The long road to smart fabric standards

December 11, 2023  |  Features

“Smart textiles” that utilize specialized polymers, chemical additives or electronics to react with their environment are changing textile technology in the 21st century. E-textiles or “wearables” have been particularly promising due to their ability to monitor and communicate data to provid…
Read More
Building on NASA’s storied history

November 27, 2023  |  Features

NASA has a long history of backing the research necessary to deliver fabrics that could withstand the extraordinary rigors of Space. Evelyne Orndoff is the Soft Goods Development and Testing Lead, Crew and Thermal Systems Division, for NASA. In her presentation at the Emerging Technologies Conferenc…
Read More
Taking on the wearables challenges

November 13, 2023  |  Features

The Emerging Technologies Conference, part of the Advanced Textiles Association’s annual Expo, revealed the diversity in advanced textiles’ markets and applications and tackled big questions that need answers to move this segment into the future that many envision. As much as it appears exciting…
Read More
Bioagents and textiles

October 23, 2023  |  Features

Medical and military needs are coming together in a shared requirement for fabrics that offer protection against biological threats in medical environments and, for warfighters, the threat posed by chemical warfare. The challenges faced are complex; rotection against multiple agents could be needed,…
Read More
Small solutions – big impact

October 9, 2023  |  Features

In a Q & A format, researcher Vikram Iyer, Ph.D., University of Washington. His work, he says, “takes an interdisciplinary approach to connect ideas between different engineering domains and biology to build end-to-end wireless systems that push the boundaries of technology with particular foc…
Read More
Successful innovation with 2PS  

September 25, 2023  |  Features

The textiles sector Is feeling the pressure of low demand and higher costs due to global inflation and geopolitical circumstances. A survey undertaken among 250 participants in a recent meeting organized by the Texas Cotton Association revealed that the demand for non-essentials like textiles is low…
Read More
Collaborations benefit warfighters—and consumers

September 11, 2023  |  Features

The North Carolina Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (NC DMCSP), administered by NC State University Industry Expansion Solutions, is disrupting the performance and functionality that once defined the traditional textile industry. With more than 40 percent of U.S. textiles produced in …
Read More
Renewed vitality in domestic manufacturing

August 28, 2023  |  Features

Since the pandemic, the world economy has been run by anomalies. With a strong labor market, one normally expects higher demand in daily nonessentials such as clothing, home textiles and home accessories; the financial reports of major retailers, such as Walmart and Canadian retailer Loblaws, show t…
Read More
Concerns about chemicals 

August 14, 2023  |  Features

The chemicals used on many textiles are impacting apparel in concerning ways across the globe. In her book released in June 2023, To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick and How We Can Fight Back, journalist Alden Wicker discusses the hazards certain chemicals pose for human health. In an in…
Read More
The challenge of making sustainable footwear

July 31, 2023  |  Features

A single method to calculate and mitigate the negative environmental impact of footwear is much needed. The European Commission is promoting the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), designed to offer a single method to calculate, and perhaps as important, to communicate the environmental performan…
Read More