Exhibit showcases fashion designs that change with movement

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

Art, dance and architecture meet haute couture in the exhibit “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses” at Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Paris, France. The exhibit features the work of Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, who is known for blending technology, such a…
Read More
AI enables customization of enzymes to recycle plastic waste

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

The first garment made with the biologically recycled polyester process by Protein Evolution Inc., a “parachute” parka, was on display at the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at designer Stella McCartney’s sustainable innovation …
Read More
Fun-filled felt furniture made from factory remnants

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

In an effort to repurpose industrial textile waste before it hits a landfill, the Toronto, Ont., Canada-based furniture design company Stackabl, in partnership with select New York designers, has created colorful, customizable lines of high-end merino wool felt furniture and lighting. The company’…
Read More
Spun-fiber device made for children with heart valve disease

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

Researchers at the Wyss Institute and Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are developing an implantable heart valve that grows with a child, called FibraValve. The concept would mean fewer invasive surgeries for children with damaged heart valves, for exampl…
Read More
Mattress uses AI to improve sleep quality

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

DeRUCCI, a furniture brand sold worldwide and headquartered in Dongguan, China, released the DeRUCCI T11 Pro Smart Mattress, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to track sleep metrics and automatically adjusts to ensure the user gets a good night’s sleep. 
Read More
FiberTect wipe tested for “dry” chemical decontamination

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

A nonwoven wipe invented in the Texas Tech University lab of professor Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D., for use by the military in liquid and gaseous chemical decontamination is now being evaluated by the U.S. Army for its potential use in dry decontamination efforts.
Read More
New fabric decontaminates itself

March 1, 2024  |  Swatches

Rice University researchers have created a material that could enhance personal protective equipment (PPE)—a composite textile that decontaminates itself, killing at least 99.9% of coronaviruses.
Read More
The happiness effect at American Tent

March 1, 2024  |  Features, Perspective

Tony Ehrbar, owner and CEO of American Tent LLC, in Green Bay, Wis., didn’t realize he wanted to be an entrepreneur until he was 32. Burned out from years of consulting work and dissatisfied with corporate life, he was inspired to take on a new professional challenge after watching an episode of S…
Read More
AI saves businesses time, but it needs to learn physics

March 1, 2024  |  Features

Although computers have been working with large amounts of data since their inception, they can’t learn or reason like humans. They follow code instructions to perform a task. Artificial intelligence (AI) computing differs from rote programming in that the algorithms are training the computer to l…
Read More
Fabric structures provide crucial support in disasters

March 1, 2024  |  Features

Used for wedding celebrations, birthday parties, graduations, festivals and other events, fabric structures and tents serve a variety of lighthearted purposes. But these products also have a serious side, such as when they’re deployed for disasters, for humanitarian relief, for military operations…
Read More