From the Sector

LINGERIE becomes SMART with ROICA Cosabella premium lingerie brand with almost 2,000 styles of lingerie, daywear, loungewear, sleepwear and activewear sold in more than 100 countries. Cosabella chose Eco-Lace by Tessitura Colombo Antonio, a unique sustainable lace collection whose main premium stretch ingredient is ROICA™ Eco Smart by Asahi Kasei – the first and exclusive premium elastomer, sustainable and GRS certified (Global Recycle Standard by Textile Exchange) at international level.

DIESEL choose CUPRO Diesel presents its SS 2017 preview collection of 5 pure CUPRO pearl, washed finish silhouettes. CUPRO, by Asahi Kasei, is a refined, matchless material with an exquisite silk like touch. CUPRO is a matchless and original, new generation material made from the smart-tech transformation of cotton linter bio-utility waste, converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process. Innovhub 3rd party lab test proves CUPRO can claim full biodegradability end of life option.

Lectra achieved record financial results in 2016: €260.2 million in revenues, rising 10%, and € 26.7 million in net income, an increase of 14%. The Group consolidated its positions in automotive, and fashion and apparel, as well as acquired strong positions in furniture. Lectra has entirely transformed itself and today benefits from its bolstered technological advance, the enhanced expertise of its teams, an extended global footprint, and a refurbished campus.

Looking ahead, Lectra is in a strong position to carry out its new strategy, carefully conceived to empower its customers to step into the Industry 4.0 era. In close collaboration with global customers, Lectra has identified four mega trends that will change the business: the Millennials generation, the digitalization of companies, the emergence of Industry 4.0, and profound changes in China’s economy. Their impact, set to intensify, represents considerable challenges. Lectra’s annual report analyses the implications of these mega trends, and outlines the company’s response.
Helping customers to tackle such challenges, Lectra is gearing up to commercialize Software as a Service (SaaS), leveraged by cloud technology. Its expert knowledge of business combined with ten years’ experience in the industrial Internet of Things and rising investments in R&D, means Lectra is in a formidable position to help its customers seize opportunities in the new industrial age.            

“These products reflect Archroma’s commitment to delivering responsible products and solutions, and underscore our key principle as a company that we continuously challenge the status quo in the deep belief that we can make our industry sustainable,” stated Miquel Vila, Head of Technical Service, Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, EMEA. At the booth, Archroma will highlight in particular the following solutions and innovations:

COLOR
Archroma will be displaying its Printofix TF high-performance pigment preparations for outdoor applications. These are mainly suited for synthetic fabrics that are specifically developed for sunshades, camping tents, umbrellas and industrial applications where other dyes cannot meet the very high requirements of light and weather fastness. Printofix TF pigment preparations are easy to handle and allow the creation of colors that can resist light, weather, ozone or heat.

FIRE PROTECTION
Archroma made a commitment back in 2011 to use only non-halogenated technologies for its global range of Pekoflam products. This range is ideally suited to help customers face today’s ecological challenges and fulfill ever stricter safety regulations, regardless of the application. The company’s non-halogenated portfolio includes select products that are assessed for compliance to labels such as GOTS or OEKO-TEX(1) Standard 100 and that are in line with today’s global requirements for industrial and consumer safety.

REPELLENCY & RELEASE
Archroma's innovative next-generation fluorochemical alternative is PFOA-free* C6 Nuva N supporting the switch away from long-chain fluorotelomer products that may contain PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). These products provide long-lasting and excellent repellency and release effects, are easy to handle and non-sensitive regarding compatibility with other finishing chemicals. They allow covering the full spectrum of repellency and release needs in technical textile applications.

They also can be combined with finishing specialties, such as Pekoflam fire retardants, Nuva N and Smartrepel release and repellence solutions, and Sanitized(2) antimicrobial products. These products allow for more sustainable, tailor-made coating solutions for applications such as technical textiles, automotive, nonwoven, personal protective equipment and sportswear. With its diverse selection of advanced, sustainable and customizable solutions, Archroma is ideally positioned as the system supplier of choice for textile mills and nonwoven manufacturers. As Miquel Vila puts it: “Visit us at Techtextil to learn more about products that offer cutting-edge functionality while also being safer and more environmentally friendly. It's our nature!”

An exciting new development, resulting from a Swiss collaboration between textile manufacturer Schoeller and auxiliaries and dyes specialists at Textilcolor. ecodye is a new auxiliary concept used, in particular, in polyester dyeing processes. The technology accelerates the dyeing process and contributes to cutting costs, while at the same time helping to preserve the environment with a low level of demand on resources.
Less time, less water, less energy – the new ecodye auxiliary concept allows eco-friendly and cost-saving dyeing processes for polyester yarns and piece goods. It shortens the heating phase, thus accelerating process time by more than 30 percent. At the same time, it reduces energy consumption by 20 percent and the water requirement by 25 percent, as the goods can be cleaned in the cooling dye bath.
In addition, ecodye improves the dyeing levelness in polyester textiles. Spots and dye agglomeration are almost completely avoided, and the precipitation on the goods that arises as a result of polyester oligomers are no longer evident. ecodye provides good shade stability and avoids reproduction problems from batch to batch, thus reducing the rate of double staining and increasing the capacity utilization and productivity of the dyeing mill on a long-term basis.

Following a successful launch phase, ecodye has already been able to provide numerous positive test results. The technology is being used by polyester-processing customers in categories including outdoor, sportswear and technical knitted fabrics, primarily in Europe, South and Middle America, Turkey, Bangladesh and China.