"We’re seeing an industry that’s growing"
12/02/2019

"We’re seeing an industry that’s growing"

The (t)exodus of European spinning, weaving, and knitting manufacturers slowly began in the 70s: customers moved away, prices fell, and companies were shaken by crises. Those who were not overwhelmed by globalisation right into the 90s were eventually brought to their knees by the world economic crisis in 2008. Nevertheless, European fibres are now ‘growing’ [...] Read more...

Braided bicycle spokes
23/01/2019

Braided bicycle spokes

Bicycle spokes are usually made from stainless steel, aluminium or titanium. But a company from Chemnitz is taking a different path – and weaving ultra-light braided spokes from polyester fibres. There aren’t many cycle paths these days, where you are not overtaken by carbon bicycles that whiz past. In the sport of professional cycling, this [...] Read more...

'Fiber starters': exotic nights in the cube
20/12/2018

'Fiber starters': exotic nights in the cube

Almost everyone has slept in a tent under the stars at some time or other (in more or less comfort). But who would think of pitching their sleeping place in a museum, a cinema, or even on a bunker? This is exactly what the start-up company ‘sleeperoo’ is doing. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a [...] Read more...

What became of …?
30/10/2018

What became of …?

At Techtextil 2017, a new kind of knitted material made from basalt, which affords protection against underwater fouling on the piling for wind turbines and bridges, took home the ‘Techtextil Innovation Award’ in the ‘New Applications’ category. What became of it? “The Techtextil Innovation Award really pushed the basalt fabric,” says André Niemann, Managing Director [...] Read more...

Mist against thirst
05/09/2018

Mist against thirst

Searing temperatures and a bone dry atmosphere – the summer of 2018 in Europe was intense. There are, however, countries, where drought is normal. Morocco, for instance. Because of climate change, it has now become so hot and dry there that what little water there is has become very scarce indeed. As a result, textile [...] Read more...

Apples to wear as bags
09/08/2018

Apples to wear as bags

Apples can be peeled, chopped, pierced (by an arrow), eaten, drunk, spooned up, thrown, juggled, coloured, hung up, and so on … the list is endless. Most recently, the healthy fruit can also be worn as apple leather bags. The cultural history of the apple is also a history of unfortunate events: Hades gave one [...] Read more...

The Sound of Fibers
27/06/2018

The Sound of Fibers

The whole world knows what silence sounds like because of the song, ‘The Sound of Silence‘, by Simon & Garfunkel. This was a mega hit which made it onto the list of the 500 best songs of all time and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But it is not just silence that [...] Read more...

TechTex Equipment for the USA
09/05/2018

TechTex Equipment for the USA

According to the Textile Machinery Division of the VDMA (Association of German Machine and Plant Manufacturers), German textile machine manufacturers exported € 233 millions’ worth of textile machinery and plant to the USA in 2017. They are benefiting from the growing demand for technical textiles worldwide, which are increasingly being manufactured by machines ‘made in [...] Read more...

Dimming down dangers with fibres
11/04/2018

Dimming down dangers with fibres

Biting cold or extreme heat – humans are pretty delicate beings, who want to be protected against rough external impacts. How to minimise dangers posed by such extreme influences by using fibres, will be demonstrated by textile firms at the end of May at Techtextil North America in Atlanta, Georgia, at a special show entitled [...] Read more...

air-jet weaving machine - source: Dornier

TechTex Equipment for the USA

According to the Textile Machinery Division of the VDMA (Association of German Machine and Plant Manufacturers), German textile machine manufacturers exported € 233 millions’ worth of textile machinery and plant to the USA in 2017. They are benefiting from the growing demand for technical textiles worldwide, which are increasingly being manufactured by machines ‘made in ... Read more...

Brutal man walking under snowstorm at night lighting his way with lantern (source: Milles Studio/Fotolia)

Dimming down dangers with fibres

Biting cold or extreme heat – humans are pretty delicate beings, who want to be protected against rough external impacts. How to minimise dangers posed by such extreme influences by using fibres, will be demonstrated by textile firms at the end of May at Techtextil North America in Atlanta, Georgia, at a special show entitled ... Read more...

Zwisstex Marc Lorch

Interview Marc Lorch

High-tech fibres, future markets and his passion for textiles

Companies from the German textile, textile-machinery and garment-technology industries will be presenting their products in the ‘High-Tex from Germany’ exhibition at the Techtextil North America fair in the USA, which is being held alongside the Texprocess Americas fair. Marc Lorch, member of the board of Zwissler Holding, will be representing the companies in the role ... Read more...

Header - Source AMANN Group

As ye sew, so shall ye reap

Reinforced-concrete constructor, engine driver, baker – according to media reports, some careers are so unattractive to young people that in some places the number of apprentices has halved. Textile companies and associations also need to get some new ideas if skilled textile jobs are not to become museum pieces. Ronny Eckert Read more...

FashionSustainBerlin Alexandra Cousteau

It’s all about fleece

During Berlin Fashion Week in mid-January, Messe Frankfurt launched ‘FashionSustain’, a new conference format on the theme of sustainable textiles. The purpose of the event, which will take place twice a year in future, is to stimulate a critical discourse on the future of the fashion industry. Ronny Eckert Read more...

Ronny Eckert / Foto: Nachtwaechter

Silent Night, Holy Night

Men do it, women, too. And, if they have been drinking, a few acres of forest are likely to have been sawn down – by their snoring. An inventor on the edge of the Swabian Alb region of southern Germany aims to put a stop to the nightly deforestation with a mixture of cold foam ... Read more...

Techtextil Cleanzone 2017

Clean in the room

Dust, microbes and microparticles are about as welcome in cleanrooms as a spot on your forehead just before a first date. Materials for these rooms, therefore, need to meet the highest standards of cleanliness. This also applies to technical textiles, as the Cleanzone cleanroom trade fair demonstrated in Frankfurt am Main in October. Ronny Eckert Read more...