Welcome to Advanced Textiles Source, published by the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). Our goal is to be the source for relevant, engaging and timely content in an attractive and easily consumable format.
There is a place to fill in the advanced textiles world between tightly focused and highly technological information, and general consumer news about new technologies and products. Just as IFAI’s flagship magazine, Specialty Fabrics Review, covers all technical textiles markets for end-product manufacturers, this site will cover the range of advanced textiles markets.
The difference, beyond our focus on advanced textiles exclusively, is that these markets function somewhat differently and require a more inclusive approach to give an accurate picture of what’s happening in those markets: end product manufacturers, suppliers of the fabric, developers of the technology, and so forth. There is a larger story in every market area—from ballistics to smart textiles, thermal control to medical products—that requires reaching beyond specific applications.
Synthesizing all this information, having it make sense for anyone interested in advanced textiles, and presenting it in an appealing format, that’s our job. Whether you’re an expert in a specific area of this industry or someone new to the subject who’s intrigued by the possibilities, we’re talking to both of you—and everyone in between.
Each month we’ll feature a particular topic—the first issue has a special focus on carbon fiber—but we’ll be adding new information to the site constantly. Additionally, each section of the site will be updated monthly with articles on new products (“What’s New”), innovations that stretch interpretations of what is possible (“Out There”) sustainability issues (“Econote”) and “Industry News.”
But we hope you will do more than read, listen and watch; we want you to enjoy participating, too. Send us your thoughts and ideas, comment on our articles and on the comments of others, share your product and project information, company news and links. Let’s engage each other all along the continuum, from the “what if” to the end consumer. That will make for an exciting venture, and we hope you’ll be a part of it.