Smart fabric markets show steady growth

October 7, 2015  |  Industry News, News

IFAI’s market research manager Jeff Rasmussen says that the worldwide smart fabrics market is growing at an annual rate of about 8 percent from about $984 million in 2011 to a projected $1.9 million in 2015. Rasmussen’s presentation on “Current Developments in the Smart and Interactive Fabrics…
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Outdoor brand bags balloon fabric

October 1, 2015  |  Projects

A client of True Mountain, an outdoor apparel manufacturer in Preston, Lancashire, U.K., asked for a promotional item for a trail running group. Company founders Tim Butcher and Jojo Burns created a shoe bag to separate dirty trail shoes from clean gear in a kit bag, but the waterproof fabric they t…
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Breaking from tradition

October 1, 2015  |  Features, Graphics, Markets

Game-changing shifts in the flexible substrate printing market prove the rules are changing in the growing graphics industry. It’s not news that fabric graphics are booming. Thanks to continuing advances in technology, printing on flexible substrates has experienced reliable growth for years. More…
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Printing possibilities

October 1, 2015  |  Graphics, Markets

More technology There are two main parameters that shops look at when they’re investing in printers: print quality and speed. Both have been improving markedly. In recent months, Rainier Industries has been upgrading to Durst Rhotex’s P10/P12 series of direct-to-fabric printers. Scott Powell, ma…
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Rooms with a view

October 1, 2015  |  Projects

The Sacred Valley of the Incas, near Cusco, Peru, has been carved by the Urubamba River, fed by numerous rivers pouring from adjoining valleys and gorges. The Incas were drawn to the valley by its spectacular geography, climatic qualities and suitability for maize (corn) production. Archaeological r…
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Mad Max Hybrid promotes F1 racing

October 1, 2015  |  Projects

The Lotus F1 Team, a British Formula 1 racing team based in Enstone, Oxfordshire, joined forces with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop a new machine for the post-apocalypse—the Mad Max Hybrid. The vehicle, complete with front-mounted spikes, huge off-road tires, flame throwers and a sprinkling of m…
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Making the rounds

October 1, 2015  |  Business, Features

Textile waste is gaining new life through closed-loop processes, creating more products (and some profits) in more industries. Forty-five years ago, Kermit (the frog) lamented, “It’s not easy bein’ green.” Environmentally speaking, it still may not be easy, but it’s becoming less difficult…
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An (almost) silver lining

October 1, 2015  |  Projects

Cracks or leaks in old cast-iron pipelines allow sewage to seep into groundwater, roots that grow and expand, costly waste of clean water and, eventually, expensive environmental, public infrastructure or property damage. The Pine Grove Resort in northern Wisconsin had a deteriorated cast iron sewer…
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Demand + supply = prevail

October 1, 2015  |  Awnings & Canopies, Business, Features, Management, Markets, Perspective, Tents

Robert Cole brings decades of experience and common sense to the time-honored but always evolving economic model of supply and demand. One of the great things this industry has to offer is the quality of its suppliers,” says Robert Cole, IFAI Honored Life Member (HLM) and owner of Goodwin-Cole, Sa…
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Thriving on innovation

October 1, 2015  |  Advanced Textiles, Features, Markets

Success in medical and biomedical textiles markets requires established expertise and a long-term commitment. If you want to talk about today’s medical textiles markets, it’s necessary to go beyond the end product—and even the finished textile—and look at what goes into making that textile. …
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