LOS ANGELES — January 12, 2022 — Ruby Ribbon®, the women’s intimates, shapewear and athleisure company, reenters the swimwear category with a new collection utilizing their proprietary fabric technology and IP.

Ruby Ribbon emerges back into the swimwear market after a hiatus with styles that epitomize what the brand does best – support and empower women. The swimwear is constructed with Ruby Ribbon’s InvisiShape®, the shaping fabric technology that smooths, shapes and supports the body for a flattering and comfortable fit.

New for Spring 2022, Ruby Ribbon launched at market with four collections — Riviera, channels old Hollywood glamour; Palm Beach, on trend animal print and sheer insets; La Jolla, colorful bikinis; and St. Tropez, chic basics. The collections offer an array of bikinis, convertible styles, tankinis, one-piece suits and coverups all with UPF 50 protection, ranging in sizes S-3XL and 6-22.

“Ruby Ribbon continues to evolve and grow with our customers who are looking for supportive and fashion forward swimwear options,” said Cami Raymond, Ruby Ribbon’s Senior Design director. “I’ve taken their feedback and designed beautiful swimwear silhouettes that incorporate our core fabrications that give them confidence to look and feel their best.”

To celebrate the launch, the brand also featured two of their stylists in the campaign shoot. Ruby Ribbon’s Spring 2022 swimwear collection will offer more than 15 styles in various prints and solids, retailing for $59-$139 and available online at www.rubyribbon.com.

Posted: January 12, 2022

Source: Ruby Ribbon

GÜTERSLOH/SWARZĘDZ, Poland — January 12, 2022 — Arvato Supply Chain Solutions is cooperating with the fashion and lifestyle brand GUESS. The international supply chain and e-commerce service provider will handle the online business for the new client. The company provides logistics services at CLIP warehouse center in Jasin near Poznań.

Arvato Supply Chain Solutions has succeeded in establishing collaboration with one of the most recognizable brands in the fashion industry. In a warehouse space of 20,000 square meters dedicated to GUESS, Arvato Supply Chain Solutions performs business-to-consumer (B2C) channel services, which means shipping individual clients’ orders to dozens of countries, both in Europe and beyond. Additionally, business-to-business (B2B) shipments are also included (e.g. stocking up the marketplace). In the first year of collaboration, Arvato Supply Chain Solutions will employ around 100 people, and during peak seasons this number may even double.

With the aim of diversification, efficiency, and the provision of a seamless shopping experience for its customers, GUESS identified the new distribution center in Poland as a crucial asset for reaching those targets. The opening of the fully dedicated e-commerce processing center is the result of a great example of cooperation and teamwork between Arvato Supply Chain Solutions and GUESS, achieved despite the unpredictable pandemic scenario which saw the birth of this project. GUESS is proud to announce that the new Polish distribution center completes the planned logistics footprint of GUESS for 2021. “This strengthens the omnichannel service in Northeast Europe and ensures distribution capacity for the next few years,” said Marcello De Melgazzi, European Logistics director at GUESS.

In the logistics center, the following services are provided: inbound, warehousing, picking and packing, returns management, as well as value added services (VAS) for a range of products including clothing, handbags, footwear and accessories. All operations are based on the WMS SAP Arvato IT system, customized for the client’s needs, on the warehouse infrastructure designed, purchased and installed by Arvato Supply Chain Solutions.

“We are very pleased with the fact that another international brand from the fashion industry that dynamically develops online sales has decided to diversify its logistics operations and entrust the service of this demanding sector to our company”, explains Lidia Ratajczak-Kluck, managing director at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions in Poland. Business and project negotiations, as well as the project launch itself, were conducted in very difficult circumstances, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “However, with the use of modern communication methods, following safety rules, and, most of all, thanks to the efforts of an experienced team in such implementation projects, the smooth start of operations was possible.”

Posted: January 12, 2022

Source: Arvato Supply Chain Solutions

MARIETTA, Ga. — January 12, 2022 — The new outdoor performance brand ARTILECT has adopted YKK’s Touchlink™ Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled zipper for its Fall/Winter 2022 line, deploying the technology on seventeen different styles for men and women.

With the adoption of Touchlink fasteners, ARTILECT aims to provide its consumers with richer user experiences and enhanced product functionality. With a tap of their smartphone on the Touchlink zipper, customers can access product information, register their warranty, get care instructions, and a host of other functions, including safety benefits offered by the Lifekey™ software platform.

“ARTILECT is a brand founded on next-level innovation and technology. The ability to interact with our consumer before purchase, during use, and at the end of a product’s life is critical,” says Trent Bush, Founder of ARTILECT. “Many of the innovations in our apparel systems are invisible, and TouchLink zippers allow ARTILECT consumers to get a deeper understanding of the technology in their garment, as well as confirming the authenticity of the product they have purchased. We worked on the development of these specific TouchLink™ zippers for the last two years and are very excited to get them to market.”

In addition to giving access to important product information, the Touchlink fastener provides ARTILECT customers the ability to check in with family or friends before and after outdoor activities and even dispatch first responders in an emergency. These opt-in safety features powered by the Lifekey software platform can be triggered with a tap of a smartphone to the Touchlink zipper.

The Touchlink fastener is also helping ARTILECT achieve its circularity goals by making key information about the garment available to anyone with a smartphone, helping to facilitate garment resale, repair, and recycling. It eases the barriers that hinder these types of services due to lack of information.

“We see the Touchlink fastener not only as a portal for brands to provide their customers a unique brand experience unmatched by other technologies,” says Terry Tsukumo, vice president of YKK’s Global Marketing Group, “but as an important component for offering new safety features and enabling new circular business models.”

One of the advantages of the technology used for YKK’s Touchlink™ fastener is its permanence and durability. The NFC chip is molded into the zipper puller, which completely encases it, making it highly resistant to moisture and breakage. “A zipper puller is very unlikely to be removed by consumers, unlike a care tag or label, and embedding the NFC chip in the puller gives it durable protection from washing or breakage,” explains Tsukumo.

Besides being the first U.S. brand to use the Touchlink fastener, ARTILECT is also the world’s first brand to adopt two additional new YKK innovative products, a water repellent concealed zipper and a user-repairable detachable slider function. These two innovations allow ARTILECT to create sleek, weatherproof functional garments built to endure heavy use in challenging conditions. The concealed, water repellent zipper allows for protected ventilation, while the detachable slider function makes repairing broken zippers much easier.

“We have been working hand-in-hand with YKK on commercializing some of their latest innovations to take our performance and technology to the next level for our consumers and for the planet,” added Bush. “I am very excited about the new repairable zipper technology. With this YKK breakthrough, we can focus on self-repair by the user in the field, instead of having to take their apparel out of service and ship it back and forth just to replace a broken slider. This marks a huge leap forward in reduction of the overall carbon-footprint of the product lifecycle and ensures our customers can become part of the solution. I look forward to the next generation of zipper innovations that YKK is developing, and I’m proud that ARTILECT is leading in bringing them to market.”

The Touchlink fastener has been nominated as a finalist in the Outdoor Retailer 2022 Innovation Awards and will be featured on ARTILECT products displayed at the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show January 26th through 28th in Denver, Colo.

Posted: January 12, 2022

Source: YKK Corp. of America 

PUTNAM, Conn. — January 12, 2022 — Dimension-Polyant, sailcloth producer and manufacturer of X-Pac® lightweight, durable and 100 percent waterproof laminates developed for packs and bags, will introduce its range of X-Pac® fabrics targeting the shooting sports, hunting and tactical markets at the Supplier Showcase taking place on January 17-18, 2022 during SHOT Show week in Las Vegas.

At its show booth #51441, Dimension-Polyant will highlight specific, including Tactical and Berry Amendment compliant, fabrics from the X-Pac X3 collection of laminates that feature its distinctive X-PLY® fiber reinforcement technology for an innovative three-layer construction that’s rugged, flexible and 100 percent waterproof. A lighter-weight polyester film backing provides a sleek, technical appearance.

Built with the toughest conditions in mind, the highlighted Supplier Showcase X-Pac laminates include:

• X50: Utilizes a rugged 500d Cordura® nylon face fabric for highly abrasion-resistant, tear-resistant waterproof material. Available in Black.
• X50 Camouflage: X50 construction with a 500d Cordura® nylon face fabric in a traditional Multicam® and new Woodland Camo. Colors include Multicam® Black, Multicam® Alpine, Multicam Tropic, and Woodland Camouflage.
• X50 Tactical:  X50 construction featuring a Cordura nylon face fabric elevated to tactical status with a 400d aramid X-PLY, which is lighter-weight, stronger and more abrasion-resistant. Colors include Black, Stealth Grey, Coyote Brown, Ranger Green, Khaki, and Woodland Camouflage.

“We have some great brand partners in the tactical space who use X-Pac because of its excellent strength-to-weight ratio, durability and waterproofness — also because X-Pac® is laminated in the USA and our tactical products are Berry Amendment compliant,” said Taylor North, head of Technical Fabrics, Dimension-Polyant. “We hope that being at the SHOT Show will raise awareness of X-Pac in this market.”

“Stone Glacier has been using X-Pac in our backpack designs since the first prototypes in 2011. The blend of weight savings, durability, and waterproofness has proven to be a great match for our US-made backpack frames and bags,” said Kurt Racicot, Founder and Lead Designer, Stone Glacier. “Our packs using X-Pac fabrics have proven themselves in some of the most rugged and brutal environments, from the glaciers of Alaska to the deserts of the Southwest for over 10 years with great results.”

Dimension-Polyant minimizes its environmental impact by producing the highest quality and long-lasting materials to help keep products out of the landfill. Last fall, the company introduced its X-Pac RX 3-layer laminates made with a 100 percent post-consumer polyester face fabric and X-PLY reinforcement. The recycled polyester fiber is made from discarded PET bottles sourced in the USA. The RX line of sustainable fabrics, made in Dimension-Polyant’s Putnam, Conn., facility, are certified cradle-to-gate climate neutral and carry the company’s cleenTEC® seal.

The company’s Putnam and Kempen, Germany, production facilities have been 100 percent climate-neutral since early 2021. Carbon emissions have been recorded within the DIN ISO 50001 framework and significantly reduced through the use of green electricity, green gas and other measures. All remaining emissions are being reduced by our climate offset program in corporation with ClimatePartner and its Plastic Free Oceans climate protection project.

Posted: January 12, 2022

Source: Dimension-Polyant