Atlas Material Testing Technology has released the “Atlas EV Weathering Testing Guide,” a new resource to help electric vehicle development teams and testing laboratories evaluate the durability of exterior and interior materials under real-world environmental stress.
The guide combines accelerated laboratory weathering, benchmark outdoor exposure and practical test guidance to improve confidence in long-term material performance. It addresses combined exposure factors — UV radiation, heat, moisture and thermal cycling — that can cause material fading, cracking or delamination.
“Durability results can be difficult to compare if exposure conditions and setup details aren’t aligned,” said Dr. Oliver Rahäuser, senior product manager at Mount Prospect, Ill.-based Atlas. “The guide highlights parameters that teams need to control and document, so results can be compared more reliably across methods, labs and test partners.”
Atlas operates benchmark outdoor exposure sites in Miami and Phoenix for correlation and validation of accelerated test results.
(Photo: Jean-Luc Valentin / Messe Frankfurt)Innovation, advanced materials and sustainable technologies take center stage, showcasing the textiles shaping tomorrow’s industry.
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Frankfurt am Main will once again become the global hub of textile innovation when Techtextil and Texprocess 2026 open their doors April 21–24 at Messe Frankfurt Fairgrounds. Organized by Messe Frankfurt GmbH, the dual trade fairs will bring together every link in the textile and apparel value chain, from fiber manufacturers and technical researchers to machinery suppliers and apparel producers.
Held concurrently, Techtextil and Texprocess have become synonymous with progress in high-performance materials, manufacturing technology and sustainable production. The 2026 editions promise a comprehensive look at how digitalization, automation and advanced materials are reshaping the industry’s future.
Reflecting A Complete Textile Value Chain
Techtextil will showcase the global scope of technical textiles and nonwovens across 12 application areas, covering the entire spectrum from research and fiber production, to coated fabrics, composites and apparel textiles. Exhibitors will span categories such as fibers and yarns, woven and knitted fabrics, nonwovens, composites, textile chemicals and performance apparel materials, complemented by industry associations, media and consulting organizations.
Texprocess will center on technologies and services for garment and textile processing, including automation, software solutions and digital value-chain optimization, ensuring visitors can navigate from raw materials to finished products within a few exhibition halls.
“The simultaneous staging of Techtextil and Texprocess creates a unique ecosystem,” said Olaf Schmidt, vice president of textiles and textile technologies for Messe Frankfurt. “Especially in times of restrained investment, it becomes clear just how crucial innovative strength is. These fairs are where ideas are not only presented but further developed into market-ready solutions.”
Innovation Under One Roof
Innovation will take center stage at the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards, which honor pioneering developments in materials, digital processes and sustainable manufacturing. The awards embody the organizers’ vision of connecting research, technology and application — this formula has made the fairs leading launch platforms for industry-shaping ideas.
“The Innovation Awards make this strength tangible, giving new technologies visibility, credibility and often the decisive impetus needed to turn research into industrial application,” Schmidt said.
This year’s themes mirror the industry’s broader transformation. Artificial intelligence and 3D design are increasingly shaping product development, supporting faster iterations, less waste and more agile production models.
Walter Wählt, chairman of the Texprocess Innovation Award and senior director of advanced creation at adidas, underscored the convergence of digital tools and human expertise.“3D design, virtual prototyping and AI drastically shorten development cycles and reduce material use,” he said. “Yet despite all the technological momentum, people remain decisive — creativity, experience and judgment cannot be automated.”
From Lab To Marketplace
At Techtextil, exhibitors will demonstrate how technical textiles now permeate every sector, organized into 12 application areas — from Agrotech for agricultural fabrics to Mobiltech for automotive and aerospace textiles, Medtech for healthcare, and Sporttech for sportswear and outdoor equipment. This cross-disciplinary format is designed to encourage collaboration: where “car manufacturers meet fashion designers and medical engineers meet industry specialists,” as Messe Frankfurt describes.
The fair’s visual navigation system will again feature easily recognizable icons on exhibitor stands, helping visitors connect quickly with materials and solutions relevant to their production needs.
Among the key themes, sustainability remains a competitive necessity rather than a niche pursuit. António Braz Costa, chairman of the Techtextil Innovation Award and general manager for CITEVE, emphasized the link between scientific research and industrial scale-up. “Sustainability, particularly when applied to high- performance materials and products, only becomes economically viable through a virtuous tandem of research and innovation,” he said. “Recycling technologies, circular solutions or entirely new materials are meaningless if they remain confined to the lab. What matters is their translation into real industrial processes.”
That translation happens most visibly at events like Techtextil and Texprocess, where the interaction between R&D centers, brand engineers and equipment suppliers can accelerate pilot projects into scalable production.
Industry Dialogue In A Time Of Transition
While economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions continue to challenge global supply chains, many experts view innovation as the sector’s most reliable growth engine. In a recent press discussion announcing the 2026 fairs, speakers from technology providers and brand manufacturers echoed this sentiment, pointing to innovation as a stabilizing force during market volatility.
“Today, innovation serves both as a lever for efficiency and a driver of growth,” noted Elgar Straub, managing director of VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies. “Digitalization, automation and AI enable companies to conserve resources, produce flexibly and reposition themselves more effectively and competitively.”
Such perspectives resonate with an industry in transition. Beyond automation and AI, sustainability and circularity are bringing research-driven startups, fiber laboratories and system integrators into closer dialogue with multinational manufacturers. That convergence, Messe Frankfurt representatives say, is exactly what defines Techtextil and Texprocess: a live environment for the cross-pollination of ideas.
Innovation As A Strategic Imperative
The 2026 editions will again illustrate how innovation — from smart textiles and bio-based fibers to limit-pushing processing technologies — is not merely a marketing theme but a strategic imperative for survival in a rapidly evolving global economy.
Each biennial event historically draws thousands of visitors from more than 100 countries. While exhibitor numbers will be confirmed later this spring, organizers expect strong international participation, reflecting the continuing demand for efficiency, sustainability and technical performance.
“Research, development and scalable implementation thrive best when the entire value chain is present,” Schmidt added. “That’s why Techtextil and Texprocess happen side-by-side — this is how ideas turn into results.”
As April approaches, the textile world will once again look to Frankfurt for insight into what’s next. Whether through automation breakthroughs, fiber innovation or sustainable design systems, Techtextil and Texprocess 2026 will provide a concentrated look at the future of global textile manufacturing — where technology, creativity and collaboration converge.
Building on the success in Brussels in June 2025, the first edition of Textiles Recycling Expo USA comes to Charlotte, N.C. with the wind at its back.
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Charlotte, N.C., will host the first Textiles Recycling Expo USA, described by organizer Applied Market Information Ltd. (AMI) as “the first dedicated exhibition and conference for textile recycling in North America.”
Wyomissing, Pa.-based AMI will hold the event April 29–30, 2026, at the Charlotte Convention Center. Admission is free.
New U.S. Event Based On Prior Success
AMI launched the Textiles Recycling Expo in Brussels, Belgium, in 2025 as its first event focused on textile waste, building on its long experience in plastics recycling. The Brussels edition provided a dedicated forum for stakeholders to examine textile recycling and circularity across the supply chain.
According to AMI, the strong response in Europe made expansion into North America a logical next step, supporting its goal of developing a global platform to advance textile recycling as a scalable and normalized practice.
Fertile Ground
The U.S. textile and apparel sectors — as well as consumers — are ready for an event focused on textile circularity. AMI describes the expo as “a dedicated platform for the region’s industry leaders to connect, collaborate, and accelerate progress toward a more circular textile economy.”
Early Supporters
“We are very excited to bring the Textiles Recycling Expo to the USA,” said Zied Chetoui, event manager for the show. “Conversations with American attendees at our European launch made it clear there’s a real need for a meeting place for the North American textiles recycling community.”
Founding partners include the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textile (SMART) Association and American Circular Textiles™ (AMCIRC). Rachel Kibbe, AMICIRC founder and CEO, said the partnership “underscores the importance of alignment among recyclers, manufacturers, brands, and policymakers to scale textile circularity nationwide.”
Structural Partner Accelerating Circularity and Event Impact Partner Goodwill® have also joined, along with sponsors including Trützschler, Reju, and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC).
“We’re looking forward to building on the momentum that began in Brussels,” said Karla Magruder, founder of Accelerating Circularity.
Expo And Conference Highlights
Booth 600 will host the Textile Innovation Engine Showcase, featuring the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Textile Innovation Engine. Based in North Carolina, the initiative connects NC State University, Material Return, the Manufacturing Solutions Center, the Gaston Fiber Innovation Center and Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina. Its aim is to align regional innovation efforts and accelerate the development of scalable circular textile solutions.
Enthusiastic Expectations
The Brussels debut in June 2025 featured 126 exhibitors and drew 3,336 visitors from 67 countries, making it the largest meeting to date focused on textile recycling. Twelve percent of attendees traveled from Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Whether Charlotte will achieve similar results remains to be seen —but organizers are optimistic that momentum is on their side.
Industry leaders gather at SYFA’s 2026 Spring Conference to explore innovation, collaboration, shaping the future of textiles.
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The Synthetic Yarn and Fabric Association (SYFA) will host its Annual Spring Conference April 1-2, 2026, at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel, bringing together leaders from across the textile supply chain for two days of insight, connection, and innovation. Themed “The Fabric Frontier: ‘Our Future in Every Fiber,’” the event continues SYFA’s tradition of uniting fiber producers, yarn manufacturers, and fabric innovators to address both technical progress and market dynamics.
Each year, the SYFA Spring Conference attracts decision-makers and technical experts seeking to understand the intersection of material science, business strategy and global trade. The 2026 program includes speakers from across the industry, such as Mike Hall of Drake Extrusion, Shannan Billings of S&P Global, Marianne Nardella of Nilit, and Mevlut Tascan of Syre, with presentations handpicked to address the most pressing issues facing textile companies today.
Sessions will focus on technology-driven manufacturing methods, product advancement, trade conditions, compliance, logistics and marketing trends. With a balance between economic awareness and innovation, the agenda aims to provide actionable insight for executives navigating shifts in supply chain structure, consumer demand and sustainability.
SYFA’s Spring Conference attracts speakers from across the industry, preceded with the fourth SYFA Golf Tournament.“The SYFA is a reminder that the industry is bigger than one person, program, or company,” said Meredith Boyd, EVP, Chief Product Officer, UNIFI®, and SYFA President. “It’s a network of capability and every conference puts that on display both in the content of the speakers and the quality of the networking. Attending is an opportunity to collaborate, seek input for challenges, and often find solutions through the capability in the room.”
Boyd emphasized that the conference benefits professionals from all sectors and experience levels within the textile ecosystem. “Content and conversation will draw those of all backgrounds and experiences,” she said. “Material developers, marketers, executives, entrepreneurs, start-up founders, and many more all benefit, and are meaningful contributors. Those just entering the industry gain from the wealth of knowledge, connections, and learning, while those who are more tenured bring experience and wisdom.”
Supporting Workforce Development
The conference is preceded by the SYFA Annual Spring Golf Tournament, to be held March 31 at the Rocky River Golf Club in Concord, North Carolina. The event supports the SYFA Scholarship at Gaston College’s Textile Technology Center, which trains students for technical careers in textile manufacturing. The Captain’s Choice format tournament offers prizes for longest drives, closest to the pin, and top overall team score — combining camaraderie with philanthropy.
“Four years ago, we introduced the annual golf tournament to benefit a scholarship at the Textile Technology Center at Gaston College,” Boyd said. “The membership and SYFA leadership had long looked for a way to benefit the industry, and the textile technology programs at Gaston College align perfectly with that goal.”
Continuing the Mission
Now in her leadership role as SYFA President, Boyd said she sees the association as a vital connection point for an evolving industry. “It has been an honor to serve as president of the SYFA board,” she said. “I am looking forward to continuing to support the organization and finding ways that SYFA can benefit both its membership and the industry through education, thought leadership and collaboration.”
With its blend of timely content, peer connection and purpose-driven programming, the SYFA Spring Conference offers a rare opportunity for textile professionals to engage with the industry’s future — one fiber at a time.
Circular anorak proves high-performance apparel can marry collaboration and circularity.
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Stockholm, Sweden-based sportswear brand Peak Performance is testing a new template for circular performance outerwear with its R&D Helium Loop Anorak, developed in partnership with ALLIED Feather + Down, NetPlus, Pertex and Resortecs. The project targets a long- standing problem for technical apparel: complex, mixed-material garments that perform well in the field but are nearly impossible to recycle at end of life.
Traditional performance jackets combine insulation, shell fabrics, zippers and elastic trims in ways that make cost effective disassembly unrealistic once the product is worn out. The R&D Helium Loop Anorak tackles that challenge up front, using materials and construction methods designed for eventual recovery and recycling rather than landfill or incineration.
“For years now, brands have wanted to introduce more circularity into their products, but the onus has fallen on their ingredient partners and startups to make that happen,” said Matthew Betcher, creative director at Montebello, Calif.-based ALLIED Feather + Down. “The reality is that garments need to be designed for circularity before any sense of recyclability can even start to be possible.”
ALLIED supplies 800-fill power down as insulation, positioning a renewable, recyclable and biodegradable material at the core of the concept. NetPlus, developed by Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Bureo, converts discarded fishing nets into 100% post-consumer recycled nylon yarn, capturing plastic waste before it becomes pollution. Padiham, England-based Pertex then weaves the yarn into the shell and liner fabrics used in the anorak. Resortecs, based in Brussels, Belgium, contributes Smart Stitch™, a heat-activated thread engineered to melt away under controlled conditions, enabling the Smart Disassembly™ process.
The R&D Helium Loop Anorak jacket is designed for circularity, using materials chosen for the Smart Disassembly process.“The core insight is that true circularity isn’t about accepting compromises, it’s about engineering garments to be unmade as thoughtfully as they’re made,” said Marie Andersson, designer at Peak Performance. “Our R&D Helium Loop proves that when premium materials meet thoughtful disassembly design, with end of life in mind, circularity becomes a performance advantage, as every component maintains its highest value across multiple lifecycles.”
Together, these elements create a garment that can be “unmade” as deliberately as it is made. In practice, the Smart Stitch threads allow the shell and liner to separate from the down insulation during an industrial disassembly process, so each material stream can be recovered and recycled individually at its highest possible value. That design for disassembly approach addresses technical and economic barriers that have limited circularity in insulated outerwear.
“The Helium Loop project demonstrates how responsible materials and design can prevent pollution and reduce reliance on fossil fuels – a win for the outdoor community,” said David Stover, CEO of Bureo, the company behind NetPlus. “By connecting better materials with thoughtful design, the Peak Performance team was able to explore the worthwhile challenge of building products suited for end-of-life recycling and push forward on the industry transition away from fossil fuels.”
The R&D Helium Loop Anorak is a step toward Peak Performance’s goal of achieving total range circularity by 2030.
For more information, contact Scott Kaier, Formidable Media, scott@formidable-media.com
BALLY, Pa. — Bally Ribbon Mills (BRM), a manufacturer of specialized engineered woven fabrics, will showcase its advanced 3-D weaving capabilities at JEC World 2026, March 10-12 in Paris-Nord Villepinte, France, Booth #6K104.
BRM will feature its film-infusion process for 3-D woven joints, which ship as pre-made assemblies to ensure quality control and reduce customer processing costs. “BRM has perfected the science and art of 3-D continuous weaving to fabricate complex shapes such as ‘Pi,’ double ‘T,’ and ‘H,’” the company said.
Visitors can also explore BRM’s woven thermal protection systems (TPS) and the 3DMAT Quartz Material — developed with NASA for the Orion spacecraft and named the 2023 NASA Government Invention of the Year. “Our advanced weaving technologies help customers build lighter, stronger, and more cost-effective composite structures,” said a BRM spokesperson.
Fabric with shape-memory propertiesBadineres, France-based Porcher Industries has unveiled an advanced range of multilayer hybrid textiles, featuring shape-memory thermoplastic technology for sports, automotive, medical and industrial applications. Developed for in situ consolidation, the new fabrics address the limitations of traditional thermoplastic prepregs by combining exceptional deformability, drape and formability.
According to the company, traditional prepregs reach their limits with complex shapes. Porcher Industries hybrid textile structure, made from commingled glass, carbon or aramid fibers, allows precise, high-speed molding with fewer plies and greater efficiency.
Designed for fast cycles — under 10 minutes using suitable heating and cooling systems — the hybrid material supports vacuum molding and advanced consolidation processes. Its recyclability and low energy production align with sustainable manufacturing goals.
The innovation, showcased at JEC World 2026, reinforces Porcher Industries’ leadership in thermoplastic composites and its commitment to scalable, responsible solutions for next generation materials.
Bcomp’s JEC Innovation Award-winning flax components for BMW demonstrate new natural fiber composite applications.The Paris-based Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp will expand its presence at JEC World 2026, joining the newly renamed and enlarged Bio-Materials Village in Hall 5. The space has grown more than 30% to 333 square meters and will host 14 Alliance members and partners representing the full natural fiber composite value chain.
New participants include Norafin, Biofibix and GreenPoxy by Sicomin, alongside returning innovators such as Bcomp and Safilin. Highlights include Bcomp’s JEC Innovation Award-winning flax composite components for BMW and Safilin’s Ecotrain rail interior project with Stratiforme.
Alliance experts will also lead a March 11 roundtable, “From Data to Applications,” on leveraging environmental and technical data to accelerate adoption of natural fiber composites. “This expanded showcase demonstrates the maturity, credibility and innovation capacity of Europe’s flax and hemp composites sector,” said Bruno Pech, innovation project manager at the Alliance.
Nonwovenn, a global supplier of nonwoven fabric technologies, is expanding its PFAS-free, activated carbon filter media for ostomy pouches, addressing the medical sector’s growing demand for safer and sustainable filtration materials.
The new media combines odor and gas adsorption with low-pressure drop and carbon integration, while meeting evolving global regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In the EU, proposed PFAS restrictions under REACH and U.S. medical device regulations are intensifying compliance requirements.
“Demographic trends and regulatory changes are driving the need for next-generation ostomy care technologies,” said John Birkett, MediTech business director at Bridgwater, England-based Nonwovenn. “We’re focused on delivering high-quality PFAS-free filter media that meet the practical and regulatory demands of modern ostomy systems.”
Nonwovenn’s products are engineered without intentionally-added PFAS and supplied as roll goods or filter inserts for standard pouch formats.
Freudenberg Performance Materials will return to the Wire trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, April 13 17, to showcase its portfolio of high-performance cable tapes for power, data and specialty applications. The Weinheim, Germany-based company will present solutions for medium and high voltage cables — MV, HVAC and HVDC — including semiconductive and non-conductive water-blocking, binding, bedding, separation and specialty tapes.
The tapes enhance cable protection and durability through advanced swelling performance and conductivity. For submarine cables, Freudenberg offers tapes engineered to expand instantly on contact with water, sealing against moisture intrusion.
“Freudenberg is a globally preferred partner for cable manufacturers,” said Jochen Bialek, head of global sales, cable and electro. “By returning to Wire in Düsseldorf, we’re strengthening our industry relationships and supporting customers as they address today’s and tomorrow’s energy and digital demands.”
