#Raw Materials

2019-07-04

Elastic cotton clothing made of 100% cotton

For many years now, polyester and cotton blends have been used to make clothing. In addition, elastane, also known as spandex or Lycra, is used as it emphasises the fit and provides comfort. This could change in the future, as the US research firm Cotton Incorporated, Cary, North Carolina, has now presented the market with 100% cotton elastic clothing fabrics.

The newly developed product is being marketed under the Natural StretchTM brand without the use of elastane. According to information provided by the supplier, the fabric offers the elasticity and comfort that consumers are used to from wearing long-standing products.

It is known in the industry that normal cotton fabrics already have a given elasticity of three to six percent. The material developed by Cotton Incorporated creates the increased stretch effect through a special mechanical manufacturing process. The material offers highly comfortable stretch properties in combination with the naturalness and softness of cotton. The material does not lose its elasticity when worn. The fabrics can be processed into shirts and blouses, as well as denim jeans, other trousers and skirts. According to Cotton Incorporated, there are currently licensees for the manufacture and sale of Natural StretchTM fabrics in Peru, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia.

However, an additional innovation could provide a boost for change: The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CISRO), Canberra, Australia, is currently working on growing cotton seed or cotton plants whose fibres provide many of the attributes of manmade fibres such as elasticity, crease resistance, and water resistance, without restricting the natural properties of cotton.

Whether these innovations will prevail depends on the readiness of the clothing industry to deal with them and undoubtedly on changes in the fashion attitudes of consumers. Based on its observations, the Bremen Cotton Exchange assumes that issues related to sustainable production will play an increasingly important role in clothing purchasing in the future. Compared to manmade fibres such as polyester, cotton has the advantage that it is natural, renewable and biodegradable.

151st General Assembly of the Bremen Cotton Exchange

Economic change and personnel decisions were the dominant themes on the agenda of the Annual General Assembly of the Bremen Cotton Exchange on 26 June 2025. During the meeting, the new Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the raw material association, which is now almost 153 years old, were elected. Fritz. A. Grobien will take over as President.

Biochar, Jeevamrit and Bokashi: How traditional composting methods promote more productive, climate-friendly cotton farming

In cotton cultivation, soil quality and the associated fertility and health of the soil play a key role. For this reason, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in Washington has carried out an ambitious research project on this topic in collaboration with various international partner organisations – with promising results.

BCI warns against ‘dangerous dilution’ of EU corporate directives

The approval of the European Commission’s Omnibus I proposal by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, accepting controversial changes to key sustainability directives is of great concern. These changes, namely to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), threaten to significantly dilute business reporting and due diligence obligations.

ICAC releases 2025 edition of the Specialty Cotton Report

The ICAC has released the newest edition of the Specialty Cotton Report, a free publication that was created in 2023 to highlight the many new "identity cotton programs" that have been emerging around the world, in addition to covering long-staple (LS) and extra-long staple (ELS) cotton. For the ICAC's purposes, "specialty cotton" refers to any cotton that is remarkable in some way — LS, ELS, or falls under a specific identity program.

Fashion For Good launches “Beyond50 Denim” to address hemp integration barriers in global denim production

Fashion for Good, together with leading global brands BESTSELLER, C&A, PDS Limited, Reformation, and Target, launched Beyond50 Denim: Combining Cottonised Hemp and Green Chemistry, a project accelerating the use of hemp as an alternative to conventional cotton in denim. By combining two pioneering innovations (SEFF’s Nano-Pulse™ cottonised hemp fibres and FIBRE52™’s proprietary chemistry formulations with soft handfeel), the project seeks to demonstrate that hemp-based denim can match or even surpass cotton in both performance and appeal.

Spinnova and Rieter to publish a yarn spinning guideline for industrial partners

Spinnova and Rieter have published a comprehensive yarn spinning guideline for industrial partners, detailing how to produce compact yarn from SPINNOVA® fibre using Rieter’s state-of-the-art machinery. The step-by-step guide outlines key considerations at each stage of the spinning process and is available upon request.

Compact, powerful, cost-efficient – KARL MAYER launches its HKS 2-SE TWO

KARL MAYER is launching a new two-bar tricot machine for the elastic sector at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025. This newcomer is called HKS 2-SE TWO, stands for double customer benefits, and offers even more advantages than the predecessor model. With this innovation, the leading textile machinery company is once again asserting its top position in the market.

VDMA members at ITMA ASIA + CITME in Singapore

With 69 exhibiting member companies, ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 is once again marked by a strong presence of VDMA companies. Altogether 82 companies from Germany will exhibit at the show, covering about 3,500 square meters of exhibition space, topped only by China and Italy. VDMA initiated a German Pavilion with two group stands (spinning in hall 4 and finishing in hall 7) with a total of 30 exhibitors.

Marzoli unveals its new textile ecosystem at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 at Singapore

With the claim “Designed to Impact”, Marzoli showcases its evolution into a complete engineering company for the textile industry. By combining advanced machinery, digital intelligence, science of materials and innovative services, the company enables textile manufacturers unlock new business opportunities, and accelerate their path to innovation and differentiation.