glands” created by skin-like anti-heat textile fabrics and a root-like branching liquid transport system that aligns with the body’s sweat map, can actively and programmably remove sweat to a perspiration dissipater at the lower region of the sportswear. The all-textile sweat dissipater is compact and operates at a safe output voltage of approximately 5-9V, and its battery is easy to detach from the clothing, making it convenient for users to repeatedly wash the clothing by hand or in a washing machine to maintain hygiene. When the human body’s sweat rate is low, iActive™ can still be used independently without the battery.

Based on the optimised wettability pattern and gradient, the research team utilises a skin-like textile fabric to transport sweat one-way quickly and dissipate it from the inside to the outside. This feature reduces the stickiness and weight of clothing, improves breathability and ensures the garments remain dry and comfortable to wear. Experimental findings indicate that iActive™ creates a breathable and dry skin microclimate by dissipating sweat at a rate that is three times faster than the maximum human sweating rate. This innovation can also prevent discomfort from coldness and moisture after a workout. In comparison to traditional fabrics, the textile materials in iActive™ are 60% lighter and 50% less clingy when soaked, providing the wearer with all-round comfort and enabling sports enthusiasts and athletes to perform at their best.

Furthermore, a mobile app further aids personalised sweat management by wirelessly adjusting the sweat level of iActive™. This innovation is versatile and can be seamlessly integrated into a variety of textile materials to facilitate sustainable mass production. Beyond sportswear, iActive™ is also well-suited to protective clothing and workwear for individuals engaged in prolonged, high-intensity physical labour and outdoor occupations, including healthcare professionals, construction workers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and others, thereby significantly enhancing their work performance.

Dr Shou Dahua stated, “The extreme weather and high temperatures resulting from global warming have elevated the importance of heatstroke prevention and cooling measures on a global scale. Drawing on the vivid phenomena of thermal insulation and directed liquid flow in nature, we aim to foster innovation and sustainable advancement in garment manufacturing by inventing intelligent clothing and materials to address global challenges. We seek to harness the power of technology to infuse fresh perspectives into the traditional clothing industry, thereby enhancing its competitiveness.”

His research team has also developed a premium fabric named Omni-Cool-Dry™, drawing inspiration from volcano dwelling beetles. This fabric not only provides ultra-fast sweat dissipation and ensures all-day comfort with its dry and breathable features under dynamic thermal conditions, but also reflects solar radiation and emits body heat into the cold universe, enabling passive cooling. The team is working hard to leverage the benefits of both inventions to further enhance the sweat-dissipating and cooling capability of iActive™ sportswear.

Dr Shou Dahua, a core member of the PolyU Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems and the Research Centre of Textiles for Future Fashion, has recently been bestowed with the 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award by The Fiber Society for his outstanding contributions to the fields of personal thermal and moisture management, intelligent wearables and soft robotics. The accolade is presented annually to an individual researcher worldwide. He has also received international innovation awards, including consecutive TechConnect Global Innovation Awards in 2021 and 2022. Moreover, his research papers have been published in various internationally renowned academic journals including Science Advances, PNAS, Advanced Functional Materials, and Advanced Energy Materials. Dr Shou will be chairing The Fiber Society Spring 2025 Conference at PolyU.

The summer edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris welcomed nearly 1,200 exhibitors from 26 countries. This season event was characterised by a number of new features and the dynamics remained satisfactory. Next event: February 10, 2025, in a partially renovated Paris-Le-Bourget exhibition centre for a session rich in initiatives.

The latest edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, offered in its full version with the Avantex and Leatherworld sectors, ended on July 3 with attendance levels down on the July 2023 session. Over and above a possible "Olympic Games effect" and its consequences on transport and accommodation costs in the capital, the current economic situation is prompting the show's organizers to explore all alternatives to adapt the offer to market demand. However, these results do not seem to have had any impact on the flow of business between visitors and exhibitors, who reported a fairly positive overall climate.

The dynamic on the booths remained steady and the exchanges satisfactory, as shown by several manufacturers particularly well established on the European market. Indian shirt manufacturer Sheraton Apparel, for example, made around thirty solid contacts over 3 days, and reported several serious approaches to African distributors. The same goes for SMIT, a Turkish company specialising in Made in Turkey sourcing, which was able to see its main European customers and open up new contacts with Canadian and Brazilian buyers.

An expanded offering
At the Near Sourcing Hub, the phygital sourcing space connected by QR Code to the B2B digital platform of Messe Frankfurt France partner FourSource, inquiries to exhibiting companies remained much the same as in 2023. The visitor profile, on the other hand, focused on buyers from networks of small multi-specialist boutiques looking for an original mid-to-top-range offering. It was in response to this market demand for differentiation that the show organizers decided to extend Apparel Sourcing's range to include new categories in the fashion accessories sector, such as jewelry and bags.

High-profile initiatives
Other innovations were also on show this summer. The yarn pavilion - a first conceived in collaboration with Yarn Expo, originally a Shanghai show run by Messe Frankfurt - showcased the expertise of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and Taiwanese companies, while at the same time highlighting upstream products and services. At Avantex, where some twenty suppliers of solutions for more sustainable fashion were grouped together, the new Designer Hub enabled designers and buyers to discover some original initiatives, such as that of stylist Jean-Luc François' association, supported by Messe Frankfurt's Texpertise network, which trains people who are far from employment, or the 3D design studio Scotomalab.

Materra wins 2024 Avantex Fashion Pitch award
The Avantex Fashion Pitch jury has awarded the 2024 prize to Materra. This British start-up, founded in 2019, designs solutions to support the cotton cultivation adapted to climate change. At the other end of the chain, it offers brands a service designed on a Cotton-As-A-Service model that encourages them to source from the producers it supports. Materra will benefit from a €2,800 stand at Avantex Paris 2025 donated by Messe Frankfurt France, plus €2,000 from Texpertise Network, the textile sector network of the Messe Frankfurt Group, and 1 year's incubation at Foundry donated by IFA Paris, official partner of the competition.

A trendy area at Leatherworld
New for 2024, the Leatherworld sector inaugurated its Leather Trend area, developed in collaboration with publisher Edizioni AF and the Arsutoria School design centre. Designed around the expertise of Italian companies specialising in the manufacture of leather shoes and bags, this inspirational space presented the autumn-winter 25-26 trends through 4 creative axis built around the expression of simplicity, nature, dynamism (sportswear collections) and finally romanticism. Leather Trend was also an opportunity to discover the new leather tanning technology developed by Ecotan, which avoids the use of metals (Chrome) and chemicals in the leather preparation stages thanks to the use of vegetable tannins.

ISKO is taking part in the Kingpins Show in New York City. At the event taking place on 17 and 18 July at Pier 36, Basketball City, ISKO presents a selection from its diverse collections.

Attendees have the opportunity to explore a selection from ISKO’s main collection, alongside some of the company’s most innovative technologies and products. Each piece exemplifies ISKO’s commitment to blending sophisticated designs with sustainable practices.

The Main Collection is organized into five main macro groups:

• Inflexible: a range of rigid fabrics for contemporary needs, true to denim’s original heritage.
• Motion: combining comfort and an authentic look for good old rigid denim with freedom of movement.
• Extended: traditional denim aesthetic and its ultimate stretch expression. Elegance, treatments, and 4-way-stretch technologies.
• Elite: fabrics families where softness, shine, and silky feel reach their full potential.
• Momentum: unique finishes, intricate constructions, colored coatings, and special denim features.

Other highlights are:

• Casual Line: the premium experience showcasing a versatile and innovative woven fabric collection made with FSC® certified viscose and certified postconsumer recycled polyester.
• ISKO™ Luxury by PG: curated by Paolo Gnutti, this collection merges classic tastes with contemporary visions.

Finally, as ISKO’s FW 25-26 collection features RE&UP fibers, visitors can learn more about the circulartech company that recycles cotton, polyester and polycotton textile waste and transforms it into high-quality Next-Gen fibers, becoming the go-to alternative to virgin options.

Der vierte THE DORF • THE MARKET wird eine besondere Edition, denn sie steht unter dem Motto „A Day in the Park“! Am Samstag, den 27. Juli 2024 findet der vom Düsseldorfer Magazin THE DORF initiierte und kuratierte Markt zum ersten Mal unter freiem Himmel und den schattigen Bäumen des Hofgartens statt. Im Rahmen der Düsseldorfer Fashion Days 2024 erhalten knapp 25 Protagonist:innen der Düsseldorfer Design-, Food- und Kreativszene einen ganzen Tag lang auf der Jägerhofallee ihre Bühne. Neben altbekannten und neuen Teilnehmer:innen wird bei der vierten Edition ein besonderes Augenmerk auf japanische Designer:innen und Labels gelegt.

Als Bewunder:innen der japanischen Kultur in Düsseldorf freuen sich die Gründer:innen Tina Husemann & David Holtkamp über die Einbindung & Teilnahme japanischer Designer:innen wie Hiroyuki Murase mit seinem Label Suzusan, sowie dem deutsch-japanischen Schmucklabel MITTSU., Schmuckdesignerin Beru Inou (Atelier DREI), Keramikkünstler Jimu Kobayashi, Künstler Takumi Ogata, dem Street Casual Brand Amesankoh und Yoshi Nama Gin.

Weitere Teilnehmende sind Atelier Hinter Indien (Schmuck), Marisa Oeker (Illustration/Papeterie), Monolar (Accessories, Conscious Artisan Luxury Store Concept), Orion Qubo (Interior), related by objects (Schmuck), Gourmie Goods (Food-Spezialitäten aus ganz Europa), FLØR (Supplements), Kiyo (Interior), rikiki (Design Concept Store), Studio Rosa (Upcycled Accessories), The Clay Company (Keramik), Two Brothers Vintage (Premium Vintage Clothing), Wax Made Design (Kerzen) und mehr.

Für zwei Absolventinnen des Fachbereichs Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik der Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) gab es während der Verabschiedungsfeier eine besondere Auszeichnung: Sie erhielten je 1500 Euro Preisgeld für ihre herausragenden Abschlussarbeiten.

Das TFN (Textile and Fashion Network e.V.) ehrt Luisa Verbocket, weitere 1500 Euro stiftet der Verband der Rheinischen Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie e.V. an Vivien Beckmann.

Luisa Verbocket (26), die nach ihrem Bachelorstudiengang Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik – Textile Technologien an der HSNR den Master Textile Produkte angeschlossen hat, wählte für ihre Abschlussarbeit den Titel „Analyse und Optimierung der Verarbeitung von recycelten Post-Consumer-Textilien an einer Deckelkarde“.
Dabei entwickelte sie unter anderem ein Klassifizierungsschema, mit dem sich die vielen unterschiedlichen Rohstoff-Bestandteile mechanisch recycelter Textilien systematisieren lassen.

In Versuchen an einer Deckelkarde (Kardiermaschine) untersuchte die Mönchengladbacherin die Zusammenhänge zwischen den Maschineneinstellungen, dem Verarbeitungsverhalten der Rohstoffbestandteile und den Produkteigenschaften.

Für ihre Masterarbeit kooperierte sie mit der Firma Trützschler, wo sie mittlerweile seit Januar 2024 als Textiltechnologin für den Bereich Recycling und Nachhaltigkeit tätig ist.

Vivien Beckmann aus Kirchhundem im Sauerland entwickelte im Rahmen ihrer Bachelorarbeit für das Unternehmen FALKE eine modulare Outdoor-Jacke. Die 27-Jährige, die an der HSNR den dualen Studiengang Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik mit dem Studienschwerpunkt Produktentwicklung absolviert hat, vereint in ihrem Prototyp einer Outdoor-Jacke Funktionalität mit Design. Für noch mehr Tragekomfort lassen sich je nach Geschmack und Wetterverhältnissen verschiedene Komponenten austauschen, ablegen oder hinzuzufügen.

Die modulare Outdoor-Jacke aus hochwertigen Materialien besteht aus einer Außenjacke und zwei Innenjacken für den Frühling/Sommer und Herbst/Winter. Die Innenjacken können entweder mit der Außenjacke verbunden oder separat getragen werden. Die Außenjacke lässt sich durch Entfernen der Ärmel ganz einfach in eine Weste umfunktionieren sowie die Kapuze abnehmen.

Vivien Beckmann sammelte schon während ihres Studiums im Reisetechniker-Team von FALKE Erfahrungen mit Produktions- und Herstellungsprozessen. Seit ihrem Bachelorabschluss arbeitet sie weiterhin für das Unternehmen.

In seiner Nichtfinanziellen Erklärung 2023 (NFE bzw. “Non Financial Reporting Declaration”) stellt Decathlon sein Nachhaltigkeitsengagement vor, das eine der fünf strategischen Säulen des Unternehmens bildet. Das Ziel des Engagement besteht darin, die Auswirkungen seiner Geschäftstätigkeit auf Umwelt und Gesellschaft zu bewerten und zu verbessern. Damit stellt sich Decathlon den aktuellen Herausforderungen der nachhaltigen Entwicklung und verfolgt dabei seinen Unternehmenssinn “Move people through the wonders of sport”.

In vier Kapiteln, die alle unternehmerischen ESG-Themen (Environmental, Social, Governance) abdecken, bietet Decathlons Nichtfinanzielle Erklärung detaillierte Informationen über:

• die Entwicklung des Markenportfolios
• die neuen mittel- und langfristigen Dekarbonisierungspfade
• das erste Ziel zur Reduzierung der Auswirkungen von Decathlon auf die Biodiversität
• die Entwicklung von zirkulären Geschäftsmodellen (Second Use, Vermietung, Pflege und Reparatur)
• ESG-Bewertung von Lieferanten für indirekte Einkäufe

Welche Ambitionen hinter dem Nachhaltigkeitsengagement des Unternehmens stecken, fasst Barbara Martin Coppola, CEO von Decathlon United, zusammen:
"Eine der größten Herausforderungen des gesellschaftlichen und unternehmerischen Wandels besteht darin, die planetaren Grenzen zu respektieren. Wir wollen, dass Decathlon eine führende Rolle bei der laufenden ökologischen Umstellung einnimmt und als inspirierendes Modell für eine nachhaltige Zukunft dienen kann. Im zweiten Jahr in Folge haben wir unsere absoluten CO2eq-Emissionen gesenkt (10 % weniger als 2022) und konnten gleichzeitig unseren Umsatz steigern. Wir steigern unsere Ambitionen weiter, indem wir neue mittel- und langfristige Ziele in den Scopes 1, 2 und 3 verfolgen."

Auf der am 4. Juli zu Ende gegangenen Berlin Fashion Week bereicherte die Bio-Baumwollmarke Cotonea im Rahmen einer Kooperation die neue Kollektion „Black Sun“ von Rebekka Ruétz mit hochwertigen Stoffen. Die Designerin wurde im Herbst 2023 auf Cotonea aufmerksam und verwendet seither die Bio-Baumwollstoffe. Die Show zur Berlin Fashion Week ist die erste offizielle Kooperation zwischen Rebekka Ruétz und Cotonea.

In ihrer neuesten Kollektion verwendet Rebekka Ruétz unter anderem Popelin von Cotonea in weiß, schwarz und hellblau. Hergestellt aus der feinen biologischen Extralangstapelfaser Pima, erfüllt dieser Stoff qualitative und ökologische Standards. Ohne Kunstharzausrüstung und Merzerisierung produziert, ist er atmungsaktiv und angenehm auf der Haut. Als Kontrast kommen schwerer Bio-Baumwoll-Köper in einem sanften Naturton und schwarz sowie weißer Canvas zum Einsatz.

Parallel zur Berlin Fashion Week zeigte das Unternehmen auf der Première Vision in Paris sein Portfolio. Neben denen von Rebekka Ruétz verwendeten Stoffe finden Modeschaffende etwa Bio-Pima-Jersey Feinkörper und Interlock, Musslin in neuen Farben, Köper in verschiedenen Grammaturen und Chambray Single Jersey Pique.

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel launches the complete RCY 99xx series recycled polyester (rPET) shirt interlinings. This product line serves as a sustainable counterpart to Freudenberg's renowned 95xx series, which has been a staple in the industry for over twenty years.

The 95xx series, celebrated for its unique bi-elastic properties, has earned its place as one of Freudenberg Apparel's most sought-after shirt interlining ranges.

Now, taking a leap towards sustainability, Freudenberg Apparel introduces the complete RCY 99xx series. Crafted from rPET, these bi-elastic interlinings are designed to complement an array of contemporary fabrics, including pure cotton, T/C, flannel, oxford, cotton & linen blends, seersucker, jersey, and all types of stretch knits. The RCY 99xx series not only preserves the natural hand-feel, texture, and shape of these fabrics but also infuses a fresh creative dimension into shirt design.

The RCY 99xx series boasts an weight range of 30-150 g/m2, offering versatility for a diverse spectrum of shirt styles, from men’s casual shirts and women's blouses to polo shirts, sports shirts, and denim shirts. This adaptability ensures that designers and manufacturers have the flexibility to meet the evolving demands of the market while upholding sustainability principles.