TEXTILES.ORG
Art meets utility for textile cricket shelters in Qatar
December 1st, 2023
Images: MOTOElastico/Raviv Cohen Some steel framing, shade cloth and oil paint—that seems a simple enough recipe to build shelters for cricket team members while they’re in the hot sun in Lusail, Qatar. But when handled by an artist and design studio, a simple shelter inspired by temporary spaces for construction workers is anything but ordinary. […]
Functional and fanciful fabric sculptures embrace Google building
December 1st, 2023
When Google’s Bay View campus opened in Mountain View, Calif., last year, employees entering the largest building were greeted by fabric sculptures Eddy and Shroud, designed by Jenny Sabin Studio. They stand tall in the open courtyard area, where there are collaboration spaces and cafes. The second floor contains employees’ individual workspaces. Eddy is a […]
New cars or restored classics: Automotive textiles cover it
December 1st, 2023
The textiles on floors, walls and windows in homes and commercial buildings often catch people’s attention. Now, automotive textile manufacturers and automakers are beginning to ask, Why not give people the same experience in their vehicles? Emerging trends in automotive textiles include environmentally friendly fabrics, flooring that is woven rather than tufted, and color and […]
How collaborative projects may change the future of textiles
December 1st, 2023
The North Carolina Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (NC DMCSP) serves and supports textile manufacturers on the edge of discoveries that produce innovation in advanced textiles, wearables and technologies that maximize soldier survivability, sustainability, mobility, combat effectiveness and field quality of life. The NC DMCSP is administered by North Carolina State University Industry Expansion Solutions. […]
Selling your business
December 1st, 2023
If selling a residence can be an angst-filled undertaking, how much more unsettling is the thought of selling a business, especially one you’ve poured heart, soul, money and reputation into? But as potentially nerve-wracking as the prospect may be, there are measures shop owners can take to lessen the stress and achieve their desired outcome. […]
Innovations in smart fabrics: Heating, cooling, bio-data collection and more via e-textiles
December 1st, 2023
A Loomia Electronic Layer (LEL) four-wire serpentine bus laminated onto knit fabric. The LEL was designed to be soft and flexible for use in smart textiles. Image: Loomia Technologies When is a jacket not just a jacket? When it can actually interact with the wearer’s body to warm or cool it or collect biometric information. […]
Advanced Textiles Expo: Excitement and Renewal
December 1st, 2023
With a new name and renewed enthusiasm, Advanced Textiles Expo (formerly IFAI Expo) returned to Orlando for the first time since 2019. The show boasted the highest attendance since that pre-COVID show, boosted in no small part by the return of more international exhibitors and attendees. Check out our Expo Recap here. The redesigned Emerging […]
Honda workers give the shirts off their backs
December 1st, 2023
Shredded worker uniforms find a new use in vehicles as insulation. Image: Honda Honda is working toward becoming 100% carbon neutral and using only sustainable materials and clean energy by 2050—goals that require creative recycling solutions. One initiative already in practice repurposes old worker uniforms, transforming the textiles into sound-absorbing insulation used in vehicles, keeping […]
Spiders inspire smart textile fiber spinning method
December 1st, 2023
Drawing inspiration from how spiders spin silk to make webs, a research team from the National University of Singapore has developed a simple, efficient method to produce functional soft fibers that are suitable for smart textile electronics. Images: National University of Singapore In their efforts to develop a method to create soft fibers that are […]
Modified silkworms create spider silk
December 1st, 2023
Spider silk fibers produced by genetically modified silkworms. Image: Donghua University/Junpeng Mi Production of spider silk on a commercial scale may soon be possible. Chinese scientists recently synthesized full-length fibers thanks to genetically modified silkworms. Spider silk is known for both its tensile strength and fiber toughness, and the researchers are “challenging the conventional notion […]