From the Sector

Leading Japanese computerized knitting solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD., is participating in the “MIT Media Lab Summer Camp in Japan” hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab of Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

SHIMA SEIKI has been part of the MIT Media Lab as a Consortium Lab Member since 2018, collaborating on research for exploring next-generation technologies that open up new opportunities for the garment sector. The MIT Media Lab is now holding a series of online seminar sessions for middle/junior high school and high school students in Japan and around the world in order to share activities and experiences that address social issues through cross-sector and crossindustry collaboration.

SHIMA SEIKI is holding its own session as part of this series, titled “ZERo-WASTE FASHIon—Protecting the Planet from Fashion Loss.” The session highlights current issues faced by the fashion industry including environmental problems that have recently become the focus of attention, and aims to explain in simple terms, various sustainable solutions made possible by combining seam-free complete garment knitting technology with virtual sampling performed on design systems.

ISKO announced the launch of bluesign® APPROVED fabrics. The only denim mill in Europe with bluesign® APPROVED fabrics, and one of the highest achievement’s in sustainability. This won honour is only awarded to those that meet the strict safety and environmental requirements of the bluesign® CRITERIA. These certified articles are made from bluesign® APPROVED chemicals and raw materials, and are manufactured with a minimum impact on people and the environment. This enables brands to provide safe products to their consumers, verified as bluesign® PRODUCT, which are sustainably produced without hazardous chemicals.

“When the goal is big, the effort is big. Choosing the right partner means taking safe steps. In this sense, I can gladly say that we will continue on our way with the bluesign® chemical followup process.” – Ebru ÖZKÜÇÜK, Head of Sustainability ISKO.

Through this partnership and certification, ISKO and bluesign® continue their vision of a textile and fashion industry with a future that focuses more attention on people and the environment, because only when both are considered can the industry truly make a positive, long-lasting impact.

• PrimaLoft and Origin Materials have launched a program to develop high-performance, carbon-negative insulating fibers for diverse apparel applications, including for leading outdoor, fashion, and lifestyle brands, as well as home goods applications such as hypoallergenic insulated bedding.
• PrimaLoft, an advanced material technology company and a world leader in the development of high-performance insulations and fabrics, will develop the fibers with Origin Materials to address demand for sustainable, high-performance materials from its over 900 global brand partners. PrimaLoft iconic brand partners include Patagonia, Stone Island, L.L. Bean, Lululemon, adidas and Nike.
• The program will focus on carbon-negative PET and next-generation polymers produced by the Origin Materials patented technology platform, which turns sustainable wood residue into cost-advantaged, carbon-negative materials that reduce the need for fossil resources.

Origin Materials, Inc. (“Origin Materials”), a leading carbon negative materials company, and PrimaLoft, an advanced material technology company and a leader in the development of high-performance insulations and fabrics, announced a new program to develop carbon-negative, insulating, high-performance fibers. The fibers will be used across a diverse array of end products, including insulating fiber for leading outdoor, fashion, and lifestyle brands, as well as home goods applications such as hypoallergenic insulated bedding.

The companies will work to rapidly develop and commercialize new products derived from Origin Materials’ platform. The collaboration will leverage the leadership position of PrimaLoft as a specialty producer of insulating fibers and filaments with over 900 global brand partners, as well as a large global network of manufacturers that employ a wide array of textile processes to make its products, including extrusion, carding, spinning, finishing, weaving, knitting, dyeing, airlaid, meltblown, and other technologies.

The collaboration builds on PrimaLoft’s “Relentlessly Responsible™” mission to elevate both performance and sustainability, through innovation. The platform includes PrimaLoft® Bio™, which was developed and launched into the market in late 2018 as an effort to battle microplastics in the ocean; PrimaLoft® P.U.R.E.™, which provides materials manufactured with greater than 50% CO2 savings; and PrimaLoft’s post-consumer recycling initiative. The next frontier for the company is non-petroleum based raw materials, including products that biodegrade and other circular economy solutions.

Fashion 4 Development & C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub will launch The Reclothe Resource Guide during the virtual exhibit: Discover the SDGs - To Make Peace With Nature, a virtual hub convened by the United Nations Office for Partnerships April 1 - 30, 2021.

The publication's mission is to inform and educate fashion industry professionals, schools, universities, students, and new generation brands to focus on the next generation of the circular economy and make an impact on the value chain. The ReClothe guide lists all solutions, technologies, fabric suppliers, dyers, and finishers currently available and scalable globally that can really answer the new generation needs of the contemporary consumer. ReClothe will be published quarterly and focus on innovators working the best practices and opportunities in development & manufacturing for a responsible fashion industry.

The guide includes Bacx™ by Centro Seta, Bext360, DYNTEX® Biosynthetics, Eastman Naia™, ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei, ECOTEC® by Marchi & Fildi, Iluna Group, Lanificio Zignone, Maeba International, Mending for Good, Modern Meadow, Re.VerSo™, ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, Santoni, Smartex, Spiber Inc., SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos, TINTEX Textiles, VEGEA and YKK.

For registration click here.

• Swiss weaving machinery manufacturers are in the forefront of novel application development

Shoes and electronic calculators are probably not the first products people would associate with the textile weaving process. But they certainly signpost the future for woven fabrics, as two examples of the ever-wider possibilities of latest technology in the field. Fashion and function already combine in the increasing popularity of woven fabrics for shoes, and this is a present and future trend. Calculators in fabrics? That’s another story of ingenious development, using so-called ‘meander fields’ on the back and keys printed on the front of the material.

These glimpses of the outlook for modern weavers are among the highlights of developments now being pioneered by Swiss textile machinery companies. All weaving markets require innovation, as well as speed, efficiency, quality and sustainability. Member firms of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association respond to these needs at every point in the process – from tightening the first thread in the warp to winding the last inch for fabric delivery. They also share a common advantage, with a leading position in the traditional weaving industry as well as the expertise to foster new and exciting applications.

Technology and research cooperation
The concept of a ‘textile calculator’ was developed by Jakob Müller Group, in cooperation with the textile research institute Thuringen-Vogtland. Müller’s patented MDW® multi-directional weaving technology is able to create the meander fields which allow calculator functions to be accessed at a touch. A novel and useful facility, which suggests limitless expansion.

Today, the latest woven shoes are appreciated for their precise and comfortable fit. They score through their durability, strength and stability, meeting the requirements of individual athletes across many sports, as well as leisurewear. Stäubli is well known as a leading global specialist in weaving preparation, shedding systems and high-speed textile machinery. Its jacquard machines offer great flexibility across a wide range of formats, weaving all types of technical textiles, lightweight reinforcement fabrics – and shoes.

It’s possible to weave new materials such as ceramics, mix fibers such as aramid, carbon and other, and produce innovative multi-layers with variable thicknesses. Such applications put special demands on weaving machines which are fulfilled by Stäubli high-performance TF weaving systems.

Great weaving results are impossible without perfect warp tension, now available thanks to the world-leading electronic warp feeding systems of Crealet. Some market segments in weaving industry today demand warp let-off systems which meet individual customer requirements. For example, the company has recognized expertise to understand that geotextile products often need special treatment, as provided by its intelligent warp tension control system. Individual and connective solutions are designed to allow external support via remote link. Crealet’s warp let-off systems are widely used in both ribbon and broadloom weaving, for technical textiles applied on single or multiple warp beams and creels.

Functional, sustainable, automated
Trends in the field of woven narrow fabrics are clearly focused on functionality and sustainability. The Jakob Müller Group has already embraced these principles – for example using natural fibers for 100% recyclable labels with a soft-feel selvedge. It also focuses as much as possible on the processing of recycled, synthetic materials. Both PET bottles and polyester waste from production are recycled and processed into elastic and rigid tapes for the apparel industry.

For efficient fabric production environments, it is now recognized that automated quality solutions are essential. Quality standards are increasing everywhere and zero-defect levels are mandatory for sensitive applications such as airbags and protective apparel.

Uster’s latest generation of on-loom monitoring and inspection systems offers real operational improvements for weavers. The fabric quality monitoring prevents waste, while the quality assurance system significantly improves first-quality yield for all applications. Protecting fabric makers from costly claims and damaged reputations, automated fabric inspection also removes the need for slow, costly and unreliable manual inspection, freeing operators to focus on higher-skilled jobs.

Smart and collaborative robotics (cobots) offer many automation possibilities in weaving rooms. Stäubli’s future oriented robotics division is a driver in this segment with first effective installations in warp and creel preparation.

Control and productivity
Willy Grob’s specialized solutions for woven fabric winding focus on reliable control of tension, keeping it constant from the start of the process right through to the full cloth roll. Continuous digital control is especially important for sensitive fabrics, while performance and productivity are also critical advantages. In this regard, the company’s large-scale batching units can provide ten times the winding capacity of a regular winder integrated in the weaving machine.

The customized concept by Grob as well as design and implementation result in great flexibility and functionality of the fabric winding equipment – yet another example of Swiss ingenuity in textile machinery.  
There is even more innovation to come in weaving – and in other segments – from members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association in future! This confident assertion is founded on an impressive statistic: the 4077 years of experience behind the creative power of the association’s member firms. It’s proof positive that their developments grow out of profound knowledge and continuous research.

• Every moment of our day is important: TINTEX knows it and for SS 2022 is proposing solutions to enhance our wellbeing, fitting all our possible and different needs 24 hours a day.

From sunrise to sunset

Last season TINTEX “RAW” collection has successfully explored the modern human being dimensions with no more genders and races, and today the new SS 2022 collection confirms the Naturally Advanced Evolution vision built on a strong environment-driven approach and cutting-edge technology able to offer contemporary consumer a brand new smart and performing choice.

How? The SS2022 TINTEX 24h collection is offering solutions that can fit the different moments of our daily lives to rediscover ourselves in the outside world, leaving behind the social isolation that we all experienced in 2020. Freedom, comfort, flexibility and movement are the concepts the company explores looking not only to fashion moments, but to all the occasions of life where the most comfortable yet performing and responsible materials - from recycled synthetics to organic cotton - are the “right value choice”.
 
From there, the concept of giving life to 10 fabrics that truly embody our daily lifestyle: comfort, versatility, wellbeing.

Colours. A journey through warm and vivid colors - from reddish apples to sunny oranges with notes of starry blues - encourages wellbeing, feeling of relief, freedom and happiness because we feel that "we are alive again” when we go outside, doing everything we have always done, but that we were forced to put on pause. “RADIANT YELLOW it’s TINTEX color of the season, with its inherent positivity and strength. An energetic color that calls for a natural freedom to explore the world; a warm sensation of summer that feels like home” declares Ana Eusebio, designer at TINTEX Textiles.
 
All the collection focuses on the interlock structure, able to “concretely” deliver the value of versatility  and  fulfil performances needs of different moments of life. The idea is to create a collection that explores only one structure taking it to the limit, recreating, re-inventing and re-exploring its possibilities in order to meet the value of duality. Yes, in a single knit TINTEX challenged the way interlock is usually constructed by exploring each side of the articles and combining texturized with plain surfaces as well as light and heavy weights. Interlock offers natural stretch performances and exceptional dimensional stability.

Moreover, an important eye on responsible performances improvement to meet contemporary challenges and make us feel comfortable and safe! Always thanks to TINTEX DNA that is showing once more its consistent and evolved skills in making smart fabrics combined with unique eco-high-tech finishings.
 
Materials & finishings. A soft performances journey where it’s all about our dynamic daily lives. Through light and heavier fabrics, we find a well thought blend of innovative and responsible fibres. Strong focus is given to exceptional “transformation” technologies such as Newlife™, Q-Nova®, and ROICA™ EF by Asahi Kasei. While Organic cotton, TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers and TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers with Micro technology offer a unique natural and precious touch.

Fresh fibres and finishings that enhance freshness and comfort. Polygiene® STAY FRESH and Polygiene® Odor Crunch for active odor control performances, Hydroperm® by Archroma technical hydrophilic finishing for a fast dry, comfortable surface and a fresh look. Absolute novelty of the season is the TASTEX®COOL-EX by TANATEX, a skin-care treatment agent based on micelles, which gives a special cool sensation using dynamic temperature control.
 
Lastly, TINTEX addresses the accessories and outerwear markets with a “look-like leather” created with a water-based coating technology that incorporates pine shell.

Wardrobe solutions. 10 versatile articles that can perfectly fit the different areas of our daily wardrobe: from casual to formal wear, from athleisure to sports, from loungewear to underwear.  10 innovations that have become a  REAL  24th hours smart wardrobe   thanks to the unique design interpretation of these fabrics  by  5 contemporary and innovative Portuguese  designers such as : Rita Sá, David Catalán, Maria Gambina, Maria Meira and Behén.

Unique pieces designed and created by them   to show once more the beauty, the versatility, the smart performances of TINTEX collection that has been able to transform itself into a naturally advanced valuable wardrobe where fabrics have concretely come to life to make our everyday life smart in each moment! You can have a real look at this wardrobe that fully represent the values behind the collection, smartly interpreted by the Portuguese designers at this video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppPHPK0Zyu8 .

Thinking about what is happening around us as planet and individuals in an era of unpredictable challenges, we need to be creative constantly reinventing ourselves, aware of a new society and way of consuming where environment and human needs count.  And TINTEX, that has over-time established itself as a global leader in smart innovation, decided to focus exactly on that. The company DNA and vision of Naturally Advanced Evolution is centered on this new way of life that must adapt, but NEVER - now more than ever - compromises neither nature nor new generation’s performance.

Since 2014, Iluna Group Srl stands out for braiding together the values of beauty, innovation and responsibility.
The company achieved this with Iluna Lab, a cutting-edge research and development centre where laces are conceived and engineered to become sustainable ingredients for the contemporary wardrobe.
The smart values are attested by the STeP - Sustainable Textile Production by Oeko – Tex® certification for its ethic approach. “We are also the first lace producer to have gained the GRS - Global Recycled Standard for transformed products, and whose products are all certified OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.” Comments Walter Colombo, Technical Director at Iluna Group Srl.
 Moreover, in recognition of the great value of responsible innovation, Iluna Group is now officially a partner of C.L.A.S.S., the international ecohub founded in 2007 by Giusy Bettoni, a reference point in the fashion and textile sector for all those who want to make fashion smarter.

Now the company announces two important collaborations with Néné Paris and NOO, “two booming French brands which have intercepted and share our values and vision for sustainability where beauty and innovation are key”.

Néné focuses on preserving natural resources using only upcycled fabrics or fabrics made with recycled fibers. Each and every step of the production is entirely made in Europe.

French independent designer brand NOO creates exquisite lingerie, timeless ready-to-wear garments and bold cut swimwear and bodysuit for women. The brand pays extreme care to aesthetics and details at every step of the production process, from sourcing materials to waste reduction, choosing factories and using recyclable packagings.

Underwear and loungewear specialist MEY announces the launch of its product series "Zzzleepwear,” developed to improve the quality of sleep for men and women. Setting new standards in the sleepwear category, functionality and technical innovation are the focus of the product styles that also offer stylish looks and wearer comfort.

People who sleep well recharge their batteries and can start the next day full of energy. However, many people suffer from sleep problems that can have a long-term negative impact on health and well-being. MEY’s Zzzleepwear was built to address that.

„Zzzleepwear“ reflects far-infrared rays
Fabrics of the "Zzzleepwear" series are equipped with energear™ technology from schoeller®. They reflect the body's own energy, which is emitted in the form of far-infrared rays. The textile finish is based on a titanium-mineral matrix, which reflects far-infrared rays back to the body. This effect can have a positive impact on the body and its energy balance. The understanding of far infrared rays and their positive properties has its origin in Asian healing medicine. Far Eastern medicine has incorporated life energy, "Qi" in Chinese, for centuries. More and more people are discovering that their performance increases when energy balance and energy flow are in harmony. schoeller® is transferring this function to textiles, and MEY is using the finish for the first time in nightwear.

Further fabric properties and design features
For the new "Zzzleepwear" series, the energear™ coating is applied to the inside of the fabric in a honeycomb-like form. It thus represents the core of the series. In addition, the fabric with melange structure is made of natural cotton and thermoregulating fibers that provide high breathability. The large proportion of natural cotton fibers increases the wearing comfort of this special nightwear. The "Zzzleepwear" series offers different color variations, as well as outstanding design features like flat seams and an interior print in the neck area.

Podcast with soporific effect
MEY wants to lull its customers to sleep in a particularly original way: A Spotify code is printed on every item in the series. By scanning this code, customers can listen to a sleep podcast created especially for the selected pair of pyjamas. In the eleven-part good night story, the products tell their own manufacturing story, from the cotton field to the fabric production in Albstadt to the store – so boring, it will have customers nodding off in no time.

• "We only promote products that we like and Kornit is offering a line up of technologically advanced equipment that can take our selected customers into the future of textile print on demand.”
• Responding to market needs for textile print on demand

Kornit Digital (Nasdaq: KRNT), a worldwide market leader in digital textile printing technology, continues to expand its market reach through Grup Transilvae partnership.

Founded in 1993 in Cluj, Grup Transilvae later expanded its reach nationally with a move to Bucharest. It has since developed into a complete solutions and services provider following partnerships with key industry manufacturers such as HP, MGI Digital Graphic Technology, Canon, Esko, Caldera, Efi, X-Rite - Pantone and Fotoba International etc. It has also more recently agree to support Matic, Highcon, Xlam, Sefa, Chemica and PlastGrommet. Now the company is increasingly focusing on the textile industry which is why it is partnering with Kornit.

CEO Bogdan Vasilescu explains: "We started with color management solutions, working on demand for Fogra with digitally printed DMI colors on textiles. We have also worked with Mimaki, Roland, Epson and Vutek on various projects including Eurotex Iasi, Zara and Rofobit in Bucharest. Eager to continue our growth spurt in the textile printing industry, we were looking for a trusted partner and Kornit was the obvious choice.”

"The collaboration with Kornit began officially in September and is a natural progression,” Vasilescu adds. “For a number of years, we have been considering ways to improve our offering by moving into textiles in the same way that we did for sign and display, home decor or packaging. We were just waiting for the right partner. We are always looking to collaborate with market leaders and we wanted to work with Kornit to tap into the potential of the print on demand textile market with an extensive textile printing portfolio.”

Grup Transilvae will represent all Kornit’s textile solutions, including Direct to Garment and Direct to Fabric, particularly for T-shirts, activewear, denim, fashion, beachwear, home textiles and fabrics.

Vasilescu continues: “We are looking forward to showing our existing customers how they can take advantage of the Covid 19 accelerated trends in digital print-on-demand and short-run print jobs. We will signpost how they can expand their application range, grow volumes and experience better ROI.”

Vasilescu concludes: “We only promote products that we like and Kornit is offering a line up of technologically advanced equipment that can take our valued customers into the future of textile print on demand.”

Omer Kulka, CMO at Kornit Digital states: “We are delighted to announce another great partnership with a distributor that is as passionate about our products and the textile printing industry as we are. Grup Transilvae has a long history of successfully entering new markets with leading manufacturers. We look forward to a long and happy partnership.”

• ECOSENSOR™ 100% recycled polyamide fabric
• New fabric collection imbued with the brand’s sustainable story-making, at the Digital Edition of Performance Days

ECOSENSOR™’s new references combine high-performance and innovation to empower people with the possibility to live life naturally both for mind and body. The new range is woven from certified ingredients, a completely traceable production process and highly certified suppliers

“A New Eco high-tech force of Nature”, a bold claim, a daring attitude and true facts. ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei has concentrated all its key values into a Nature-driven and high-tech fabric collection that respects the environment and human being. Sustainability, active climate control, exquisite touch and extreme performance co-habit the textiles: the collection is made of wovens and knits where the main technology is represented by GRS - Global Recycled Standard certified polyamide and polyesters, sometime combined with ROICA™ recycled stretch yarns and dyed and finished with Oekotex Standard 100 certified processes and/or by BlueSign® partners’ companies.

But there is much more than it meets the eye. Behind the new collection is a great story of sustainability.

“Our international team strives to innovate with a human-based approach to research and develop solutions that meet high-performance standards as well as the transparency and traceability of both the ingredients and the supply chain”, says Mr. Hashimoto, Senior Managing Director of Asahi Kasei Advance, the global materials innovator and manufacturer. Indeed, the company has set the high bar all its suppliers and partners must match. Such criteria include: thoroughly transparency and traceability of both materials and production, corporate responsibility at all levels and a strategic commitment granted by influential certifications such as GRS - Global Recycle Standard for recycled ingredients and processes, as well as Bluesign® and OekoTex Standard 100 certifications, which focus on environmental-friendly impact of the dyeing and finishing processes.

The human, environmentally-friendly and cutting-edge imprint of ECOSENSOR™ ultimate collection reflects a vision for a more responsible way of fabric manufacturing. A new force of nature, because story-telling truly must match the story-making.