A May 2024 survey by the Women’s Engineering Society revealed that more than 25% of women found personal protective equipment (PPE) and apparel uncomfortable or ill-fitting.

While traditional tent styles are always popular with consumers, there also are numerous requests for new and different event venues. As a result, tent and event rental companies are constantly on the lookout for the “next big thing” to offer clients.

If serendipity is the spot where preparation meets opportunity, then Donielle Lorelli knows how to leverage these opportunities for success.

In the tent rental industry, there is no ‘tomorrow,’” Brian Richardson, president and CEO of L & A Tent & Event Rentals, Hamilton, N.J., likes to say. Once the event date arrives, rain or not, the event must go on—today.

Like everything else COVID-19 hit, the pandemic delivered a blow to workplace leadership development, says Oren Margolis, founder of Pinetree & Palm Consulting. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., the firm specializes in coaching founders, executives and high achievers to optimize performance and align personal and professional goals.

While companies in arenas ranging from jewelry to aerospace are now familiar with using 3D printing to fabricate parts and other objects, “3D printing textiles is a newer concept,” says Jack Forman, doctoral student at the Center for Bits and Atoms of the Tangible Media Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass.

Though 2024, like any year, was imperfect, it saw progress in smart textiles research, sustainability efforts and product development, especially in areas focused on solving problems in the health care space and with accessibility. For Specialty Fabrics Review’s Women in Textiles issue, we shine a spotlight on recent work done by several women-led teams in this area of the industry: in biodegradable sensors and related materials, a haptic shirt for people who are hearing-impaired, and a hospital gown and booties that monitor toddlers’ vital signs.

There’s no denying it: Metal has become popular for shading products and is taking market share from fabric. However, that doesn’t mean that fabric can’t compete. It brings qualities to the table that metal does not have.

As consumer sentiment increasingly turns toward sustainability, many textile providers are striving to make their operations and goods more eco-friendly to meet their customers’ standards. The wool industry is one of those providers taking notice, with many throughout the supply chain undertaking efforts to become more eco-conscious as well as more transparent and accountable. As a result, many have earned various certifications and applied certain standards to ensure their eco-friendly claims are legitimate and can be trusted.

In the global push to lower buildings’ carbon footprint and energy and water use, some look to blue and green roof construction. These roofs can help combat urban environmental challenges such as the heat island effect and rapid inundation of sewer systems from stormwater and are a small but growing market for geosynthetic materials.

Many consider advanced textile recycling, including chemical, enzymatic and molecular technologies, to be the path to true circularity, making waste into materials not once but repeatedly.

Traditional leadership philosophies focus on what it takes for a leader to have sway over a team, to drive toward an outcome and to create coordinated movement. These aspects of reaching a goal are critical components of leadership, but they are one-dimensional.