Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1487355
T he dilly-dallying of to go, or not to go, went on for two days prior to my flight departing for Munich for the November edition of Performance Days. Post lockdown, my once hectic travel schedule had started to gain steam again, and I was relishing hitting the convention floor and doing my traditional trade show routine. As it turned out my work schedule prevailed, and I decided at the 11th hour I couldn't make the trip. But not a problem: Performance Days offers a live stream of the conferences and presentations, and while I couldn't be there in person, I could be there in spirit, logging on to attend sessions. Sourcing is where the Performance Days website turned up trumps. Into the virtual sourcing sphere I went! Via Performance Days' digital platform – known as e Loop – I noted company names and specific fabrics I viewed. An important feature of e Loop is that I can return, and return again because the sourcing information is there for an extended time. I can retrace my digital steps, save items to my virtual basket with favorite suppliers and products saved to my account. When I clicked on the Performance Days award winning products, there were a selection of photos of the fabric along with fabric shown on a digital garment and a 3D visual (3D Ready by VIZOO) of how the material will drape, with the data file available to download so the fabric can be applied in CAD at base. (For details on the Performance Award winner Long Advance and Eco Performance Award winner Pontetorto Spa, please turn to the Sustainability story on page 18.) The journey to carbon neutrality was the Focus Topic of the show, with two new performance codes added to the vast, quick reference codes. The additional performance codes such as "CO2 neutral" and "CO2 reduced" are intended to make the approaches to CO2 reduction more visible within the industry, as well as to the end-consumer. New & Notable I succeeded in finding new developments, including a carbon capture yarn from LanzaTech. The carbon recycling tech company converts the greenhouse gas into ethanol, which is then turned into mono ethylene glycol, a chemical normally derived from fossil fuel, before being converted to the Bio3 PET filament. A recycled car tire nylon yarn by IBQ also caught my eye. A chemical recycling process used to create the polyamide yarn led me to research what other developments were happening with recycled tires, and this was a great lead, as there is a lot going on in this field. D e s i g ne r Mar i e - L ou is a R o shol m , CEO of Studio-MLR gave a fascinating presentation on the benefits of mono materials. She explained how we can replace certain performance characteristics from a partnering yarn. Mono materials are one Looping in The Loop A Digital Visit to Performance Days Offers a Different Perspective. By Louisa Smith IN THE MARKET / EURO REPORT The journey to carbon neutrality was the Focus Topic of the show, with two new performance codes added to the vast, quick reference codes. 10 • Textile Insight ~ November/December 2022 textileinsight.com