#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

2021-12-02

Toray develops Qticle™, a smooth and supple new fabric

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has de-veloped Qticle™, a polyester filament fabric that combines the structure of hair and wool with a smooth and supple texture and functionality.

The company will offer Qticle™ for everything from casual medium-weight fabrics for men’s and ladies’ outerwear through cut-and-sewn items, broadening the design freedom and potential for high-end apparel in Japan and around the globe. Toray aims to commercialize this fabric for spring/summer 2023 collections. It targets annual sales of 200,000 meters in fiscal 2022 (through end-March 2023), and 500,000 meters by 2025.

Hair and wool comprise numerous protein layers. Their properties and structure deliver excellent elastic-ity and luster.

Qticle™ is a biomimetic fabric. Toray created it by em-ploying its proprietary NANODESIGN™ composite spinning technology to design an eccentric yarn with an ultrathin shell layer with which it combined fiber processing technology to create a crimped structure and fine surface irregularities. An eccentric yarn has a cross-section with two different pol-ymers, each with different centers of gravity.

Toray’s technologies have enabled it to attain natural, lustrous, and deep colors, a pleas-antly smooth and supple feel, and functional stretch for comfort and easy care.

In the years ahead, Toray looks to also offer a range with polymers made from recycled materials to cater to sustainability needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic accentuated the need for fashion to learn from and respect nature, as ethical consumption and veganism do, rather than seeking to control and exploit.

Toray will continue to explore new possibilities for fashion through research and technolog-ical development that scientifically recreates the attributes of natural materials.

The company will continue to cater to and help enhance diversifying lifestyles by supplying innovative technologies and advanced materials.

Qticle™ overview

1. Features

(1) Natural, glossy, with deep coloration.

(2) Smooth, supple texture

(3) Stretchy for comfort and easy care

(4) Functional chemicals deliver exceptional performance and durability

2. Technologies

(1) Eccentric yarn with ultrathin shell layer incorporates NANODESIGNTM composite spinning technology

(2) Special yarn treatment for random thickness and crimp structure along fiber

(3) Ultrathin shell of fiber specially treated to form fine irregularities on surface

3. Launch timing: For spring/summer 2023 collections

4. Sales targets

(1) Volume: 200,000 meters in fiscal 2022 and 500,000 meters by 2025

(2) Applications: Including men’s and women’s outerwear, shirts, blouses, and cut-and-sewn garments

Toray develops recycling technology that retains carbon fiber strength and surface quality

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a recycling technology that can decompose diverse carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) made from thermosetting resins while retaining the strength and surface quality of those fibers. The company drew on this technology to create a nonwoven fabric employing recycled carbon fibers.

HEAD launches more sustainable(1) BOOM RAW racquet on Earth Day by using Toray’s bio-circular carbon fibers

HEAD continues to innovate with the launch of the BOOM RAW tennis racquet, an encouraging development in the search for a more sustainable future for racquet sports. All of the carbon fibers are bio-circular carbon fibers in the limited-edition and highly innovative BOOM RAW racquet, which offers the same explosive power - along with the same fun, feel and easy playability - as the regular, in-line BOOM racquet. The bio-circular carbon fibers are manufactured by Toray and its subsidiary Toray Carbon Fibers Europe.

YKK subsidiary Golden Hill Tower Limited marks 25 years of operations in Myanmar

Golden Hill Tower Limited, a subsidiary of YKK Corporation, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a ceremony in Myanmar on September 21, 2026. The event brought together approximately 230 guests, including senior executives from the YKK Group, to commemorate the company's development since the launch of its serviced apartment business in November 2000.

NEUMÜHLE launches mono-material hoodie designed for textile recycling

With the Circular Mono Hoodie, Zurich-based label NEUMÜHLE introduces a new essential designed around a single-material principle. The textile construction is cotton throughout, right down to the sewing thread. Entirely free from elastane, the hoodie launches as a Limited Drop for CHF 139. Take-back, collection and existing recycling partnerships complement its circular design.

SHIMA SEIKI to showcase digital product creation at Apparel Sourcing Week

Leading digital textile solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan will exhibit at Apparel Sourcing Week 2026 in Bengaluru, India next month. The exhibition provides a platform for the entire apparel value chain, bringing together manufacturers, brands, suppliers and solution providers in one location.

SNA GZ accelerates its on-demand production strategy with Kornit Digital

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New Cotton Review examines competitiveness, market risk, and opportunities

From moving record volumes of Brazilian cotton to market, to managing price volatility, unlocking Ethiopia’s production potential, and strengthening African textile trade, the latest edition of Cotton: Review of the World Situation examines some of the most consequential opportunities and challenges facing the global cotton industry.

Long John puts KARL MAYER's RDJ 7/3 into operation and strengthens its position as a market leader

KARL MAYER has just unveiled its new RDJ 7/3 Jacquard Double Needle Bar Raschel Machine in the international trade press, and the innovation is already causing a stir in the market: The Long John Group, a leading manufacturer of performance footwear fabrics and a long-standing partner of renowned brands, was the first customer to invest in the new machine and celebrated its official launch at its Indonesian plant on August 20.