#Textile chemistry

2022-08-18

CHT USA expands focus on performance textiles in the Americas

CHT USA brings a fresh approach for brands and retailers to incorporate high performance properties into performance apparel and outerwear designs while also meeting the sustainability goals for today’s eco-conscious consumers. CHT provides a full suite of innovation effects that can be engineered to create unique and sustainable performance textiles. Through collaborative partnerships and engineering expertise, CHT works with customers to develop innovative, responsible fabrics that balance business needs while meeting price and sustainability requirements.

Customizing Functionality, Sustainability, and Profitability for Each Customer

CHT has extended its global presence with the expansion of CHT USA’s textile operations in Richmond, Virginia. The investment in CHT USA will facilitate easier collaboration with apparel brands and fabric mills in the Americas. CHT has hired textile industry veteran executive, Craig White, to lead the sales and marketing of CHT’s brand sales initiatives including the sustainable BeSo® ECO products.

CHT’s BeSo® ECO collection offers the best solutions for customers to meet high performance standards with a reduced environmental impact through optimized production processes in support of a carbon neutral future. The BeSo® ECO system allows companies to tailor-make ecologically responsible textile effects for use on a variety of materials that result in high quality fabrics to address multiple performance requirements that are personalized for each customer’s needs.

BeSo® ECO products are approved by bluesign and GOTS, designed to meet industry standards including the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard, and are suitable for Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 and ZDHC.

The BeSo® ECO collection of technologies offers infinite possibilities to create highly differentiated textiles with performance properties and functionalities:

BeSoCOOL ECO boosts moisture transport and fast evaporation

BeSoACTIVE ECO efficiently absorbs moisture and transports it to the outside of the fabric where it quickly evaporates

BeSoSTRETCH ECO provides outstanding all-direction stretch with full recovery

BeSoDRY ECO water repellent finish offers long term protection from the elements and water-based stains

BeSoSMOOTH ECO significantly reduces the impact of every day wear

BeSoSOFT ECO instills the perfect level of softness

BeSoFREE ECO empowers water-based screenprinting

BeSoWELL ECO provides the ultimate in skin-friendly treatments and next-to-skin comfort

BeSoRESPONSIBLE ECO empowers resource-efficient manufacturing

The CHT USA office is ready to help brands, retailers, and mills with their product development needs.

“Production is a product”

From technical textiles and AI-driven robotics to the limitations of textile circularity: Professor Dr Thomas Gries looks back on more than two decades of development at ITA Aachen. In the interview, he explains why production technology remains a decisive success factor, discusses international collaborations and innovation ecosystems, and shares his views on the transformation of production landscapes and the challenges facing an increasingly regulated industry.

“We need to move away from the price trap and return to a value-driven mindset.”

With its new Textile Innovation Center, KARL MAYER is sending a strong signal for innovation, collaboration, and the future of textile applications. In this interview, Karl Josef Mayer discusses new opportunities in warp knitting, the processing of staple fibres, recycling, the changing role of machinery manufacturers, and why the textile industry must once again focus more strongly on the value of textiles. by Oliver Schmidt

“Innovation, resilience and international experience remain the great strengths of the Swiss textile machinery industry”

Geopolitical uncertainty, growing competitive pressure from China, new free trade agreements and the shift towards a circular economy are currently reshaping the global textile industry. In this interview, Cornelia Buchwalder discusses the current mood within the Swiss textile machinery sector, the industry’s distinctive innovative strength, new market opportunities in India and Asia, and the technological trends that could shape the upcoming trade fair cycle leading up to ITMA 2027.

SOKO presents low-impact denim finishing innovations at Denim PV Milan

SOKO will present a range of sustainable denim finishing technologies and collaborative projects at the upcoming Denim Première Vision Milan on 20–21 May in Milan. At booth G27 in Superstudio Più, the company will showcase new chemical solutions designed to combine fashionable denim effects with reduced environmental impact.

GenuTrace client advisory: Is your cotton supply chain UFLPA ready?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released updated operational guidance (CBP Publication No. 5560-0526) expanding its forced labor enforcement framework. The guidance supersedes the original 2022 UFLPA Operational Guidance and now covers all forced labor enforcement authorities — UFLPA, CAATSA, and WROs/Findings — in a single unified document. For cotton importers, the enforcement posture has not softened. It has become more structured, more documented, and more demanding. Learn more about UFLPA.

STOLL: Agreement signed for the divestiture of selected assets

In early 2025, KARL MAYER announced its strategic decision to focus on its core business areas of WARP KNITTING, WARP PREPARATION, and TECHNICAL TEXTILES. As part of this move, the flat knitting machine business under the STOLL brand was discontinued and the production site in Reutlingen was closed in October 2025.

TERNAfil wins first place at PitchMiUp Night 2026 in Minden

The RWTH spin-off TERNAfil has developed MAXCarbon, a new high-performance hybrid fibre that combines the mechanical performance of carbon with the temperature and corrosion resistance of ceramic materials. For this development, TERNAfil was awarded first prize at the PitchMiUp Night in Minden on 21 May 2026.