AATCC 2014 International Conference

The education portion of the conference will feature three tracks reflecting the Association’s Interest Groups: Concept 2 Consumer® (C2C), Chemical Applications, and Materials. Sessions in the C2C track will include concept & design insights; a glimpse at what's new - color, print & product development; supply chain & trends today and tomorrow; and consumer interests - product performance & innovation for the retail marketplace. The Chemical Applications track will address sustainability, coloration, advances in application technology, and also include the Herman and Myrtle Goldstein Student Paper Competition. Presentations in the Materials track will include protective textiles, medical textiles, and innovative technologies. 

In the Concept 2 Consumer® track Markus Kirwald from Stoll Fashion and Technology will speak about a 'A New Collection and a New Machine Look for the World of Denim'. He teases: "After the great response to our first denim collection Spring/Summer 2014, we took on the challenge to create a collection of Wintery denim knits for Autumn/Winter 2014/2015. The novelty of the current collection is based on extraordinary pattern techniques, but also with the combination of seasonal mixed materials, merino wool connects in this context with indigo-dyed cotton. This is unparalleled in the denim industry. The outcomes are soft and warm fabrics, which still reflect classic denim look. This approach has not been seen before and opens up a whole new variety of applications. As Stoll celebrates its 140th anniversary this year, some of the looks represent this event. Most of the creations in this collection would not have been possible without the new STOLL ADF technology."  Examples for other promising lectures in this track are 'Sustainable Textiles Begin with a Sustainable Supply Chain' by Xavier Vital (SGS North America) and "Customers Speak: Are You Listening?" by Kim Kitchings (Cotton Incorporated).

 In the Chemical Applications track  Bryan Dill from Archroma US will talk about the company'  s 'One Way Sustainability Program'. His Statement is: "With an estimated six million tons of textile chemicals used annually, the environmental impact of textile processing has become a global concern. Brand owners and retailers are putting more emphasis on the environmental impact of textile wet processes. In response, various industry measures of dye and chemical product and process impact have been developed. The ONE WAY by Archroma methodology takes a systematic approach to the ecological selection of chemicals and production processes. All dyes and chemicals used are screened by product stewardship specialists against more than 15 textile eco-standards to score their toxicological and ecological profiles. It offers process categorization based on environmental focus. The ONE WAY Calculator can be used to assess cost, performance, and environmental profile of ONE WAY products."

One example for speeches in the Materials track is 'New Approaches towards a Sustainable Textile Industry of Tomorrow' by Anja Gerhardts from Hohenstein Institute for Textilinnovation in Germany. Anja says:" Reducing the impact of textile products on the environment is becoming increasingly important for the textile industry. The main interest concerns biodegradable products and fibers from sustainable sources in consumer as well as in medical applications. Current research at the Hohenstein Institutes deals with the decay of sustainable products or their resistance to micro-organisms in biologically active soil. To evaluate the biodegradation of textiles based on soil burial tests, a new assessment scheme was developed and made available to the industry. Some fiber types display a rapid degradation. Therefore, we present further research data on the production of alginate and chitosan, based on biotechnological fermentation. With this technology, we move towards a new sustainable textile industry: From micro-organisms via fibers up to textile end use."

You can find the whole program at
http://www.aatcc.org/ic/gen_info.cfm