Sustainable options for functional fabrics

July 27, 2022  |  Advanced Textiles, Markets

A recent report from the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns about hazards caused by a projected global warming of 1.5 degrees C in the next two decades. The report emphasizes the importance of proper urban planning, infrastructure development, healthy living ecos…
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2022 Equipment Showcase

July 21, 2022  |  Features

How often do you find yourself in the middle of an arduous task and think “There’s got to be a better way”? In the textile and fabric industry over the last few years, there have been many jobs and processes that technology has simplified or even automated to make life easier. 
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Company pays towns for used textiles

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

The town of Bow, N.H., will soon join 17 other communities in the Northeast, in a program that pays the town to let a company pick up used clothing, textiles and shoes at people’s homes so they can be reused rather than trashed.
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Spider silk replica made from brewed protein

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

Spider silk is incredibly strong—five times stronger than steel—and it has been used in far-ranging applications, including wear-resistant lightweight clothing, ropes, parachutes, biodegradable bottles, surgical bandages and more.
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Improving the design of soft, assistive wearables

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have devised a scalable pipeline to computationally design and digitally fabricate soft pneumatic actuators. Called “PneuAct,” it has resolved the challenge with soft robotics, which have required manual desi…
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Ionic skin could improve prosthetic devices

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

Researchers have worked to build a smart skin that can mimic the sensing capabilities of natural skin, but until now, this has been elusive. A team of scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have had success with ionic skins made of flexible, biocompatible hydrogels that use ions to c…
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Modular sneakers are renewable

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

Portuguese industrial designer Diogo Pimenta has launched a three-part modular sneaker called LAYERS, designed to support the circular economy. Its consumption model is based on two complementary loops that are similar to biological cycles in nature: an increased product life with customization, and…
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Spun yarn adds stretch

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

DuPont has announced that JP Modatex India and DuPont Biomaterials are launching a new spun yarn collection made with a blend of natural fibers and DuPont™ Sorona® staple fibers. The collection brings together linen and partially plant-based Sorona® fibers to create spun yarns for apparel with s…
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Insulating material inspired by squid skin

July 1, 2022  |  Swatches

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have invented a new insulation material inspired by cephalopod (squid) skin. The innovation is an infrared-reflecting metallized polymer film developed in the laboratory of Alon Gorodetsky, UCI associate professor. The composite material regu…
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State of the Industry 2022

July 1, 2022  |  Features, State of the Industry

How did textile and fabric manufacturers survive the global pandemic? How do supply chain issues and labor shortages continue to be a problem? What markets are manufacturers looking to expand into, and how do they plan to get there? Which trends will have the biggest impact on the industry in the ne…
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