From the Sector

Reinach, Switzerland, and Westlake, Ohio, 2 February 2021 - Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with technology innovator CleanKore, aiming to advance sustainable dyeing processes throughout the denim supply chain.

The agreement will allow Archroma and CleanKore to promote the benefits of each other’s technologies. This includes Archroma’s robust catalog of dyes and specialty chemicals along with CleanKore’s patented process of dyeing yarns at the denim mill that completely eliminates the need for potassium permanganate (PP) spray and laser booster to achieve the bright white abrasion effect in the garment finishing process. The result is a large and circular bright white core with a small ring of indigo dye. The technology does not just eliminate the chemicals associated in the PP spray and laser process, which is much safer for denim workers, it also allows to save significant amounts of water and energy throughout the manufacturing process from fabric to garmenting.

CleanKore initially looked at eliminating potassium permanganate due to its being classified as hazardous if inhaled or ingested, or in case of contact with the skin or the eye. It is also considered very toxic to aquatic life. No new equipment or capital expenses are needed to implement the CleanKore technology, which works on all denim fabric, including dark indigo, sulfur top/bottom and sulfur black.

This is where Archroma comes into the picture. Its global technical team of denim coloration specialists will provide support to denim mills seeking to implement the CleanKore technology and develop the desired looks and effects - with the right colors and chemical systems for their production set-up.

CleanKore estimates that the technology allows to save up to 15 liters of water per garment, or the equivalent to the drinking needs of 5 people per day, and up to 0.51 kWh of energy per garment, or the equivalent of five 100-watt light bulbs on for 1 hour. The CleanKore technology also leads to a 10% to 20% increase in production throughput, as a result of a faster garment wash-down and the elimination of PP spray.

For CleanKore CEO Darryl Costin Jr., the announcement comes at an ideal time for CleanKore: "We have successfully proven the technology with mill partners such as Arvind and other denim mills in Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Thailand and the United States. The response from the industry has been overwhelmingly positive. Having a partner in Archroma, one that is highly respected for their innovation and emphasis on sustainability throughout the industry, will allow us to take CleanKore to the next level.”

Umberto Devita, Global Indigo Manager at the Archroma Global Competence Center for Denim & Casualwear, adds: "CleanKore is perfectly aligned with the 3 pillars of 'The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced'. 'Safe' through the elimination of a potentially harmful substance and the protection of the denim workers, 'Efficient' through the reduction of resource consumption, improved productivity and cost-effective profile. And 'Enhanced' through the gorgeous colors and effects allowed with Archroma's innovations and systems, in particular our aniline-free* Denisol® Pure Indigo and Diresul® sulfur dyes. We look forward to help promoting an innovation that will help with many of the challenges facing our denim customers throughout the world. Because it’s our nature."

• Sappi implements innovative barrier paper technology to increase production

Sappi will introduce new barrier coating technology for functional paper packaging at its speciality mill in Alfeld, Germany, strengthening its position as the leading global provider of sustainable paper packaging solutions. Explaining the decision, Berry Wiersum, CEO Sappi Europe stated: “Expanding the use of our proprietary barrier coating technology underpins Sappi’s drive to maintain our leading position in barrier coated paper as well the commitment we have with our customers in developing innovative future focused packaging solutions which contribute towards a sustainable future”

•    Investment in sustainable barrier coating technology
•    Comprehensive expertise in future focused functional paper packaging
•    Where performance meets environmental accountability

The demand for paper and paperboard packaging continues to rise dramatically as consumers become increasingly mindful of the impact their buying choices have on the environment.  The call for innovative, truly sustainable solutions has never been louder. Sappi is striving to support its customers to go beyond traditional film and foil-based material solutions, growing its products ranges to meet the demands of our ever-changing world. Working directly with brand owners Sappi seeks to create future-oriented circular solutions in line with growing collective global responsibilities.

The desire to continuously evolve to meet and exceed the business needs requires ongoing investment in innovation in order to create the solutions of tomorrow. Sappi’s acquisition of Rockwell Solutions has deepened the company’s barrier paper manufacturing knowledge. Adding barrier coater capacity at Alfeld Mill further upscales our capabilities, brings this unique combination of paper, dispersion and coating technology to more customers and enables Sappi to offer customers even more competitive and attractive paper packaging solutions.

Sappi has made great strides to provide future-focused products and services – matching and exceeding the needs of consumers now and in the future – delivering recyclable packaging solutions in line with the requirements of a circular economy. Environmental accountability is at the heart of both Sappi and its customers’ needs. Through this initiative Sappi will continue to challenge the conventional packaging industry with new ideas and solutions in order to make it easier for the world and the planet to follow a circular-economy strategy.

• Elleti Group partners with Wiser Wash for Europe and the Mediterranean area, with Portugal being the only exception, for a more sustainable fashion.
• The enterprise based in Verona joins Wiser Wash’s international network and adopts the innovative patented process for the treatment of denim that has the market’s lowest environmental impact.

Tradition and innovation: this combination has always characterized Elleti Group, a historic company based in San Bonifacio and an important point of reference for the denim industry and beyond. Now it is also the exclusive partner of Wiser Wash for Europe and the Mediterranean area, with Portugal being the only exception. Specializing in laundry, dyeing and garment making services, the company is led by the steady hand and ambitious vision of Luigi Lovato, who was recently recognized by Rivet50 as one of 2020's fifty most influential people in the denim ecosystem. The partnership with Wiser Wash is a fitting continuation of Elleti Group's tireless pursuit of excellence, development of cutting-edge solutions and commitment to environmental sustainability, which has always projected the proud Made in Italy tradition towards the future.

With the introduction of Wiser Wash's technology, Elleti Group has significantly reduced the amount of resources used in traditional garment treatment. This patented washing method eliminates the use of pumice stone and all harmful chemicals, while drastically reducing water consumption throughout the process. In addition, the efficiency of the process lowers chemical and mechanical stress on fabric fibers as compared to traditional treatment, guaranteeing greater garment robustness and longevity.

This important milestone is the latest and more relevant result of a commitment that has been integral to Elleti Group's approach since its foundation. This was already present in the Earthkeepers collection – a line of low environmental impact treatments which marked the culmination of research and experimentation journey, aimed at developing an authentic look whilst looking out for the safeguard of the environment, its resources and its people. Record of the company's evolution is kept in the "Stadium", an impressive archive of Elleti Group collections. There displayed are some 15,000 garments, direct evidence of the stylistic and technological developments that have made Elleti Group an international benchmark for creativity and high quality.

"Nothing is more important to us than satisfying our clients' needs. We put all our expertise and experience at the service of their creative ideas," said Luigi Lovato, Founder and CEO of Elleti Group. "The partnership with Wiser Wash is definitely another reason to be proud, and it will set our bar even higher in guaranteeing quality, authenticity and an ever-increasing respect for the environment and our employees."

• "Dibella up" records its first big success

Aalten, "Dibella up" is bearing its first fruits. Since the launch of the recycling concept initiated in August 2020, six tons of sorted laundry items have already been returned to Dibella and converted into new ones by the company in farsighted reuse projects. The customer who has been involved in the project from the very beginning is Lamme Textielbeheer from Nederhorst den Berg. The Dutch textile service provider sees the initiative as an important measure for more appreciation of resources.

Dibella has taken the closed-loop approach of the textile service as a model and has taken a step towards a completely closed cycle with the "Dibella up" project. The system includes unlimited reuse and recycling of the fibre raw materials bound in the textiles. To this end, the company's own textile qualities, which are selected from laundries, are taken back and passed on to selected upcycling projects. Polyester-cotton blended fabrics are processed there into high-quality bags. Pure natural fibre textiles as well as blended fabrics with at least 50 percent cotton are chemically converted into an important raw material for cellulose fibre production, while the remaining polyester is still being thermally recycled for technical reasons.

Six tons of laundry from the Netherlands

Lamme Textielbeheer was immediately enthusiastic about the "Dibella up" initiative. The committed company has been involved in various Dibella sustainability projects for many years and recognises the future-oriented character of the new project. "Our will to cooperate was immediately clear after Dibella's managing director Ralf Hellmann presented the upcycling project, because we see it as an important measure for the prudent use of resources," reports Jan Lamme, managing director of the company of the same name. "Within a very short period of time, we therefore jointly started to take back our discarded, no longer usable old textiles. In this way, we have already been able to return six tonnes of laundry for a new product cycle. This corresponds exactly to our idea of upcycling!". "Dibella provides stable, reusable cartons for shipping," says a delighted Frank David, Lamme's Assistant Operations Manager. "This makes collection much easier for us and we don't have to take any means of transport out of our laundry".

Prepared for the mega-trend of recycling management

Dibella would like to build on the initial joint success and further expand the initiative for a closed textile cycle in the industry. "The awareness of sustainability is high in the textile rental service. But the next mega-trend is already emerging. The future lies in closed-loop recycling. With "Dibella up", we are offering our customers the opportunity to get involved now and make resources usable in the long term. We are happy about every new cooperation partner who appreciates the value of textiles as much as we do".

• Leading Turkish textile printing company Hamle has installed a new Monforts Thermex dyeing range as part of its ongoing strategy of continuous investment.

“Investment in new technology and capacity expansions are very important to us, in order to stay ahead in terms of sustainable, high quality production,” says general manager Gürkan Uzuner. “We carefully assess the benefits of each advanced new technology in order to thrive in a sector that is constantly changing.

“The Zara Group is a major European customer for us, along with well-known Turkish brands such as LCW and De-Facto, and it’s no accident that Çorlu, due to its proximity to Istanbul and the ease of supplying to Europe, has become the epicentre of Turkish textile production. The quality of textiles coming from the region is now very well proven.”

Integration

Hamle’s plant in Çorlu already houses a Monforts ten-chamber Montex stenter and two Monforts sanforizing ranges on which the company carries out an extensive range of finishing processes. The new Thermex range further integrates a number of processes on technology all from a single supplier. The Thermex universal hotflue for continuous dyeing, condensing and thermosoling achieves unrivalled reliability even at maximum fabric speeds, for exceptional cost-effectiveness when dyeing both large and small batches of woven fabrics. The new range installed for Hamle benefits from the Econtrol® process* for reactive dyestuffs. This is quick and economical one-pass pad-dry and wash off process, with drying in the hot flue at 120-130°C and controlled humidity (25-30% by volume) to obtain fixation in 2-3 minutes.
Econtrol® ensures excellent reproducibility of all colours, improved dye penetration on difficult fabrics and no risk of the browning of cotton or other cellulose fibres due to the low fixation temperature.

As such, it is the ideal process for fast change technology and operational savings. “The new Thermex range has some very advanced automation features which ensure our machine operators have full control over the entire system,” Mr Uzuner concludes. “ As the Monforts representative in Turkey, Neotek has been our solution partner in the installation and commissioning and has been with us every step of the way.
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* Econtrol® is a registered mark of DyStar Colours Distribution GmbH, Germany.

• Looking to the future – Frankfurt Fashion Week is positioning itself with a consistently sustainable agenda and propelling the transformation of a modern, resource-efficient fashion industry.

The Conscious Fashion Campaign (CFC), working in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), will be the presenting partner and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a prerequisite for all exhibitors by 2023. And the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit by CFC is set to become the leading international conference for sustainability in the fashion world. The future of fashion has begun – and its key players will be coming together in Frankfurt am Main from 5-9 July 2021.
 
Frankfurt am Main, 2 December 2020. Joining forces to improve the fashion industry: Frankfurt Fashion Week is positioning itself as the host of the future of fashion and actively driving forward the transformation towards a future-oriented, more sustainable fashion and textile industry. All decision-makers looking to instigate this change will be coming together in Frankfurt am Main from 5-9 July 2021. The initiators of Frankfurt Fashion Week – Messe Frankfurt and the Premium Group – have achieved a real coup: Conscious Fashion Campaign, working in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, will be the presenting partner. Messe Frankfurt will build on its collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and establish Frankfurt Fashion week as the platform on which to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and help guide the fashion industry into the 'Decade of Action'.
 
“Frankfurt will play host to the whole world. We are seeing a very positive response indeed,” confirmed Peter Feldmann, Senior Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main, at today’s digital press conference, before going on to say: “The fact that the initiators are able to rethink the concept of a Fashion Week in such a way is extremely impressive and proves that the fashion industry is correctly interpreting the signs of the present and future. The time has come for value creation and values to be reconciled. Consistent alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals is an important step in this direction.”
 
“Frankfurt Fashion Week aims to play a crucial role in finding solutions for macrosocial challenges and supporting the goals of international politics such as the European Green Deal. The fashion and textile industries are also expected to be climate-neutral by 2050. If we want to achieve this, we all need to pull together. Frankfurt Fashion Week is inviting all initiators and supporters of sustainable concepts and congresses or shows dedicated to sustainability to meet in Frankfurt, partake in discussions and make tangible decisions for the greater good. We will connect the most relevant players and pave the way for a future-proof fashion and textile industry,” says Detlef Braun, CEO of Messe Frankfurt.
 
“Given its global reach, the fashion industry is uniquely positioned to collaborate and engage on the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular on climate action and responsible production and consumption,” said Annemarie Hou, Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. “Frankfurt Fashion Week and the Summit will serve as an important platform for education and engagement of the fashion and textile industry in the Decade of Action,” emphasised Ms Hou.
 
The aim of Frankfurt Fashion Week is for all exhibitors, participants and partners to align with the Sustainable Development Goals by 2023. The SDGs will also be incorporated into all formats of Frankfurt Fashion Week. This will help to make the UN’s sustainability goals visible and tangible for the Fashion Week audience, therefore bringing its claim, goals and specific proposals for implementation to an international opinion-forming fashion and lifestyle community. During a one-day Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit presented by Conscious Fashion Campaign, topics like gender equality, clean water, climate protection, social justice and their significance for a forward-looking fashion industry will be examined in greater depth. Another point on the sustainability agenda: Frankfurt Fashion Week is launching a Sustainability Award for outstanding, innovative, sustainable design, alongside other categories with a global appeal for the fashion and textile industry.
 
"We are committed to setting the wheels of transformation in motion. Not only does the overall mindset have to fundamentally change; the entire industry also needs to have the courage to be transparent and honest. It’s important to see values and value creation as opportunities rather than contentious. We are doing what we do best: connecting the relevant players at all levels. With its ecosystem, Frankfurt Fashion Week will become the enabler. We are creating a platform that will orchestrate industry-wide change. With this as our inspiration, we are also developing our tradeshow formats from a ‘marketplace of products’ to a ‘marketplace of purpose and ideas’,” explains Anita Tillmann, Managing Partner of the Premium Group.
 
A new start in Frankfurt: In summer 2021 the entire fashion industry will be coming to the metropolis on the Main river to inform themselves, be inspired, discuss, negotiate and celebrate. “There’s a huge need to finally meet in person again, to exchange ideas and be inspired. At the same time, digital tools and formats have become an integral part of the fashion industry,” says Markus Frank, Head of the City of Frankfurt’s Department of Economic Affairs and therefore also responsible for its creative industry. “To implement such a future-oriented, all-encompassing overall concept, Frankfurt’s business and creative scenes offer an almost unique concentration of different expertise with its internationally networked agencies, universities and museums. The city’s multifaceted, high-end club, bar and restaurant scene, diverse hotel industry and internationally renowned retail landscape will become the stage for this. This network will be a key factor in the successful implementation of Frankfurt Fashion Week and the way in which it will expand into the public space as a cultural and social happening.”
 
A number of major publishing houses are also showing their commitment to the new Fashion Week in Frankfurt with conferences, events and awards: Textilwirtschaft, the leading professional fashion journal by the Deutscher Fachverlag publishing house, is moving its traditional meeting of the industry’s top decision-makers – the TW Forum, the presentation of the renowned Forum Award, as well as its subsequent conference – from Heidelberg to Frankfurt’s Palmengarten botanical gardens, and will therefore be kicking off Frankfurt Fashion Week on Sunday evening and Monday morning. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung will be hosting its traditional fashion party for the first time in Frankfurt and publishing a special edition of its FAZ Magazin on Frankfurt Fashion Week. And the ZEIT publishing group is holding its ‘UNLOCK Style by ZEITmagazin’ conference, which was established in 2014, and the ZEITmagazin Fashion Week party in Frankfurt for the first time and will dedicate the whole new issue of ZEITmagazin Frankfurt to Frankfurt Fashion Week. Condé Nast will also be involved in next summer’s Frankfurt Fashion Week with an exclusive event by GQ. And the Burda publishing house will also be represented with various event formats from its lifestyle and fashion brands.There will also be talks with SHINE  Conventions, the organiser of GLOW, about what a mutual collaboration could look like.
 
Frankfurt Fashion Week is also delighted to have the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) on board.  The FCG is theinstitution when it comes to German fashion design. It promotes designers, is committed to gaining more political relevance and strengthens the international visibility and awareness of German fashion. At Frankfurt Fashion Week, the FCG will contribute selected formats, such as its already established Fireside Chat, and a future-oriented accelerator format to support German designers.
 
“What really impresses me about Fashion Week is the whole networking aspect: the creative industries will meet the financial world and sustainability is the common denominator. The Green Finance Cluster is another project that we could link with Frankfurt Fashion Week in the future. This will provide new inspiration in the fashion industry, which will certainly extend way beyond its own horizon of Frankfurt and Hesse. After a very difficult year for the trade fair industry, the concept is an encouraging breath of fresh air,” sums up Tarek Al-Wazir, Hesse’s Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development and Deputy Minister-President of the state of Hessen.

In a roundtable discussion during the recent Innovate Textiles & Apparel (ITA) textile machinery exhibition, imogo Founding Partner Per Stenflo and representatives from a number of like-minded European companies discussed the opportunities for new spray application technologies for the dyeing and finishing sector.

These technologies can achieve tremendous savings for manufacturers compared to traditional water-intensive processes it was explained at the event, held online from October 15-30th.

Pioneer
imogo – one of the latest companies to join TMAS, the Swedish Textile Machinery Association – is one of the key pioneers in this area with its Dye-Max system. Dye-Max spray dyeing technology can slash the use of fresh water, wastewater, energy and chemicals by as much as 90% compared to conventional jet dyeing systems. This is due to the extremely low liquor ratio of 0.3-0.8 litres per kilo of fabric and at the same time, considerably fewer auxiliary chemicals are required to start with.

Obstacles
Such technologies, however, face a number of obstacles to adoption and during the ITA discussion it was agreed that 2020 has not provided the ideal climate for adventurous investors. “The textile industry is quite conservative and is definitely in survival mode at the moment and it is not the time to be a visionary,” said Stenflo. “Day to day business is about staying alive – that’s the reality for many of our customers.” Nevertheless, all of the panellists agreed that sustainable production will remain top of the agenda for the textile industry in the longer term and spray technologies for dyeing and finishing processes will be a part of it.

“Any investment in something new is a risk of course, and we have to be able to explain and convince manufacturers that there’s a good return on investment, not only in respect of sustainability, but in terms of making good business sense,” said Stenflo. “Here we could use the help of the brands of course, in putting pressure on their suppliers to be more sustainable. Governments also have a role to play, in providing incentives for producers to move in the sustainable direction. Sustainability alone will never cut it, there has to be a business case, or it won’t happen.”

Marketing
The marketing of sustainable new fibers is comparatively easy for the brands compared to explaining the difficult textile processes and the chemistries involved in fabric and garment production, he added.

“These fibers, however, currently go through all the same dirty processes that we need to get away from, so it must happen,” he said. “In developing our technologies, it has been important for us to avoid disrupting existing supply chains, stick with using off-the-shelf chemistries and dyes, and involve the dye manufacturers who are an essential part in how operations are driven today. “In fact, collaboration across the entire textile supply chain – from the brands right back to the new technology developers – is essential in moving the sustainability agenda forward.

Business models
“We are also looking into new business models in terms of how to reduce or lower the thresholds for investment and minimise the risk for the manufacturers who are looking to be the innovators,” he concluded. Also taking part in the ITA roundtable discussion were Simon Kew (Alchemie Technology, UK), Christian Schumacher (StepChange Innovations, Germany) Tobias Schurr (Weko, Germany), Rainer Tüxen (RotaSpray, Germany) and Felmke Zijilstra (DyeCoo, Netherlands).

European innovations
“It’s fantastic that all of this innovation is taking place in Europe based on established know-how and forward thinking,” said TMAS Secretary General Therese Premler-Andersson.

“Spray application technologies are a perfect illustration of how new digital technologies can lead to more sustainable production, in this case by replacing water-intensive processes with the highly precise and controlled application of dyes and chemistries as vapour.
“There was a major project by the Swedish research organisation Mistra Future Fashion recently, involving many brand and academic institute partners. The project’s Fiber Bible 1 and 2 reports conclude that it’s very difficult to make assumptions that one fiber is better than another, because it’s so much about how fabrics and garments are being produced from them. The study also found that 55% of the chemicals used in a garment comes from the dyeing. This is where a number of TMAS companies can make a difference.
“An organic or recycled cotton t-shirt is not automatically more sustainable than a conventional cotton t-shirt, or even one made from synthetics – the alternative fibers are a good start but you have to consider the entire life cycle of a garment, and that includes the smart technologies in textiles production.
“TMAS members – backed by Swedish brands and advanced research institutes – are playing an active part in pushing forward new concepts that will work, and I have no doubt that digitalisation now goes hand in hand with sustainability for the textile industry’s future.”          

• Technology, creativity and sustainability
• Recycled materials, bright colours, eclectic shapes: excellence is in the details, and the new creations by the Italian-Swiss group have plenty to say.

Mendrisio – Looking at the new Fall-Winter 2021-2022 collection of the Riri Group, it almost seems as if the difficult months to which the pandemic has forced the whole world, have been another new – though unwanted – challenge for the Italian-Swiss company. A testbed that sparked the mind and lit the fire of creativity. Therefore, today, the brand ingredient which for over 80 years has embellished the
garments designed by major fashion system brands with top-quality zips and buttons, also introduces a wide range of heterogeneous creations, intended to cover different aesthetic and functional requirements on the market.

This collection has been divided into three macro-topics; it is a new chapter in the history of the Group.

LIFE SERVING
Keyword: sustainability. Or, more romantically, “Reuse with love”. From the use of materials produced using organic waste and recycled plastics to actual destocking – the re-introduction on the market of unsold items to give them new life through a restyled shape: the topic of “life serving”, for Riri, translates into the meticulous and constant search for materials with a low environmental impact and in the committed attempt to reduce the use of plastic to a minimum. This is why the Group has decided to use recycled polyester tapes, made with new organic cotton, pullers coated with cork, created using 100% recycled plastics or rubber taken from the sole of shoes. Stainless steel – an exceptionally resistant and sturdy material, as well being subject to no galvanic treatments and highly recyclable – characterizes chains and pullers, while the Nylon zip consists of fully recycled tape and chain, and Decor introduces a new 100% polyamide version. On the button side, “life serving” includes buttons with a cork coating, the Zero button with coating made of recycled Meryl polyamide and the F4 with a 100% recycled Nylon head and the heads made of APILON 52 (rubber made of 65% vegetable oils and energy from renewable sources) coated with microfiber from the company Alcantara.

ENGINEERING
This is definitely the most rigorous yet progressive section in the collection, drawing on technological innovation and on uncertainties related to the current situation, to play with shapes, colours and materials. Between zips and buttons there is a prevalence of squared and minimal shapes, also on the tapes of the zips through sublimation and digital printing techniques. The leading colour is grey in its variation of hues, where the insertion of coloured tones sometimes stands out. The leading material, on the other hand, is metal.

OVER SHOCK
A creative topic where “exaggeration” is the keyword, a trend whose style and character somehow remind us of Gen-Z, apart from being especially suitable for outdoors. “Over state” uses the hip hop mood and settings of the Nineties, taking them to the extreme, enlarging shapes and focusing on bright and fluorescent colours such as purple, yellow, blue, orange or green. An example of this is Storm Evo, a zip which is popular in the outdoor sector for its high levels of water resistance and strength, which features a new electric blue chain and tape with reflecting side strips. Also outstanding in terms of originality is the new purple puller, with its anti-theft shape, fixed onto a fluorescent yellow chain. The perfect expression of this category are zippers such as Decor, Nylon and Aquazip, especially recommended for the outdoor sector in general.

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS: RESTYLING AND INNOVATION
All the macro-categories selected for the FW 21-22 seasons are included in some special product innovations, most notably the even more minimal and thin shapes of some buttons and the introduction of five different colours for the small synthetic ring, a real point of strength in Cobrax pressure buttons. Also the range of magnetic buttons is complemented by the addition of two extra snaps. As regards zips, the Riri Group team has been working on careful restyling of shapes, more specifically in the shapes of Decor zip bodies – ideal for the luggage industry – further improved from both an aesthetic and functional viewpoint.

On Thursday, September 24, the Lenzing Group, a leading manufacturer of wood-based cellulose specialty fibers, and Hof University opened a new Nonwoven Development Center (VEZ). As a strategic partner, Lenzing has access to a state-of-the-art development line at the campus in Münchberg with immediate effect. This offers new opportunities for sustainable fiber and nonwoven innovations for a wide range of applications including hygiene, body care and medical.

In line with the sCore TEN corporate strategy, the Lenzing Group is focusing on sustainable innovations, which are agreed in an optimum manner to the needs of the value chain. „We offer our customers and partners a decisive competitive advantage: agility. The pilot plant in the VEZ allows the resource-efficient development of fiber and nonwoven innovations on a small scale”, Jürgen Eizinger, Vice President Business Unit Nonwovens at Lenzing, explains.

The VEZ was completed according to schedule in September 2020, after Lenzing and the University of Hof signed a cooperation agreement for its use in 2019. The timing is perfect. Developments at political level, such as the directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, increase demand for responsibly manufactured nonwovens. The so-called Single-Use Plastics Directive aims at building awareness and greater transparency with regard to wet wipes and feminine hygiene products.

With its VEOCEL™ branded wood-based cellulose fibers, Lenzing has been laying the foundation for many years for sustainable nonwoven applications and will test and develop innovative ideas using the new possibilities offered by the VEZ. „We are noticing increasing interest in sustainable concepts from biodegradable cellulose fibers“, Jürgen Eizinger sums up the market development of the last months and adds: „We are aware that the fibers used have an enormous influence on the final product. For this reason our commitment goes beyond fiber production.“

With the spunlace pilot plant at the VEZ, Lenzing will support customers and partners more intensively in the development of new nonwoven applications and at the same time promote cooperation in the field of marketing. In the previous year, the company already established new certification standards for the VEOCEL™ brand. Since then certified manufacturers can only use the VEOCEL™ logo with blends of biodegradable cellulose fibers. With this measure, the VEOCEL™ brand allows consumers to make a more conscious product selection.

With its #ItsInOurHands environmental initiative, the VEOCEL™ brand also actively contributes to creating awareness. More detailed information can be obtained on itsinourhands.com.

At a total length of over 71 metres, the Montex finishing line that has just been installed by Monforts for Acafintex at its plant in Puebla, Mexico, is one of the highest capacity stenters the German technology leader has delivered to date.

Puebla is known as the epicentre of Mexico’s textile and clothing industry and is ideally placed for supplying both the USA and Europe, being three hours from the Gulf of Mexico for shipping via the Atlantic, and five hours from the Pacific coast as well.

Mexico's textile and clothing industry spans the entire production chain – from cotton growing and man-made fibre production to the manufacture of yarn, fabric, finished clothing and accessories. The industry is estimated to directly employ around 640,000 workers and to provide livelihoods for many more people indirectly. The country is a key supplier of textiles and clothing to the USA, but has faced fierce competition from China, which has until recently been the largest supplier of textiles and clothing to the US market.

However, the position of Mexico in the US import market has become more stable following the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which came into force in July this year. The country has also been a key beneficiary of the current trade war that is raging between China and the USA.

In addition, there is scope for higher sales in Mexico’s domestic market. The country has a population of 129 million people who are becoming increasingly prosperous, with a large proportion of younger people who are spending more on clothing.

Flexible operation

Founded in 1986, family-owned Acafintex operates as a commission dyehouse, finishing both knitted and woven fabrics for local companies in Mexico, in widths of between 100cm to 3.6 metres. The company is run by father and son team Don Francisco and Lic Francisco Moyano.

“We have very flexible operations for fabric finishing and also produce and sell our own fabrics for both the fashion industry and for the uniforms market,” says Don Francisco. “These days, we are increasingly finishing materials for technical textiles and for the automotive industry too. We have both local and international suppliers of both yarns and base fabrics and make sure we choose the best and most reliable sources. Exports now account for over 40% of our sales.”

European contract

With a  width of 3.8 metres, the new Monforts Montex line at Acafintex is equipped with no less than 12 double TwinAir drying chambers to meet the requirements of specific technical textiles to a European customer, in a contract secured following the company’s ISO 9001 certification in 2019. The line is equipped with an integrated heat recovery system and also benefits from an exhaust air cleaning system to ensure the most resource-efficient processing available on the market.

On the Monforts TwinAir system, the airflows above and below the fabric being dried can be regulated completely independently of each other, with Optiscan Auto-Balance fully controlling the distance between the fabric and the dryer nozzles via variable-frequency fan motors and CCD chip evaluation. As a result, the evaporation rate of the stenter and its energy utilisation are always fully optimised. Contact-free drying eliminates the possibility of fabric marking or stitch draft.

Highly-intuitive Monforts Qualitex visualisation software allows all machine functions and process parameters to be assessed and controlled easily, and thousands of article specific settings and formulations to be called up at any time – with 100% reproducible results.

In combination with an existing Montex stenter, the new line has expanded finishing capacity at Acafintex to an annual 20 million linear metres.

Modifications

“From the installation to the start-up, we were supported by a team of Monforts technicians and local representative Arnulf Thaler at Sattex here in Mexico,” says Lic Francisco. “Of course, every installation has its challenges and with such big machines we needed to modify several things inside the factory and also required certain modifications from Monforts which were all carried out successfully.”  

Forced, like much of the textile industry globally, to temporarily suspend operations at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Acafintex is now back to full production, having installed the necessary safety measures for its employees, and is anticipating a bright future.

“We are passionate about developing new materials in search of mutual benefit for both our clients and suppliers, as well as our own workforce and the environment,” Don Francisco Moyano concludes. “Investment in the latest technology like this new Monforts line plays a key role in helping us achieve our long-term goals.”