Browse WSA 2023 - sportstextiles: Leading sports/outdoors materials gl

An investment in equity in Genomatica in 2021 was Lululemon’s first in a sustainable materials company. The gymwear brand has now followed up by launching T­-shirts made from nylon, developed from Genomatica’s plant-­based building blocks.

It has unique performance properties and offers unrivalled warmth to weight. The natural material is also robust allowing it to be recycled, if properly cared for. But down is not without shortcomings and specific challenges.

Producers of manmade cellulosic fibres would like us to believe their wood-based yarns possess performance properties that make them suitable alternatives to polyester and polyamide.

A revamped format for the ISPO Award programme has given footwear its own category. In 2022, 12 different shoe, boot and footwear technology ideas were among the winners.

If Europe is to fulfil its vision of a sustainable and circular textiles industry, the system for collecting and sorting used garments and putting them to good use needs an overhaul.

There is no question that Nike Forward, which debuted last autumn with an inaugural hoodie and crew style, is an interesting textile development. But can the current iteration — with its raw details and grey-only colourway — be the ‘game changer’ the brand claims it to be?

The first technical outdoor gear to be produced with a non-fluorinated Gore-Tex membrane landed in stores towards the end of 2022.

Outdoor sports group Goldwin has been running its own race for over 70 years.

A new generation of 3D printers can apply decoration or performance features directly onto fabric. Components made using additive manufacturing are also finding novel functional uses in shoes and backpacks. Together they may signal a new dawn for a technology that has yet to find a viable industrial use case, otherwise known as ‘killer app’, in consumer goods.

Technologies including ultrasound waves and digital printing promise to usher in a new generation of cleantech solutions for traditional wet processes.