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WSA Rethinking business as usual

The broad concept known as Industry 4.0– considered a fourth industrialrevolution to follow steam, the internalcombustion engine and informationtechnologies – covers a vast array of

innovative processes and machines that areimpacting the textile and garment industriesalong with many others. Behind the hypebuilding up around automation and artificialintelligence, it can be argued that examples ofthe factory of the future are already in operation.One case could be Cifra, an Italian company

specialising in seamless warp knitting. Based inVerano Brianza near Milan, it first madeagrotextiles before changing course to makefancy hosiery. In 1997, it embarked on yetanother new direction. This was the year thatJapanese fashion designer Issey Miyake createdA-POC, an acronym for A Piece Of Cloth. Theconcept was based on a single roll of tubular knitfrom which a consumer could cut out severalitems of clothing (tops, gloves, socks, skirts andothers). When Cifra chief executive, CesareCitterio, discovered this innovative approach togarment design, he believed he couldindustrialise the process invented by Mr Miyake.More than 20 years later, Cifra has developed

and patented a knitting technique it calls WarpKnit Seamless (WKS) that makes seamless itemsof clothing at a fast pace. The company hasrecently placed an order for a twenty-eighth KarlMayer raschel double-needle bar jacquard warpknit, adding to its production capacity of 10,000

After tapping the athleisure trend, Italian millCifra, a key partner of companies includingLululemon and MAS Holdings, is now seekingto develop products for men.

WKS-Cifra

Innovation in technology and work processes is disruptingthe traditional sequence of events that bring aproduct from idea to market. The need to reducelead times is driving a trend that is alsoopening the way to new business models.

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garments per day. From Lululemon to Armani,major sports and fashion brands are keycustomers. “The process we have developed isvery flexible and is akin to tailor-made massproduction,” Mr Citterio tells WSA. As anadditional “green” perk, he says the technologygenerates little waste.Cifra’s WKS technology can be used to make

sophisticated body-mapped clothes, shapewearand compression wear because the garmentshave few or no seams. Looking to expandbeyond bodywear and baselayers, the companyis looking to develop mid-layers and soft shells.It works with many high-tech yarns, includingfibres made by Fulgar, Nilit and Aquafil. Nylondominates its production line, but Mr Citteriowould like to increase its range of natural fibres,especially merino wool. Men’s clothing isanother market he intends to develop, aswomen’s clothing makes up 90% of thecompany’s current business.While Cifra is betting on automation,

reducing finishing processes and waste, othertextile companies are reorganising theirresources to offer more options and moreflexibility to their customers. This is how OlivierBalas, chief executive of Balas Textile, basednear Lyon, in France, is preparing for the future.With its two historical partners and nowshareholders, Groupe Mouzon and TissageRobert Blanc, Balas Textile has become the‘technology hub’ of a network of companiesactive in knitting, weaving, dyeing and printing.“We work with eight different companies, alllocated close by, and our activities generate 250direct or indirect jobs in the area,” Olivier Balastells WSA. Balas Textile is in charge of findingnew markets and replying to tenders in any ofthe four sectors that the company has come tospecialise in: sports clothing, including men’s

swimwear, downproof fabrics, military uniformsand workwear. In addition to sales andmarketing, Balas Textile has invested in a testinglaboratory to verify that the fabrics developedcomply with the requested technicalcharacteristics. The lab space is stocked withdevices that measure evaporative and thermalresistance (skin model), downproofness,moisture management, pilling or abrasionresistance, and others. By pooling the expertiseand know-how of several companies, BalasTextile has access to a wide array oftechnologies. Oliver Balas mentions its ability todeliver high vis fabrics in orange and red, saidto be particularly challenging colours, as one ofthe company’s assets. The expertise it hasgained in downproof fabrics has attracted manyof the world’s major puff jackets brands.

Consumer firstAs these new business models take shape,

companies within the textile supply chain arealso feeling the need to reach out beyond thescope of current customers to gain a bettergrasp of evolving market needs. This strategy isseen as a way to drive demand throughout thesupply chain and helps ingredient brands buildtheir markets. Lycra, which is in the process ofchanging hands from Koch-owned Invista toShandong Ruyi, has a long history of pollingconsumers to help it articulate its marketingcampaigns. The latest platform launched by thebranded elastane developer was dedicated toLycra Sport and presented in early 2018. Othercompanies organise focus groups with theirown customers to better brainstorm the future.US polyester producer Unifi unveiled a new

approach to its portfolio of products at theOutdoor Retailer Show in Denver in late July. Ithas created a platform called Profiber which

9WSA September/October 2018

WSA Rethinking business as usual

Innovative Chinesesportswear brandParticle Fever haspartnered withantimicrobial specialistPolygiene. Julianne Zhu,the brand’s marketingdirector, states thatsustainability, embodiedby Polygiene’s slogan“wear more, wash less”,is becoming moreimportant in China.

Polygiene and Particle Fever4

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10 WSA September/October 2018

WSA Rethinking business as usual

brings together the many functions that can beadded to its polyester and nylon yarns. Unifi saysthis move helps make its performancetechnologies more “benefit focused”, be it addedcomfort or performance. This it believes will makeit easier for its customers to select the propertiesthat are best suited to their particular markets.A supplier of antimicrobial silver-based

additives, Swedish company Polygiene, conductsnumerous market studies to keep a tab onchanging consumer attitudes with regards tohygiene and lifestyle. It monitors the attitudes of4,000 consumers in four major markets andacross many product categories (from towels tosneakers and sweaters). “We are a businessdevelopment partner, not just a textile additivesupplier,” says Mats Georgson, Polygiene’s newmarketing director, and long-time board member.Austrian manmade cellulosic fibre producer

Lenzing is taking an even more radical approachby seeking to make Tencel not only a strong B2Bpartner but also a dynamic consumer-facingbrand. By focusing on a single trademark, quietlyremoving modal from its labelling programmes,the fibre producer believes it can optimise itsmarketing strategy and better address evolvingconsumer needs.

New platformsThese deeper partnerships and collaborative

work methods call on the networking andsharing abilities of new technologies. Corduraworks closely with a wide array of mills todevelop new products using the high-tech 6,6nylon. “Insight and collaboration are increasinglyimportant to bring an idea to life,” says CindyMcNaull, global brand and marketing directorfor Cordura. Partnerships now go deeper, shesays, “we are often working with differentdepartments within a company and this means

that everyone needs to be aligned so that wecan better close the gaps in the market.” Thisincludes integrating the voice of the consumerinto the product development process, whichshe says has led to novel products made bywomen’s workwear brand Dovetail and Carhartt.A recent collaborative project between Corduraand Carhartt Crew to create the ‘ideal pantsolution’ called on a crowd-sourcing platformconnecting carpenters, roofers, aircraft anddiesel mechanics, landscapers and engineers tothe brand’s design team. Insight of this kindcould even lead to the development of newfibres, says Ms McNaull, citing the T420HTstaple fibre as an example.Digital tools and platforms are being

developed to help members of differentteams work more closely together.This is the goal of Bluescape, asoftware company based in San Carlos,California, founded in 2012 by officefurniture maker Haworth. It hasdeveloped an interactive tooldesigned to make teamworkeasier and more efficientby bringing all docu -ments related to a givenproject to a singlevirtual work spaceaccessible to all team

Bluescape’s digitalplatform is designed toenable companies towork faster and moreefficiently thanks to asingle virtual andcollaborative workspacewhere internal andexternal teams caninteract smoothly acrossall types of devices.

Bluescape Software

Crowd-sourcingtools were used byCordura andCarhartt to identifynew features andaddress unmetneeds in theworkwear brand’sFull Swing Steel line.

Carhartt

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members across different devices. Presentations, spreadsheets,images, sketches, annotated images, all versions of a designproject, including data in all forms can be grouped together fora more fluid flow of ideas and information. “Bluescape allowsteams to follow the design process at all times,” says accountexecutive Tim Doyle. “It reduces the risk of information gettinglost in translation.” He says film studios are big users of thedigital platform, as well as sports brands, including New Balanceand Olukai. A brand can reduce its design process from 18 to12 months using this system, he says.IoClothes is another type of platform which has been

launched to assist companies and designers working in smartclothing, shoes and textiles. Founded in 2017 by Ben Cooper,formerly of VF’s Innovation Centre, it is designed to “bridge thegap between technology and textiles” as well as “facilitatecollaboration and accelerate innovation in apparel, footwearand textiles”. Mr Cooper hopes that a neutral third-party sitewill encourage the flow of information and enable members tofind industrial partners, source components, build a networkand share experiences. Based in New York City, the “LinkedInfor smart clothing” has attracted 370 members in its 18 monthsof existence.Mr Cooper believes that the development of smart clothes

warrants the creation of new business models. “Companies aremaking some very promising and innovative concepts but thenthey bring it to market in a traditional manner.” This, he says, isa “recipe for disaster”, the textile industry is “thinking too smalland selling far too short”.These new platforms and networks could help bring

innovation to market faster and more efficiently. As the needfor flexibility and tailor-made solutions continues to grow, thetextile and clothing industry may also need to innovate in itscollaborative and work processes to invent the supply chain ofthe future.

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Cesare Citterio, owner and CEO of Cifra SpA, has beenfocusing on seamless warp knitting for the past 20 yearsdeveloping technologies that allow mass customisation andproduce little waste.

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info@jrc-reflex.com cry.jrc-reflex.com

CRY® is a registered trademark of CRY sasPatent Nº WO 2016/174 491 A1

CRY® MICRO FOR SEAMLESS

CRY® Range:Micro: Count 300 dtex I Diameter 150 micron IGauge 22/24Mini: Count 500 dtex I Diameter 200 micron IGauge 18Standard: Count 800 dtex I Diameter 250 micron IGauge 14/18

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