W
ith nearly 170 exhibitors scheduled, next month’s International Hosiery Exposition (IHE)
in Charlotte, N.C., promises to be an active venue for both exhibitors and visitors.

Organized by The Hosiery Association and held in conjunction with the association’s
International Conference, IHE will be held April 8-11 at the Charlotte Convention Center. The
conference is April 8, and the trade show runs April 9-11. It will feature machinery, supplies and
services for the hosiery and sewn products industry. Here is a look at what some exhibitors will be
featuring at IHE, information provided by show organizers:

A

AA World Class Embroidery & Embellishment, Ridgefield, N.J., will exhibit in
booth 632.

American Association of Textile Chemists & Colorists (AATCC), Research
Triangle Park, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1825.

ABC Embroidered Accessories, Gilbert, Ariz., will exhibit in booth 3514.

AP Knitting Elements Inc., Asheboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1312.

Air Systems & Equipment Co., Conover, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1138.

Allen Field Co. Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 412.

American Moistening Co., Pine-ville, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2514.

Amital Spinning Corp, New Bern, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2718.

Amscomatic Inc., Winder, Ga., will exhibit in booth 2512.

Artex Group, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2812.

Asheboro Elastics, Asheboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1530.

ATI (America’s Textile Industries), Atlanta, Ga., will exhibit in booth 2722

Autotex Machinery Ltd., England, will exhibit in booth 2614.

Avery Dennison Corp., Framingham, Mass., will exhibit in booth 1639.

Avondale Mills, Sylacauga, Ala., will exhibit in booth 2706.

B

BDO Seidman LLP, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1110.

BTSR International S.p.A., Italy, will exhibit in booth 3310.

Bayer Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa., will exhibit in booth 708. The company will showcase
its Dorlastan® spandex and Dralon® dry-spun acrylic fibers. Bayer will continue to invest in key
partnerships and technical support for hosiery customers as its Bushy Park, S.C., facility
completes its capacity expansion this year.

Ben Clements & Sons Inc., S. Hackensack, N.J., will exhibit in booth 438.

Boehme Filatex, Reidsville, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1238.

C

C. R. Daniels Inc, Ellicott City, Md., will exhibit in booth 1438.

Caraustar-Burlington Rigid Box, Burlington, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1517.

Carolina Specialty Inc., Sanford, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1828.

Catawba Valley Machinery Co., Hickory, N.C., will exhibit in booth 718. The
company will be showing sewing machines, knitting machine parts and giving information on new model
machines.

Cesare Colosio Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2032. Cesare Colosio is a
well-known producer of

sock knitting machines and was established in 1958. The company says that 20 percent of its
production is for the Italian market and the 80 percent is exported.

Christoph Liebers GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, will exhibit in booth 1612. The
company manufactures all kinds of flat-parts for hosiery machines including sinkers, selectors,
transfer-jacks and pattern-jacks. Christoph Liebers has a broad product range including the latest
developments in elements for new machine models and specific applications.

Conover Plastics Inc., Conover, N.C., will exhibit in booth 701.

Cortese Spa, Italy, will exhibit in booth 3113.

Crosrol Inc., Greenville, S.C., will exhibit in booth 1732.

Cubotex Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2818.

D

DASA
Acrylic USA, Hickory, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1519.

Da Kong Enterprises Co. Ltd., Taiwan, ROC, will exhibit in booth 432.

Danasi di Danasi Stefano, Italy, will exhibit in booth 938.

Danzas Corp., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2325.

Deimo SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 435.

Dematex Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 428.

De Sales Trading Co. Inc., Burlington, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1821.

DuPont Co., High Point, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1810. The DuPont product line
has over 100 counts of LYCRA® brand spandex and nylon, allowing knitters and retailers to fully
customize and differentiate their legwear offerings. DuPont also provides world class service to
its customers, including a fabric library, worldwide trend forecasting, and technical and marketing
assistance.

E

Elastic Corp. of America, New York, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 508.

Excel Nobleza SA de CV, Mexico, will exhibit in booth 411.

Exeltor Corp., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3410.

F

FADIS, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1724.

FIRSAN s.a., Spain, will exhibit in booth 1334. The company will show intimate
apparel boarding machine; full boarding machine for ladies; pantyhose with traditional folding;
full boarding machine for men; socks lined to bagging/packaging equipment; sample dyeing machines
for socks; dryers with steam injection; socks screen printing machine; and body-size and T-shirts
folding machine.

Fillattice Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 410. Fillattice, producer of “Linel”
and “Linel Comfort” brand spandex fibers, will be exhibiting its full range of spandex deniers from
10 to 1880. OMM Srl, part of the Fillattice group, will be present with its full range of
electronic covering machines and accessories.

Filmar SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2227.

Fimatex Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 1638.

Fuller Specialty Co., Burlington, N.C., will exhibit in booth 601.

G

Glen Raven Mills Inc., Glen Raven, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1504. The company
will show ring-spun and open-end spun acrylic yarns and blends.

Globe Manufacturing Co., Gastonia, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3100. Globe,
established in 1945, is a manufacturer of spandex fibers and natural rubber thread. Company
trademarks include Glospan and Cleerspan.

Grandis Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 744.

GretagMacbeth, New Windsor, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 501. GretagMacbeth will
exhibit a new affordable Windows-based color formulation system that agrees with the reference
grade Color-Eye 7000A spectrophotometer textile color formulation software and the Color-Eye 2180
compact sphere spectrophotometer.

Groz-Beckert USA Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 536.

H

Harriett & Henderson Yarns Inc., Henderson, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1210.

Heliot International SA, France, will exhibit in booth 1924.

Hepp Strick-Technik, Germany, will exhibit in booth 728.

Heritage Cutlery Inc., Bolivar, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 3617.

Hickory Foundry & Machine Co., Hickory, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1620.

Hickory Throwing Co. Inc., Hickory, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1525.

The Hosiery Association, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 912.

I

ICBT Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 618. The company will show
machinery for the production of elastomer covered yarns.

ICS Yarn Corp., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1032. ICS Yarn will
exhibit various synthetic yarn items. ICS Yarn produces solution-dyed yarn as well as natural,
offering its products for hosiery knitting and textile applications such as circular and raschel
knitting, narrow fabrics and covering.

Irmac Tex Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2912.

Iro Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 604. The company will show yarn
feeding equipment for all yarns; elastomeric yarn feed and tension control; and creels for hosiery
machines.

J

J. A. King & Co., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3400.

Jacobs Textile Sales, Monroe, N.C., will exhibit in booth 543.

Jefferson Mills, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1108.

Jimtex, Philadelphia, Pa., will exhibit in booth 3109.

K

Kaumagraph International, Ontario, Canada, will exhibit in booth 834.

Knitting Technology, Germany, will exhibit in booth 700.

Kronos Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 301.

L

LRC & Associates, Concord, N.C., will exhibit in booth 840.

Label Printing Systems Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., will exhibit in booth 738.

Les Filatures Ormspun Inc., Quebec, Canada, will exhibit in booth 1034.

Lonati SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 828. The company will place major
emphasis on automatic toe closure on single cylinder sock machines with both Lonati folding dial
and Air-Toe methods. Developments for sports socks and dress socks will include new pantyhose
machine series devoted to more versatile and productive use of new fibers and yarns.

The following are quick overview indications of some of the anticipated trends and highlights
of individual Lonati Group companies at IHE will show:

Dinema Srl will show hardware and software updates for Lonati and Santoni machines. New
developments will include PYF programmable yarn feeder for elastanes, Dafil with yarn storage and
opto-electronic for socks. Digraph 3 and Graphitron 5 pattern preparation systems will be shown for
Santoni SM8/8 and SM9 bodywear machines. The MDS/DCN system for automatic collection storage and
analysis of production data will also be shown. Jersey models will be highlighted.

Conti Florentia continues devel-opment on its GL Project — a one-piece pantyhose project.
Combined circular and flat knitting machine produces seamless pantyhose in 400N with 1,000 needles
in body for firmer control. Unlimited depth of body, even body stocking. There has been
simultaneous competitive development by Nagata, Japan. Both versions are expected at IHE Charlotte.
The Conti Florentia division of Matec is making its own established single-cylinder sock range with
pouch or true heel and open or Air-Toe.

MCM Srl has high quality steel NC machines tools and precision trick cutting used for
production of cylinders and dials for all Lonati machines and machinery makers outside the group.
Cylinders made to specification or sample in all diameters (including Jumbo) for 7 inches upwards.

Mec-Mor Srl will show a range of variable open-width, rib-jacquard, garment-length machines
now extended in plainer volume plus fancy designer knitwear needs. Advanced technology via
programmable individual microprocessors at each feeder is the major advance here. Wide capabilities
for transfer striping and racking is also important.

S.R.A. with its renovated and expanded factory in Florence is now devoted with new design
teams to the creation and construction of advanced hosiery finishing and automatic packaging
systems. Latest full-steam pantyhose boarding machine with auto-load and auto-stripping now
followed by different design but similar machine for steam boarding of inner and outer bodywear
will be shown.

Santoni Srl will continue to concentrate on seamless bodywear machines and product
development. The company wants to create a Santoni international brand through its involvement in
the fashion-clothing area. The company projects diversification from underwear into swimwear,
sportswear, homewear and outerwear. Santoni will show varying derivatives of SM machine series and
the most popular SM8/8 Top in 28G. Its SMD double jersey bodywear machine is being built by
Mec-Mor.

• Simtex Srl will show a range of simpler, easy-to-operate, electronic selection flat
machines accompanied by an active fabric development program. Simtex has been developing equipment
for concentration on viscose yarns, 3-D effects, unusual shaping, etc. There are 14-inch wide
trimmings and three system models. Two independent systems are able to join in tandem.

• Vignoni Srl reports continuing success for its recently introduced slit fabric takedown
system. “Open,” is an option for all Vignoni single and double jersey machines of 30 inch diameter
and greater. A full range of machines for plain, rib, interlocks, fleece mini jacquard, etc. in
standard and jumbo sizes can be produced. Electronic single and double jersey models are
available.

M

MT Associates Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., will exhibit in booth 418.

Marlowe-Van Loan Corp., High Point, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3204. Marlowe-Van
Loan is celebrating 67 years as a supplier of dyes and chemical specialties to the hosiery
industry. The company will feature new developments in both dye and chemical divisions which have
been proven to enhance quality and reduce cost.

Martint Equipment Co., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2612. Products
offered by Martint include Braun dye extractors, UniMac dye extractors, Braun/Norman dryers,
finishing equipment, material handling systems, boarding machines, waste water treatment systems
and waste water heat recovery systems.

Matec SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 3213. Matec SpA — the larger scale
Florentine builder of fine gauge pantyhose, single cylinder and double cylinder sock machines of
sophisticated quality design — is now undertaking design revamp to bring in a common industrial
frame and electronics. The company reports much success with double-head, double cylinder in the
United States.

Outstanding technical advance with VPS (Variable Profile Stitch Cam) linking pantyhose
garment part to optimum knitting speed for higher productivity plus better quality will also be
exhibited. Matec Solis is a specialist hosiery automation division of Matec housed also in the
Scandicci factory. The division makes wholly in-house designed and built modular systems for
hands-free making-up of pantyhose. Pick-and-place “Stop and Go” lines cater to toe closing before
U-seaming.

Mee Industries Inc., Monrovia, Calif., will exhibit in booth 2732.

Melatex/Sybron Chemicals, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2726.

The Merrow Machine Co., Newington, Conn., will exhibit in booth 620.

Meritas Yarns, Columbus, Ga., will exhibit in booth 1428.

Metaltex, Spain, will exhibit in booth 2034.

Milliken & Co., Spartanburg, S.C., will exhibit in booth 1211.

Mitchell Grieve (USA) Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1426.

Monarch International Ltd., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1942. The
company will show videos on the latest Takatori automated machinery: Model JA/TAL, which offers
labor saving, and ergonomically improved operation of two Takatori line closer/pair toe closers
with one operator; NPID device for automatic position of waistband and runguard on a Takatori line
closer; Model BLC-360 NPID, a Takatori line closer that automatically inserts a back panel into a
pair of pantyhose as it is being sewn together; Model TAS-1 5H, Takatori’s full-steam inspection
boarding machine that delivers an eye appealing pair of pantyhose; and Model RAS-1 1 P Takatori’s
full steam sock boarding machine with length control.

Moroil Corp., Davidson, N.C., will exhibit in booth 732. The company manufactures,
blends, produces and packages quality lubricants for a variety of industries.

N

Nagata
Seiki Co. Ltd., Japan, will exhibit in booth 3320.

National Spinning Co. Inc., New York, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 2700.

Network Systems International Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2606.

New South Wales Trading Co., McLeansville, N.C., will exhibit in booth 600. The
company is in the business, primarily, of buying and selling filament and spun yarns for all end
uses. New South Wales specializes in, but is not limited to, containerizing goods for export (i.e.
grouping various types and combinations of yarn, sewing thread for the customer’s specific need).

Nilit America Corp., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2800.

Noble Fiber Technologies, Scranton, Pa., will exhibit in booth 801.

North State Cartons, Pineville, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1001.

Nylstar Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1512. The company produces
nylon continuous filament for texturizing (POY), direct knitting and covering applications. A full
range of textile denier products, specializing in fine deniers and micro deniers is available.

O

O’Mara Texturing Corp., Rutherford College, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1306. The
company recently celebrated its 25th year as a yarn supplier to the textile industry. The
family-owned and operated company is a manufacturer of solution dyed yarns. It is the only vertical
producer of polyester and nylon in the United States; which means that it controls the yarn
production process from extrusion and dyeing at its Alabama plant through to texturing and shipping
out of its Rutherford College plant.

Optima Hosiery Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., will exhibit in booth 1740.

Ovalstrapping, Inc., Fort Payne, Ala., will exhibit in booth 739.

P

PAM Trading Corp., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3300. At the IHE, PAM
will highlight its large selection of replacement parts for an extensive range of machinery. The
PAM Trading sales staff will be available at all equipment suppliers’ booths that PAM represents
including: Matec and Conti knitting machines, Solis automated sewing equipment, Cortese boarding
and packaging equipment, and Rosso seaming and turning machines.

Papillon Ribbon & Bow, New York, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 610.

Patton’s Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2516.

Pharr Yarns Inc., McAdenville, N.C., will exhibit in booth 3000. The company spins
all types of acrylic hosiery yarns including short staple open-end (natural and dyed), as well as
long staple, highbulk and fiber relaxed.

Pizzo Etichette Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 846.

Poly-Pro Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1644.

Power Curve Corp., Shrewsbury, Mass., will exhibit in booth 1528.

Proll & Lohmann Maschinen, Germany, will exhibit in booth 934. The company
will show the Colormat drum dyeing machine. The Colormat is available in 1000, 2000 and 3000 models
(80, 160 and 240 kg). The Colorcombi, which is equipped with liquor revolution and central liquor
supply through the drum axis, will also be on display. A pump especially developed by Proll &
Lohmann which is flanged directly to the outer drum as well as optimized pressure pipe to the drum
axis increase the efficiency and, liquor ratios of down to 1:6.

R

R.L. Stowe Mills Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., will exhibit in booth 3200.

Regal Manufacturing Co., Hickory, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1412.

Rhyne Packaging, Chattanooga, Tenn., will exhibit in booth 833.

Richter Yarns Inc., Scaraborough, Canada, will exhibit in booth 2128.

RMB Massardi, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2034.

Roberts, Curry & Co., Greenville, S.C., will exhibit in booth 3001

Rolling Brook Textiles, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 735.

Rosso Industrie SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 3420.

RPR (Officine Meccaniche Riva), Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2513.

Rumi SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 328. The company will show three machines
the R Seven, the Fast and the 2000 Sport.

“R SEVEN”: One feed single-cylinder machine completely electronic for the production of terry
and plain-stitched socks. Possibility of obtaining different designs up to six colors per course
plus background, for a up to of 18 colors on the same sock.

“FAST”: Single cylinder machine completely electronic with six integral feeds for the
production of terry and plain stitched socks with reciprocated heel, tubular or without heel.

“2000 SPORT”: Two feed single cylinder machine completely electronic for the production of
terry and plain-stitched socks. Possibility of obtaining designs up to three colors per course plus
background, for a total of 11 colors on the same sock.

S

Sangiacomo
SpA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 1820.

Sapona Manufacturing Inc., Cedar Falls, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1602.

Scaglia America Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 937.

SCT Yarns Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., will exhibit in booth 2600.

SDL America Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1930.

SEAMS Association, Columbia, S.C., will exhibit in booth 1838.

Smart Sox, High Point, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1606.

Softrol Systems Inc., Acworth, Ga., will exhibit in booth 1720.

Solutia Inc., New York, N.Y., will exhibit in booth 1010. Solutia, formerly the
chemical business of Monsanto Co., is the manufacturer of The Smart Yarns®, high-quality,
value-oriented fibers for socks. The Smart Yarns include original Acrilan® and Duraspun®, the
premium fiber for performance footwear.

Southeastern Yarn Sales, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1525.

Speizman Industries Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1228. The company
will show the following new developments from the following companies:

Fimatex Universal Turner: Reverses all kinds of socks including children’s and terry socks
and the Sanitary with sock turner.

Conti Complett Reverso: A seaming machine with twin heads and one motor with a patented
cutting device for seaming socks on the outside with no evidence of a tail or outside string. This
eliminates the turn-sew-turn requirement on other seaming devices but still has the flexibility of
doing regular seaming should it be necessary.

Conti Complett 222 Vario Max: Toe seaming machine with 2 sewing heads, with one needle, one
looper each.

Conti Complett Stepturn: Maximum turning flexibility and reliability with all types of socks,
form children’s socks to heavy terry socks to fine socks.

TMC: New boarding, pairing, packaging and folding equipment.

Dent: Optical Sensors for detection of yarn breakage on sock knitting machines.

S I R S: High-resolution remote video teleconferencing system. Enables Speizman to give
customers immediate service without the delay of sending technicians to customer’s plant.

Spinrite Yarns & Dyers Ltd., Ontario, Canada, will exhibit in booth 638.

Spintex Yarns Limited, Ontario, Canada, will exhibit in booth 733.

SRA, Italy, will exhibit in booth 946.

Standard Packaging & Printing Corp., Mt. Gilead, N.C., will exhibit in booth
800.

Sterling Fibers Inc., Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth 2500. Sterling Fibers
is a U.S. acrylic fiber manufacturer, based in Pace, Fla. The key products the company markets in
hosiery are: Microsupreme® micro-denier acrylic, CresLoft® high-bulk acrylic, Creslan Acrylic,
CresLoft PCF Acrylic (producer colored fiber), and Creslan AF (antimicrobial fiber).

Suntex Industries Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1627.

Swift Spinning Mills Inc., Columbus, Ga., will exhibit in booth 904.

T

 

Tecnopea Srl, Italy, will exhibit in booth 2608. The company will show automatic
ironing machines for men and children socks and packaging machines for men and children socks.

Trustfin USA Inc. Uniplet Division, Charlotte, N.C., will exhibit in booth
628.

U-V-W

 

Unifi Inc., Greensboro, N.C., will exhibit in booth 1716. Unifi is the largest
producer and processor of textile yarns in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
The company’s primary business is the texturing of multi-filament nylon and polyester yarns.
Value-added processes include package dyeing of textured nylon, textured polyester and spun
polyester yarns; covering of elastomeric and other yarns; conventional and warp draw beaming; and
twisting of yarns.

WTMC Inc., Gaffney, S.C., will exhibit in booth 1544.

 

Editor’s Note: All photos in this article are courtesy of The Hosiery Association.

March 2000