Textiles and Nonwovens

Fashion Design Council of India unveiled the 12th edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) on 15 October, ushering a new season of refreshed colour pallets, clothing construction and of course many new talents on schedule, of course, which was a day later than the other fashion week, Delhi Fashion Week (DFW), organized by a breakaway group of designers. While the Delhi Fashion Week had its stars and a stronger-than-initially-expected line-up, in totality, the balance of big names has stayed with the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. Read more…

The complete sector of textile processors is once again experiencing radical changes. Around the world, production locations are being newly organized. Energy costs have risen and labor costs in some low-wage countries have also risen significantly. At the same time the sector is counting on more flexibility and productivity within the whole production chain, from suppliers to distribution. The trend toward individualization is accompanied by an increased awareness of quality. Protection of the environment and its resources as well as social responsibility, are further important topics for the whole sector.

Production closer to sales locations are becoming more important Read more…

Fashion designers often look to the past for inspiration, and not just at styles but at fabrics. Francisco Costa, the creative director of the Calvin Klein Collection for women, is among those who have browsed at Antiktex Ltd., a Manhattan company at 990 Avenue of the Americas, at 38th Street, that sells old textiles.

Neatly arranged on floor-to-ceiling shelves are boxes with some 300,000 samples of antique and vintage fabrics, many of them in pieces as small as an index card, others yards in length. Read more…

The sun was out in the capital for the annual Wellington Cup horse race at Trentham on Saturday.

But it wasn’t all about the horses - fashionable glitz and glamour off the field turned heads too.

Raceday means fashion and one particular accessory has stood out this year - the fascinator. Read more…

India is now a fast emerging market inching to reach half a billion middle income population by 2030. All these factors are good for the Indian textile industry in a long run. Even though the global economic crisis seams to be worsening day-by-day, as long as economies are emerging and growing as those in South and South East Asia, textile industry is here to grow provided it takes competition and innovation seriously. Read below to have an insight of the stand of the Indian Textile Industry in the economy.

Where Does the Indian Textile Industry Stand Now? Read more…

The New York decorator Katie Ridder spends Augusts in Mishaum Point, Mass., a seaside town with not a lot of action, she said. So each year she and her children find a project: one summer, they quilted; another, they made shell necklaces. Two years ago, they began to design wallpaper, an ambitious endeavor that stretched beyond the summer vacation. “It was a very slow process,” Ms. Ridder said, “because I’m not an artist.” (Some would dispute that: her painterly interiors have an exotic Moorish flavor with many handmade elements, like stenciled walls and block-print fabrics.) Read more…

The colorful, abstract patterns of Amy Helfand’s rugs are usually derived from nature. But for her latest collection, Ms. Helfand, an artist and designer in Red Hook, Brooklyn, took her inspiration from the “prayer flags at Buddhist temples and hanging from trees” that she photographed during a recent trip to Nepal, where her rugs are manufactured. (She also researched Himalayan vegetation after her trip.)

Bits and pieces of these images are silhouetted in the new patterns, including Prayer and Garland. Read more…

BIR | As in many of the other commodity sessions in Düsseldorf, failures to comply with contractual agreements were highlighted at the BIR Textiles Round-Table. Honorary President Klaus Löwer of Germany-based Hans Löwer Recycling GmbH insisted: “People need to adhere to contracts. Compromises must be found. Unethical behaviour ultimately leads to a dead end.”

Turning his attention to market developments in the USA, Mr Löwer said there is no lack of originals but sorters are “still complaining of price levels that are too high”; meanwhile, a significant proportion of US sorting capacity has shifted to other countries such as Canada and Mexico. And in Asia, Japanese sorters are also worried about the high price of originals while insufficient collection volumes have been prompting South Korea to import non-sorted textiles from Japan, reported Mr Löwer. Read more…

Methods of wet application of finishes on fabrics are mostly either by exhaustion techniques or by padding concentrated solution and depend on the substrate and the feasibility of adopting either of the processes. Applications by foam applicator by spray techniques are common in the case of made up garments.

Whereas padding method of application is feasible for all softeners, exhaust method of application is possible only where the softener has good substantivity. However high substantivity could cause tailing in a pad box application and requires to be controlled - discussed under padding method of application. Read more…

Unifi, Inc. (NYSE: UFI) continues to expand its REPREVE brand product offering with the launch of REPREVE polyester staple fiber. REPREVE polyester staple fiber is made from 100% recycled materials for use in spun yarns, including Open-End, Ring and Jet Spun.

Leveraging the knowledge and experience gained from the development and commercialization of REPREVE polyester and nylon filament products, Unifi is now able to offer a first quality 100% recycled polyester staple fiber. The new REPREVE product is designed to provide the industry with a reliable recycled staple fiber source that can be used as a “drop-in” replacement for fabrics and products currently made with virgin polyester staple fibers or other eco-friendly products. Read more…