Features Archives

Protective textiles: a sunrise sector

March 13, 2023 | Features

Images full of camouflage patterns and army combat gear are seen frequently in the news, no doubt in part because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Next to weapons systems, the bullet proof gear and garments we are so used to seeing are, in fact, occupying an important place in defense procurement.

Trends in smart textiles for health and wellbeing

February 27, 2023 | Features

Smart textiles for health and wellbeing are becoming both more diverse and interconnected. Three key market segments—home healthcare, healthcare facilities and in work environments are worth noting. Home healthcare has come to dominate the wearable medical device market globally, with an estimate…

Avenues and opportunities

February 13, 2023 | Features

Recent world events as they pertain to supply chain issues, the ongoing war in Ukraine, market volatility and persisting inflation issues are underscoring the need to diversify and strengthen the manufacturing sector. While the commodity textile sector has migrated to the East in the past two or thr…

Resiliency in the face of change

January 23, 2023 | Features

Editor’s note: This month in our features we’re looking at the question, “What defined the advanced textiles industry in 2022?” I asked the Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) board chair, Amy Bircher, and the ATA 1st vice chair, Roy Chism, to respond to my questions about the industry in 20…

The year ahead in textiles

January 9, 2023 | Features

Will 2023 be the year that heralds a deglobalized, but more highly networked, textile industry? If so, what might that look like? One may look at this topic through four different lenses, starting with the supply chain, then robotics in manufacturing, 3D printing and the scalability of biotechnology…

Safe, sustainable and successful

December 19, 2022 | Features

“The U.S. health care system is responsible for an estimated 10 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions, which cause extreme weather events and contribute to worse health outcomes.” This is the sobering start to the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee report, “Health ca…

Driving sustainability in advanced textiles

December 12, 2022 | Features

The recently concluded COP-27 meeting in Sharm-El-Sheikh has affirmed the commitment of nations across the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C and has called for a rapid decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by about 43 percent by 2030, compared to the 2019 level. This means that all texti…

Building sustainability

November 28, 2022 | Features

There is an abundance of information available about sustainability that, while conveying much, it can lack clarity and simplicity. A simple and clear directive regarding sustainability is needed: if you produce something, anything, to be “sustainable” (leaving aside the social aspects for the m…

Commercialization progress

November 14, 2022 | Features

At the Advanced Textiles Conference in October in Charlotte, N.C., Anil Kircalianli, head of automation, Orbital Composites (OC), discussed the important role of textiles as a driver for sustainability, particularly in footwear design. Kircalianli argued that the company’s use of 3D printing and r…

Focus on sustainability

October 24, 2022 | Features

In the midst of the industry’s push to be more sustainable, one expert says, “There are no sustainable materials.” What Dr. Andrew Dent means is the goal for achieving circularity is to make the best choice in material (or materials) for that application. There are many variables in understand…

Category: Features