Shoes are hand-made from fungi
April 23rd, 2018
Engineering firm nat-2 has developed fungi footwear made of “mushroom leather” that has a vintage look and is reported to be very soft. The leather-like material is created from the trama of the tinder sponge, fomes fomentarius, which grows on dead or weak birches and beeches. The material is organic and chemical-free and the fungus gives it […]
IFAI names Schiffman new president and CEO
April 20th, 2018
The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has named Steve Schiffman, the association’s vice president of media and sales, the new president and CEO of IFAI. He will replace Mary Hennessy, who is retiring June 1, 2018, after holding the position for the last six years. Schiffman had a long and successful career in publishing before […]
U.S. Air Force selects Med-Eng bomb suit
April 17th, 2018
Med-Eng, a brand of The Safariland Group, announced that it has been awarded a five-year contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with the Med-Eng EOD 10 bomb suit to protect personnel conducting explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations. The Air Force selected the EOD 10 suit and accessories through a competitive solicitation process that required meeting […]
Ecco to make customized shoes for the masses
April 16th, 2018
Ecco and Cambridge Design Partnership will use 3-D printing technology to make on-site digital shoe customization scalable. Sports Textiles reports that the project, known as QUANT-U (quantified you), provides in minutes a digital analysis of a consumer’s foot structure, including the way that person moves. Analysis begins with a wearable sensor embedded in the soles […]
PPE market size to be worth $55.6 billion by 2028
April 12th, 2018
A recent report by Hexa Research says that the global personal protective equipment (PPE) market is slated to reach $55.6 billion by 2028. The report says growth will be due in part to the increasing awareness of employee health and safety issues coupled with rising industrial fatalities in emerging economies due to a shortage or lack of protective gear. […]
California schools promote maker initiative
April 11th, 2018
California Community College Makerspaces offer work-based learning for students. The CCC Maker Initiative, administered by Sierra College (www.sierracollege.edu), is offering internships and work-based learning experiences for students through 24 California Community College makerspaces, where students gain technical, entrepreneurial and work-ready skills sought by employers. California Community Colleges participating in the CCC Maker (cccmaker.com) initiative to […]
Biomedical textiles market could reach $14.5 billion by 2022
April 9th, 2018
The biomedical textiles market is projected to be worth $14.5 billion by 2022, growing from its 2017 value of $10.99 billion, according to a report from MarketsandMarkets. The rising number of surgeries, growing number of elderly people in the population, the high quality of biomedical textiles, and a growing need for advanced wound dressing materials are […]
How textiles get smarter
April 9th, 2018
Advanced Textiles Source was launched to provide information about the most sophisticated textiles in the industry, and, specifically, new developments and trends in materials, technologies and end products. Increasingly, I find myself talking about smart fabrics as research in this segment is expanding at an impressive rate, and breakthroughs are announced with some regularity. Part of […]
“SHIFT” from acoustic panel to shelving
April 9th, 2018
Benjamin Hubert’s London design agency LAYER will be launching a flexible, retail shelf system for Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat. The system called “SHIFT” is LAYER’s first collaboration with Kvadrat and the result of ten prototypes over a period of six months. The shelving is made from Kvadrat’s Really Solid Textile Board, a material made of […]
THREAD X Timberland collection is sustainable and “doing good”
April 9th, 2018
Timberland® has launched a line of products that use Thread International PBC Inc.’s Ground to Good™ fabric made from plastic bottles that would otherwise litter the streets and fill landfills in Haiti. According to Timberland, the Thread X Timberland collection uses a canvas fabric Thread has developed that meets or exceeds all of Timberland’s durability […]