In her latest ‘Expert Opinion’ column for Innovation in Textiles, Debra Cobb says:

“Combining historical references with a high-tech future, juxtaposing urban living with nature and the elements, and seeking adventure whilst yielding to emotion, a new generation of compact, dense, and tactile fabrics incorporated surprising technical aspects, developing a new relationship between fashion and active sportswear. This was achieved via all manner of woven, knit, and assembled double cloths which displayed a new level of technical know-how, allowing fabrics to express dual personalities.”

Debra reports that on show were ‘techno-fashion hybrid fabrics’, ‘super stretch laminated scuba fabrics’, ‘carapace (French) fabrics’ , ‘breathable “Thermique” soft shell fabrics’, and a whole raft of other high-tech offers. More

UK merger

Meanwhile back in the UK, two of the longest established names in the UK fibre and fabric processing industries have merged to create a new Cheshire, North West England, based business which will provide complete downstream machinery solutions to the international performance textiles, automotive and aerospace industries.

High tech creel manufacturer Texkimp has joined forces with Web Processing, the prepreg, coating and laminating specialist recently acquired by Texkimp’s parent company Cygnet Group, to form Cygnet Tex-Web. More

Skills support for UK textiles and clothing

In the meantime the UK government has announced £2.3 million of ‘in principle’ support for a new textile and clothing skills programme jointly led by Bolton headquartered technical textiles organisation NWTexnet and the Huddersfield based Textile Centre of Excellence.

The announcement comes after the first round of the ‘Employer Ownership of Skills’ initiative invited companies in England to design more effective ways to improve skills in the workforce to drive productivity and growth.

Textile and clothing businesses across England joined forces to create a proposal to increase employer leadership, commitment and investment in skills. Of the £2.3 million industry contribution to the project, NWTexnet companies have a 50% stake. More

Advanced yarn dyeing

A new advanced Thies yarn dyeing installation in the UK went from the drawing board to full production in just six months. The first dedicated yarn dyeing plant to be installed in the UK for many years is now fully operational at Park Valley Dyers in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire; featuring a complete Thies dyeing installation. According to Thies it stands as a shining example of a lean and efficient 21st Century operation, run by just six employees already achieving output of 25 tons of dyed yarn a week – and with virtually zero waste. More

Employee ownership

In the field of industrial textiles forward thinking Scottish manufacturer is planning to put ownership of its business into the hands of its employees. Scott & Fyfe Limited, the Tayport based technical textiles manufacturer has announced it will transform itself into an employee owned company. The business is currently owned by the Tough family.

In 1864 Mr Scott & Mr Fyfe started a linen works in the town and the company is now one of the few survivors of the Tayside jute industry. Scott & Fyfe reinvented itself in the 1960s through the early replacement of jute with polypropylene and ongoing commitment to reinvestment in the latest technologies under the chairmanship of Hamish Tough who retired from the company in 2009. More

Let the games begin

Elsewhere in Europe, just weeks after the closing of the Olympics, Nike has been granted an interim injunction by a German court against adidas for patent infringement by adidas’ adizero Primeknit shoe which it released in July on the eve of the London games. The patent or patents in question protect Nike’s revolutionary Flyknit shoe range which sport seamlessly knitted uppers produced on Stoll flat knitting machines. More

Rise of Cosmetotextiles

In a two part feature, Debra Cobb recently took an in depth look at the world of textiles which deliver cosmetic benefits and concludes that there is potential for cosmétotextiles to go beyond beauty and deliver wellness, therapeutic, and medical benefits.

Cosmetic textiles, an industry that has grown along with consumer interest in wellness and well-being, currently includes a wide range of microencapsulated ingredients such as aloe vera, vitamin E, retinol, and caffeine, said to offer moisturising, firming, or slimming benefits. The next generation of cosmétotextiles could potentially go beyond beauty, utilising innovative new methods to deliver medical, anti-aging, and stress-relieving benefits through apparel textiles and other products. More