Browse WSA 2022 - sportstextiles: Leading sports/outdoors materials gl

The agricultural and food industries generate waste products that can yield valuable raw materials to make fibres or dyestuffs... but only if the cellulose or colouring agents from these leftovers can be cost-competitively extracted and scaled.

Concerned by microplastics and seeking to avoid materials derived from fossil fuels, a few pioneering active and sportswear brands are taking the radical decision to phase out synthetics in the belief that nature knows best.

A combination of welding techniques may provide a new solution to a critical feature of performance outdoor clothing: making watertight and airtight seams.

Footwear brand Altra has partnered with lacing system specialist Boa to create its latest long-range trail-running shoe, the Mont Blanc. It uses not one but two Boa discs on each shoe.

An idea that began as a way of reducing foam waste has opened up wide­-reaching opportunities for apparel group MAS Holdings in the field of protective clothing for sports, health and wellbeing.

The stage is set for a summer 2022 launch of Zozofit, an accessible – and highly accurate – wearable 3D body-measuring system designed to track physical transformation from the comfort of home, the gym or wherever else one gets their wellness fix.

The need to back sustainable practices with bona fide third-party certification has led to the development of countless labels and standards serving the varied environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies of brands and retailers.

The Higg Materials Sustainability Index has often been the object of criticism and debate, but an investigation conducted by the Norwegian Consumer Authority into Higg-based marketing claims has added the question of liability to the conversation.

Authorities and organisations are taking an increasingly critical look at sustainability claims to expose instances of greenwashing.

A report from Eco-Age raises serious questions about the way brands and campaign groups in the textile and clothing industry present sustainability claims at the moment. The call for change is loud.

Adidas’ director of footwear innovation, Arnau Sanjuan, tells WSA how software program Gravity Sketch is changing his approach to shoe design.

Running and ski mountaineering star Kílian Jornet has launched a new footwear, clothing and accessories brand with Mallorca-based footwear group Camper.

The development of black inks and pigments that are derived from sources other than petroleum and are even proven to be carbon-negative could be a game-changer in the apparel industry and beyond.

Mapping new fibres and textile terrain would appear to come naturally to Finnish renewable fibre producer Spinnova.

The polyester family includes a wide array of biopolymers that have long-standing uses in plastics and are being tested for their potential in apparel.

Recycled, biobased, biotech, made from cleaner processes or difficult-to-treat waste, the new nylon yarns that are in development cover an array of carbon footprint-reducing measures.

Sustainability remains firmly on the agenda of almost every sports and outdoor company in 2022. More than that, a detailed new report insists that, as a result of covid-19 and the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the pace of change towards sustainable materials and practices is accelerating.

Engineering company Versarien sees vast potential for graphene to add beneficial properties to textiles and sportswear, with research unlocking new properties and applications.

Puma has launched an experimental shoe collection that will test strengths (durability) and weaknesses (biodegradability) and determine if industrial composting could create value as fertiliser at the end their useable life.