ALAMEDA, Calif. — October 10, 2016 — Fifty years after its first store opening in the North Beach neighborhood, apparel, equipment and footwear leader The North Face has opened a concept shop in San Francisco aimed at the city explorer. The discreet storefront in the Jackson Square neighborhood is the first of its kind in the United States, and will focus exclusively on the label’s premium streetwear range. A similar space will be featured within The North Face New York Flagship store opening on 5th Avenue later this month.

Open for a limited time only, the Urban Exploration shop will be devoted to protective gear suitable for the modern urbanite. New product will be regularly dropped in-store in the coming months, including collaborations, and curated pieces from the brand’s Japanese and Hong Kong collections.

The shop will feature exclusive and limited edition product like the Original Daypacks and Soft Duffels reissue. In honor of the company’s 50-year tradition of making handcrafted outdoor gear, The North Face revived some of the first-ever packs sewn and sold at the company’s original location.

Made entirely in the U.S., The North Face worked with a third-generation factory in Chicago and the Horween Leather Co., one of the oldest tanneries in the nation. The throwback bags were crafted for durability down to the last detail and feature 17-ounce waxed cotton canvas, double reinforced panels, riveted stress points and premium leather trims. The collection includes: ’68 Daypack ($225), ’78 Duffel – Small ($250) and ’78 Duffel – Large ($300). These originals are available now in extremely limited quantities only at the San Francisco shop, but will be sold online and at the 5th Avenue location beginning Oct. 13.

Posted October 10, 2016

Source: The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc.

TROY, N.C. — October 10, 2016 — Alandale Knitting LLC, a commission circular knit manufacturer, is celebrating a half-century of continuous operation at its Troy, N.C., operations. Founded in 1966 by prolific textile industry innovator Alan Gutschmit, the company has transformed itself to successfully navigate a constantly changing domestic textile industry. Over the years, the mill has expanded to more than 225 machines with a production capacity of over 500,000-pounds per week. The key to this success is the company’s commitment to flexibility and speed that allows it to offer the wide range of capabilities, sizes and complex construction types needed to meet the diverse requirements of fashion, automotive, protective gear, industrial and technical textiles applications. The company will mark the milestone with a gathering of employees, suppliers and friends on October 29 at its 120,000 square foot facility.

According to Alandale Knitting President Don Trexler: “While the U.S. textile industry has clearly had its ups and downs over the years, Alandale Knitting has always been recognized as the go-to provider for new and difficult constructions. Our ability to quickly deliver high quality, complex knit programs enables us to fulfill the needs of both new brands that are focusing on Made in USA goods and established companies that are looking for specific technical capabilities, extra capacity, or the benefits of reshoring. We are, of course, also accomplished in providing greige fabric programs to serve the needs of our clients that produce in the NAFTA and CAFTA-DR regions.”

Alandale Knitting has long benefited from the many inventions and process innovations set in place by its original founder. Upon his passing in 2001, Gutschmit had amassed eighteen U.S. patents for textile production systems that include the Filter Flow™ lint cleaning system, tools for detecting broken hooks and needles, a yarn threading apparatus, machine efficiency monitoring devices and more. All of these advancements remain in use at Alandale Knitting and support the company’s impressive speed, efficiency, quality, cleanliness, and flexibility.

Posted October 10, 2016

Source: Alandale Knitting

COLUMBUS, Ga. — October 7, 2016 — DNA Technical Fabrics, a division of DNA Textile Group, is pleased to introduce their new collection of INHERENT PLUS+ FR Denim fabrics.
DNA’s Inherent Plus+ FR denim collection utilizes a patent pending dual FR technology to provide layered FR protection with comfort, performance, and premium styling. “DNA’s Dual FR Technology was developed in response to customers’ requests for an innovative FR denim that can be laundered in premium fashion washes and maintain the same level of flame-resistant protection currently offered in the market,” according to Marty Odum, vice president of Technical Fabrics.

Inherent Plus + FR Denim can be enhanced through premium laundry applications including hand sanding, whiskers, enzymes, and stonewashing to achieve a range of fashion wash effects. Products in the new collection contain 13% to 20% stretch, from 11 to 13.5 oz, with added moisture wicking and improved drying to increase comfort.

DNA’s INHERENT PLUS+  FR Denim fabrics are compliant with NFPA 2112, NFPA 70E, and ASTM F1506.

Posted October 7, 2016

Source: DNA Technical Fabrics, a division of DNA Textile Group

NEW YORK CITY — October 5, 2016 — During PI Apparel Berlin, Browzwear will demonstrate how its 3D digital technology together with Dassault Systèmes’ Product Lifecycle Management solutions can streamline the way fashion companies design, develop and manufacture products. The demonstration will show how Browzwear’s 3D Apparel models can be integrated to Dassault Systèmes’ “My Collection” industry solution experience, a world class PLM solution for fashion, consumer goods and retail companies.

It will also show how apparel designers and developers can leverage managed assets from “My Collection” and later share finished garments’ Bill of Materials in Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This makes it far simpler and more efficient for fashion designers and developers to make use of available assets, and focus instead on the creative process.

‘My Collection’ was developed with 3D in mind from the very beginning. And with Browzwear 3D and Dassault Systèmes, product teams can share realistic 3D Apparel models and technical specifications from the earliest stages of the development processes to dramatically improve communication and collaboration with a variety of stakeholders of the development stream. “Visitors at PI Apparel in Berlin will see how the combination of 3D Asset & PLM workflow is enabling leading brands to shorten time to market and enhance creativity while delivering products that reflect the Voice of the Customer,” said Avihay Feld, Chief Product Officer at Browzwear.

“Using visually compelling and technically accurate 3D models for apparel from early development extends collaboration with designers, and streamlines manufacturing. It enables companies to meet market requirements and enhance creativity in a way that was not possible with traditional 2D workflows. We are very excited to demonstrate this capability with Dassault Systèmes at the event.”

Posted October 6, 2016

Source: Browzwear

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — October 6, 2016 — Excessive exposure to the sun’s burning rays is a dangerous and often overlooked health issue for recreational and professional golfers. In response, coLLo Apparel has introduced its new line of high performance, UPF 50+ sunblocking men’s golf shirts.

“As a golfer, I was frustrated by the lack of options for protecting myself from skin cancer, especially my neck,” said Tom Hurst, coLLo founder, and president. “That led me to launch coLLo and design our unique collars. Nearly 3.7 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year, and the risks for golfers are exceptionally high. We’re serious about protecting golf players from UV radiation, and donate a percentage of every coLLo shirt sale to skin cancer research and prevention.”

Featuring certified UPF 50+ sunblocking, moisture wicking, four-way coLLoStretch™ fabrics, and patent pending high collar, coLLo is exclusively focused on making UV protection golf clothing. The coLLo men’s golf shirt line is available in three different collections:

• Cypress offers maximum athletic performance in a dry fleck jersey fabric, available in athletic and relaxed fit models.
• Sawgrass utilizes coLLo’s luxurious double-dyed and lightly brushed fabric offered in athletic and relaxed fit models.
• Princeville is offered in an athletic fit featuring lightweight brushed fabric made from 15 environmentally friendly recycled plastic bottles.

Persistent sun exposure is a constant health threat to golfers. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, professional golfers received on average an estimated 217 times the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation needed to cause a sunburn over the course of a year.

Recreational golfers are at risk too, since every hour, they can receive 3.5 to 5.4 times the amount of UV radiation exposure needed to cause a sunburn. Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) is a rating generally used for clothing to measure the relative effectiveness of skin protection from the sun. It measures the amount of UVA and UVB radiation that penetrates fabric and reaches the skin.

Created to block 95 percent of the sun’s damaging UV rays, the design and fabric of the coLLo golf shirt line can help players get the most from their game with unequaled sun protection and maximum comfort.

Sold through golf pro shops and retailers, coLLo shirts can be embroidered with a custom golf club logo.

Posted October 6, 2016

Source: coLLo Apparel

ZURICH, Switzerland — October 5, 2016 — The environmental sustainability consulting group Quantis is pleased to announce that the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Austrian fiber company Lenzing have officially joined the World Apparel and Footwear Lifecycle Database (WALDB) as partners. WALDB, a pre-competitive global initiative founded by Quantis, is a to provide a robust and credible database for environmental impact assessment and footprinting in the fashion industry.

SAC and Lenzing join HUGO BOSS, Legero/Think! Shoes, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and BSD Consulting, a group of industry leaders that have come together to collaboratively measure the environmental impacts created by materials used in the apparel and footwear supply chains.

The addition of these two new key players in the apparel industry and leaders in sustainability illustrates the need for more robust and credible data from the industry’s value chains. Data on the environmental impacts in supply chains is sparse, yet it is essential for organizations to drive metrics-based sustainability programs. WALDB will solve this data challenge.

The aim of WALDB is to bring together partners in the industry, in an open and pre- competitive dialogue, to address the needs and challenges of environmental data collection and availability. In this initiative, the partners will work together to expand the database with reliable data on the processes along the apparel and footwear value chains.

WALDB enables apparel and footwear companies to identify environmental hotspots along their value chain as well as to quantify the benefits of improvement and reduction measures and to benchmark individual footprints compared with industry averages. Moreover, credible communications and marketing efforts can be built on sound metric-based footprint data, which can be used for sustainability reporting in full compliance with relevant ISO Standards and with the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) initiative.

The interest in calculating LCA in the apparel and footwear industry is rapidly increasing. Companies are looking for reliable data to make informed decisions and to prioritize their sustainability efforts. Furthermore, the development of new public policies like the Green Economy and the EU’s Single Market for Green Products are adding to the demand for credible data.

“I have witnessed a clear shift from the apparel industry – one that is characterized by a sharp increase in interest in developing a more holistic and quantitative approach to environmental sustainability,” Rainer Zah, Quantis Zurich Managing Director and WALDB project lead confirms. “Solid metrics serve as a guide to organizations’ sustainability strategies allowing them to make good decisions, based on hotspots across their operations, to make the most impact. The WALDB database will allow companies to assess their impacts, make strategic decisions, and engage their supply chains based on facts.”

Environmental impacts can range from water consumption for cotton cultivation, to impacts from dyeing and tanning, to greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and transportation.

The WALDB partners work together to collect comprehensive datasets based on primary data from the partners and on existing data from scientific studies. The datasets are released annually, the first release took place in July 2016 and consists of 60 datasets which cover wool, cotton, and leather supply chains for shirts, pullover, trousers and shoes. The datasets will continuously be expanded during the next two years according to the needs of the partners.

Posted October 5, 2016

Source: Quantis