#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

2022-07-28

Riri Group enriches its all-round offer with the acquisition of the powder metallurgy expert K4Sint

In recent years, Riri Group has embarked on a process of vertical expansion aimed at broadening its product range and in-house processing, in order to provide the market with a superior quality product thanks to the variety of its services and technologies. With the acquisition of K4Sint (Knowledge for Sintering) this process has taken another step forward and the Group consolidates its position as ‘one-stop shop supplier’ under the sign of integration, design capacity, customised offer, and innovative technologies.

The Swiss Group improves its global approach to design, develop and manufacture high fashion accessories by integrating the Italian company specialised in sintering processes.

K4Sint, founded in Pergine Valsugana in 2007 by Luca Girardini and Mario Zadra, two Ph.D. materials engineers, ensures a strong and reliable knowledge in powder metallurgy, also adding some innovative patented industrial technological developments. The Trentino-based start-up brings to the Swiss Group its experience in Press and Sintering, Metal Injection Molding, Spark Plasma Sintering (Titanium, Aluminum, MMC, Advanced Ceramic). Riri, therefore, integrates within its Group a company capable of developing and producing components, accessories and semi-finished products for internal use but also for customers and companies not only limited to the fashion business: K4Sint will become the go-to facility and production site for steel MIM processes of the entire group. The new unit will also be able to perform metallographic tests, innovative materials development projects and in-depth technological consultancy work for Riri’s customers.

Investing in such an addition to the Group means investing in the future and constant development: the location of the production site will be within an area of technological excellence, suitable for developing possible with local scientific institutes.

“Knowledge, passion and quality are the lifeblood that has sustained our Group for 85 years” states Renato Usoni, CEO of Riri Group “through K4Sint we are not only integrating production processes, but above all different energies and skills that can contribute to enriching our offer. K4Sint technologies will allow us to satisfy very specific requests and to develop tailored solutions for the collections of the future, bringing a lot to the table in terms of contamination: their experience in other sectors can be an added value for Riri Group's production. Knowing the possibilities of powder metallurgy, being able to manage its processes and discover its applications will bring us a real advantage in terms of planning and design”.

“K4Sint’s proposal, in line with Riri’s key points, is based on the use of processes with low environmental impact, which are able to provide high levels of technology and automation” explains Luca Girardini, K4Sint Operation Manager – adding “This integration represents for us a huge development and research opportunity which will allow us to best express the expertise and know-how acquired over the years, having the possibility to make our skills available to a big Group with the potential to champion them creating great opportunity for business”.

It may be fresh or timeless, but luxury remains luxury and you can see it all in Oerlikon Riri’s AW 25/26 collection.

When it comes to Oerlikon Luxury, we could perhaps speak of ‘polyluxury’: this business sector dedicated to high-end fashion accessories in fact contains within itself the expressive, material and technological multitudes that its brands Oerlikon Riri and Oerlikon Fineparts know how to share and expand for each collection. A heritage of innovative elegance that translates in Oerlikon Riri’s zippers and buttons collection created for the Autumn-Winter 25/26, designed to appeal to diverse generational tastes yet meeting the same high standards.

Mario Jorge Machado re-elected President of EURATEX

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation.

Next week’s focus: Intertextile Shenzhen & Yarn Expo Shenzhen fuse textile tradition with sustainable, digital trends

Fashion will not be left behind in one of the world’s undisputed tech and manufacturing capitals. Which is why next week, at Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics and Yarn Expo Shenzhen 2026, the organisers have made special efforts to integrate textile topics such as materials innovation, holistic sustainability, digitalisation and AI. Yet, from 9 – 11 June at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, the platform also includes timeless tradition and heritage-inspired evolution in equal measure. Across both shows, over 600 exhibitors from 11 countries and regions are set to showcase everything from Peruvian alpaca wool fabrics to tea-derived fibres, while their fringe programmes will explore diverse solutions along the entire value chain.

ITM 2026 makes happy participants with its international and qualified visitor profile

ITM 2026 International Textile Machinery Exhibition, one of the most prestigious meeting points of the textile machinery sector, attracted attention in its first three days, particularly with its diverse international visitor numbers. Industry professionals from all over the world had the opportunity to closely examine the latest technology machines and solutions displayed in operation. Thousands of visitors from approximately 100 countries, primarily Egypt, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, met at the Tüyap Fair and Congress Center for new investment and cooperation opportunities.

KARL MAYER presents a textile TEXTRONIC® innovation at ITM 2026

With highly efficient machines and continuous textile innovations, KARL MAYER underscores its role as a reliable partner for discerning top-tier customers. Just in time for ITM 2026 in Istanbul, the industry leader is introducing a true innovation: an eyelash lace with its characteristic fringed look – combined with a previously unattainable 4-way stretch. While the established fabric could until now only be produced as rigid version or with one-dimensional stretch, the new elasticity in both dimensions expands the possibilities for cross-band panel fabrics.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.