Updated: 8/7/2015 3:26:33 PM
Dimensions — The theme for the upcoming trend directions at SPINEXPOTM Shanghai and New York
The concept of dimensions looks at the hybrid of fashion and active as well as textures and textiles, from stretch, papers and metals, to lace, leather and plastics, rejecting nothing. It manifests itself in different contrasts from fabrics that are strong and hold their form to others that flow and move. Whether knitted, woven, molded or bonded, they are used together to create a brand new aesthetic that provokes new thinking and adds personality.
We highlight compact yarns with stretch, smooth plasticized finishes, tape yarns that are both dimensional yet liquefied, shining, pearlized and metallized; technical performance yarns highlighting advancements in fibres and finishings.
Knitwear Looks Backward to Move Forward
The conventional approach to knitwear development starts with the designer’s sketches and then moves forward through the supply chain beginning with fibre and yarns and finally to garment production.
That’s starting to change. As the industry looks for ways to add value and newness, forward thinking leaders and innovators are actually rethinking the entire product development process.
“We are looking at design from an entirely new point of view. Instead of designing a collection and then sourcing the yarns, now we are starting with the yarn and exploring what we could do with it. The fashion is actually evolving from the yarn, instead of the other way around,” explains Eva de Laat, product developer of SPINACTIVE for SPINEXPO. “We are looking at how we can expand the role of the machinery in the product development process and explore more combinations of manufacturing techniques with the yarns to spark new ideas.”
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This is driving a tighter relationship between all members of the supply chain – from the spinners to the knitters through to the buyer.
Increasingly, both the yarns and the machinery are equally important and there is new creative direction coming from combining these two elements. At the forefront of this movement is Santoni, the Italian circular knitting machinery expert. Santoni is now investing heavily in exploring how to expand the capabilities of their machines.
The role of technology (machinery) is being balanced by a strong crafts influence, equally important to today’s consumer. SPINEXPO has collaborated with BaliLab, an Indonesia-based textile research studio that specializes in developing exclusive designs for the high-end market. The studio has strong expertise in hand crafting techniques that are the keys to creating unique, personalized apparel. This collaboration brings one more dimension to the comprehensive trend and innovation forums at SPINEXPO.
Focus on activewear spinners
Circular knitting and seamless constructions are at the core of the activewear developments: what started with a focus on apparel has now expanded into socks and legwear thanks to yarns from Shanghai Tiqiao Group. Thermal properties are becoming increasingly sought after for intimate apparel and socks. To meet this market demand, Tiqiao has developed ‘Snugcare’, a new yarn that has thermal regulation properties and is anti-bacterial as well.
The core ingredient in Snugcare is ‘Coral’, a special ingredient developed by Tiqiao that has an expanded surface area and thus allows for greater moisture absorption that in turn helps the wearer to feel warmer.
Shanghai Galaxy Metallic Yarn is far more than a metallic yarn spinner. They are proud to say that “they come from Japan”, and have an advanced laboratory for quality testing and development of new products. They have become an important supplier of many activewear top-level brands and can reply to demands for anti-oxidation films, anti-friction films, matt, formaldehyde-free films. They are capable of slitting metallic film into filaments 1/254” in width and combining them with viscose, nylon and pure silk, producing extremely soft metallic yarns.
Shanghai Hywell Fibre Industry has cleverly created multi-functional and elastic core spun yarns for flat or circular knitting. The company uses Invista’s T-400, Coolmax and Thermolite fibres and combines them with natural fibres to create yarns that have thermal properties, as well as better shape retention. Hywell is now bringing these developments into yarns that can be used to make shoes.
Formosa Nylon‘s new developments focus on new stretch properties in yarns. Stretch is now a must-have property in almost all apparel. Formosa Nylon has worked on developing new yarns with enhanced stretch and recovery. Their Novar yarn offers high elasticity, even colours, zero knots and has a natural hand feel.
SPINEXPOTM SHANGHAI
1-3 September 2015
The Shanghai World Expo Convention & Exhibition Centre
SPINEXPO Website: www.spinexpo.com
SPINEXPO Blog: www.spinexplore.com
Visitor can pre-register on the Web. The show is open to business professionals and the trade. Admission is free-of-charge.
Authority in Charge: China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC)
Sponsor :China Textile Information Center (CTIC)
ISSN 1003-3025 CN11-1714/TS
