AFFOA announces four global winners for advanced fabric accelerator

The traditional 3-month garment fitting trial will be reduced to just a few seconds, while polyester recycling will save up to 80% on electricity. Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) is going to integrate such eco-friendly innovations from the laboratory directly into the mainstream of commercial production.

The association has announced the names of 4 global brands for the third round of its prestigious Product Accelerator for Functional Fabrics (PAFF 3.0) program to bring unparalleled changes to US textile, apparel and defense manufacturing in the future.

The main objective of the program is to bring textile technology from the laboratory to reality and convert it into commercial production. The selected companies will have the opportunity to use AFFOA’s top engineers, prototyping (sample making) and testing labs, and the strong supply chain network in the United States at no cost. As a result, the productivity and quality of their innovations will increase. In addition, it will be possible to bring them to market very quickly.

AFFOA CEO Dr. Sasha Stolyarov said:

“The quality of the proposals submitted in this round was exceptional. It was a difficult task to select just four companies. However, we were particularly impressed by the commitment of these winning companies to address real-world manufacturing challenges and to develop sustainable and high-performance materials.”

The Lycra Company‘s focus is to develop high-performance stretch fibers for sportswear and activewear, while 3D virtual garment prototyping and digital garment simulation software will be used to test the effectiveness of close-to-body applications (such as leggings or sports bras).

Traditionally, it takes 2 to 3 months to test the fitting of new garments. Using AFFOA’s digital engineering technology, the Lycra Company will now be able to perform live human trials as well as perfect virtual fittings. As a result, the lead time of the entire process, from the yarn production stage to the launch of the finished garment, will be significantly reduced.

Gentex Corporation’s primary goal is to produce state-of-the-art protective helmets for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The manual or hand-sewing process of making helmets has been transformed into automation on a large scale.

Although Gentex produces thousands of helmets per month, the internal stitching is still done by operators. With the support of AFFOA, they will introduce advanced Automated Sewing Cells, which will increase production while ensuring worker safety and the quality of military helmets.

Ecotune aims to develop a 100% bio-based (made from plant or organic materials) and plastic-free eco-friendly textile coating or coating. The aim is to test the compatibility of this eco-friendly coating with existing textile factory machinery and conduct a “roll-to-roll” production trial on a pilot scale.

Its impact on the industrial sector is huge. Conventional coatings use high-carbon petrochemical materials like polyurethane, which are harmful to us. After 5 years of research, Ecotune has developed a plant-based coating that is 100% eco-friendly and has the same durability and tensile strength as conventional coatings. They want to prove that it is possible to make coatings at affordable prices with this green technology without making any changes to the factory’s existing infrastructure or machineries (Drop-in compatibility).

MacroCycle Technologies‘ PAFF 3.0 project is a commercial-grade fabric swatch and textile-level performance testing project using recycled polyester (mPET) resin and yarn.

More than 70 million tons of polyester fiber are produced each year, of which less than 1 percent is recycled. MacroCycle’s unique chemical technology converts waste polyester into virgin quality polyester using 80% less energy than conventional re-melting methods. AFFOA will provide technical support for knitting/weaving these yarns and connect them to local supply chains.

This initiative is of great importance to the textile sector. AFFOA is a public-private partnership-based non-profit organization in the United States. Through such accelerator programs, they provide direct lab support to large old-school industries and promising new startups to overcome the manufacturing complexities. Projects like automated sewing, virtual garment sampling, eco-friendly coatings, and polyester recycling will make the textile sector more eco-friendly, cost-effective, carbon-neutral, and technology-driven.