Textile Insight

30 • Textile Insight ~ January/February 2019 textileinsight.com technologies that showcase "the growing importance of the combination of technical fabrics and sportswear codes in tomorrow's fashions." Raedeke says she was recently in India where despite the extreme heat, women wear saris. Saris made with 37.5 technology are now an area of interest. Says Raedeke, "You can't be myopic and just look at the outdoor industry – from sleep, to saris and from silk to tailored suits, people want comfort. These days the ultimate luxury is comfort." Chemistry as Change Maker As people start to consume less, and adopt a purchasing pattern of buying fewer but better quality clothes, brands are using words like "long-lasting" and "guaranteed" to express a good investment. "If you have fewer items they need to deliver more, whether that is functionally or style," explains Karp who refers to this as "curated acquisition." Interestingly this cultural trend has a direct link to green chemistry, which Karp, and others, believe is an area to watch. Nowadays brands are coming to suppliers with specific technology in mind and consumers want products that bring benefits so that if they buy an expensive t-shirt it will hold its color and the textile will last longer. These attitudes are creating a modern approach to how chemistry is sold that prioritizes performance and reducing impacts with cleaner, greener processes. "Chemistry is where material innovation is happening, and making a difference in the end product," says Steve Richardson, brand marketing, Archroma. He explains that chemistry is playing a more integral role in product develop- ment with brands nominating specific chemistry – both in terms of functionality but also color. For instance, brands may want a nylon/taffeta with a very specific PFC-free finish, explains Richardson. "That wouldn't have happened in the past, but that's where the innovation will occur." Archroma is a global color and specialty chemicals com- pany, with U.S. operations in North Carolina. The company formed in October 2013 when spun off from the textile, paper and emulsions businesses of Clariant. However, promoting sustainable solutions and innovating products and processes, such as Advanced Denim water-savings technology and the One Way tool were in place before the transition. "Since we were part of Clariant, we have seen a competitive advantage to focus on sustainability," states Richardson. Archroma processes are designed to help textile mills lower impacts and provide savings in production time and costs. A new systems approach takes this to the next level. Instead of selling a mill a black dye or a scouring agent, for instance, a "systems of chemistry" is more effective in terms of potential savings in water and/or energy and importantly also gives mills the ability to sell the textile at a higher value. Archroma's One-Way Tool calculates one cycle of impacts of chemistry within a textile mill and provides a snapshot of the economic value of Archroma chemistry systems. For mills a big carrot is time. Richardson adds, "If a mill can reduce production time by 20 percent they can get an extra lot done everyday. That is huge in terms of time and cost saving." Brands come to Archroma because they have a problem that needs to be solved, explains Richardson, whose back- ground includes work in materials development, sustainability and innovation with Patagonia, adidas and Tesla. He cites EarthColors, a range of traceable dyes based agricultural and herbal waste, Smartrepel, fluorine-free water repellents, and its new aniline-free Denisol Pure Indigo, as examples of Archroma's market responsiveness. (See Denim story on page 19 for details.) "We do know that consumers respond to options, and buy 'what is better for them,'" says Richardson. "We see this in food and other lifestyle choices, and the same is true in apparel content." It's all about raising people's knowledge about the industry. "People react when they are educated," says Karp. "This has to come from the ingredient people. These companies have to start the chain of education in the industry. Communication is key and has to be done in a way that the brands can use the information to relate to consumer," Karp adds. "We no longer live in an ingredient innocent world. The way people look at the side of cereal box, they should look at the label in their shirt." l "Since we were part of Clariant, we have seen a competitive advantage to focus on sustainabilityy." S T E V E R I C H A R D S O N , B R A N D M A R K E T I N G , A R C H R O M A "We no longer live in an ingredient innocent world. The way people look at the side of cereal box, they should look at the label in their shirt." E L L E N K A R P , F O U N D E R , A N E R C A I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W A G E P E R F O R M A N C E

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