Part One — Trends in Fiber/Yarns 

Sandy Kitto, Account Executive, Southern Exposure, Inc.

• Fibers and yarns are being reinvented to meet current market needs. The activewear market is quick to grab onto new technologies.
  • Smart yarns accomplish
  • Moisture Management
  • Odor Control
  • Enhance muscle performance
• Fibers and yarns can offer multiple combinations of aesthetics and innovations
• Strongest fiber/yarn trends throughout the U.S. market and worldwide
  • Eco-friendly yarns – Yarns that are friendly to the environment.
    • Repreve® - Polyester and Nylon textured yarns, made by Unifi that are 100% post-consumer recycled bottles, which are 3rd party certified.
    • 90% of inquiries at Unifi involve sustainable yarns.
    • Two types of 100% recycled materials include pre-consumer reclaimed waste and post-consumer waste (plastic soda bottles). These products look and perform the same as the virgin polyester and nylon yarns, but without using crude oil as a raw material.
    • Eco yarns are most prevalent in the outdoor, home furnishings, and swimwear markets.
    • Other popular eco trademark names include: EcoCare® - Nilit, EcoSpun®- FilSpec, and Repreve® - Unifi.
    • Other important eco-friendly yarns include organic cotton and Tencel®.
    • Eco-friendly yarns haven't gained a foothold in the fashion market as yet.
• Fibers and yarns offer interest/contrast to the fabric
  • Sheen – Fabrics with a sheen incorporate yarns that are referred to a "bright" yarns. These fibers/yarns can be used to create a pattern or highlight a texture.
  • Dyeability properties – Different yarn types dye differently, and can be used to create interest. Also, different dyestuffs take color differently, and can be used to create heathered looks, or other interesting effects.
  • Blending – By blending fibers together into one yarn, different properties/characteristics can be created.
    

Part Two — Trends in Knit Fabrics 

Barbara Montz, Owner, Marketing by Design

• Companies are using technology that is currently available, but they're using it in different ways to create new fabric looks and textures.
• Companies have found it necessary to be more creative with the technologies that they currently have, because of increased raw materials costs.
• Companies no longer have the funding to create lines. But, they have found that customer relationships/partnering can create new developments that people want to buy.
• Companies have fount that utilizing efficiency on the cutting room table can avoid waste.
• Montz encouraged manufacturers to think of the entire fabric manufacturing process, and working with their suppliers to develop better efficiencies.
• Montz discussed what her individual mills were doing to be more creative, all the while remaining efficient.
  • Glenoit – This company makes a pile fabric from fiber (called sliver), rather than using a yarn to make the fabric. The design in the pile fabric is engineered by the placement of different fibers in certain areas of the fabric.
  • Lafayette Textiles – This company has been very creative in developing interesting burnout effects. One interesting development utilizes a double-sided fabric, made with a different fibered fabric on each side, and then using the burnout finishing process to create an interesting look. Another interesting effect, created by Lafayette, uses a burnout on a double-sided jersey fabric to make it look like a jacquard pattern. Lafayette uses polyester/rayon or polyester/cotton fabrics in its burnout finishing process to create patterns on the fabric.
  • GreenSpun – This sustainable manufacturer uses post-manufacturing waste from the cutting room floor, which is cut up, spun into new yarns, and then knit into fabrics.
  • Manoir – This sustainable fabric manufacturer has utilized textured fabrics with slubs/nubs, over-dyed it or burned it out to create a new look.
• Montz stressed the importance of using garment dyeing, specific placement of fibers in fabrics, and the use of enhance fabric treatments/washes to create interesting/new fabric looks.
• Current trends include: texture, color, and slubs/nubs. Montz encouraged the attendees to think about what can be done differently to differentiate your fabrics.
  
  

Part Three — Trends in Woven Fabrics 

Howard Bobis, Friday Fabrics

• Recycled – Friday Fabrics' mills create interesting fabric looks by utilizing cuttings from all over the world to make new fabrics.
• In the high-end fabric market, manufacturers are less concerned about prices, because they create fabrics for such famous designers as Karl Lagerfeld.
• Price-points of high-end fabrics with the type of yardage, but the major focus is all about fashion.
• The Italians can finish their fabrics with permanent creases, crinkles, and wrinkles.
• Friday Fabrics has 200 different fabrics from Korea---every fabric is a different weight with a different finish.
• High-end fabric manufacturers utilize high-speed looms for weaving interesting aesthetics into the fabrics and creating a greater variety of designs and colors.
• There are hand-embroidered silks and linens with beads and sequins, which are made in India, China, and Korea.
• There are woven fabrics that contain pleats, long fringe, foiling, utilizing novel wash treatments and unique printing treatments. Many novelty treatments are done on the loom during the actual weaving process.
• According to Bobis, manufacturers in China have no fashion sense, but they can copy anything. All the sophisticated jacquard looms are located in China.
• Bobis said that Friday Fabrics tries to assist its customers in a variety of ways. Some interesting services have included creating interesting yarn-dyed fabrics, weaving metal into the fabric, and creating interesting textures (i.e. fabrics with holes, fringe, etc.)
  

Part Four — Trends in Dying & Finishing

Ted Kronfli, sales executive, Antex Knitting

• Dyeing/finishing is the last stop that a fabric needs to go through before it is sold.
• The chemistry that dyers/finishers use everyday has to be right.
• Dyeing/finishing is chemistry applied to textiles. The technology in this area is expanding every year. The yarns, fabrics, as well as the customer has a lot to do with what dyeing/finishing companies do to a fabric during this final process.
• Surface finishing is something that a fabric manufacturer does to change the look of the fabric (i.e. brushing, sueding, and embossing).
• Kronfli classifies the technology used in creating burnouts can be referred to as the "mad scientist" at work, because the process is conducted by burning the fabric with acid. For example, in a poly/cotton burnout, the cotton portion of the fabric is burned out. Prints and wash-out effects can be created with the use of acid, leaving a design or washed look. A two-color burnout can be created using a poly/cotton fabric, and then the fabric can also be printed on top to create an even more interesting effect.
• The advancement of the technology in dyeing/finishing comes through improvements in the chemistry.
• The objective of and antimicrobial finish is to control the microbes in the fabric, which eliminates odor. Some of these treatments last for 5 washes, while others last for 20 washes. The length of the numbers of washes depends on the price of the fabric.
• UV protection can be achieved through the yarn or in the finish. UV protection at the yarn level will last longer than if it's done at the fabric level.
• The biggest garment technology occurs during the dyeing process.
• Fabric technology in dyeing/finishing demands the use of a laboratory. The technology of testing has become increasingly complicated.
• Wicking technology is the ability of a fabric to absorb moisture, spread the moisture over the fabric surface, and then evaporate quickly.
• There is also 100% fire-resistant cotton currently being developed for military use.
• Technology within the dyeing/finishing process has changed fashion.
  

Part Five — Audience Questions

• Are there different levels of warmth for fleece fabrics?
• How do you destimate the yield after finishes are added to the fabric?