#Technical Textiles

2025-09-11

Royal visit celebrates Pincroft role in military textiles

Pincroft Dyeing and Printing, a global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, welcomed Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to its Adlington site in Lancashire on Tuesday 9 September 2025, to showcase a £1.5 million investment in advanced camouflage printing technology.

The Princess Royal, who serves as President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, toured the upgraded production line, which includes a new rotary printer and laser engraving equipment. The visit highlighted how the company’s innovations support defence forces worldwide, with camouflage fabrics supplied to the UK Ministry of Defence, the Finnish Army, Estonian Defence Forces, Australian Defence, and others.

The visit was hosted by Group CEO John Vareldzis and Managing Director Mike Collins, with Her Royal Highness meeting technical managers, dyehouse and engraving specialists, as well as a select number of guests during the tour.

John Vareldzis said: “We are extremely privileged and honoured to have hosted Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at our factory and to showcase our latest investment in printing camouflage fabrics. This moment also highlights the dedication of our people, whose expertise underpins more than 130 years of textile heritage.”

The event concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion, celebrating Pincroft’s commitment to British manufacturing and global military excellence.

UK government leaders unveil Pincroft’s £1.5m military textile printing expansion

Global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, Pincroft, has reinforced its position in camouflage fabric manufacturing with a £1.5 million investment in cutting-edge rotary printing technology. During a high-profile visit from UK government officials, the company also announced it has brought rotary laser engraving technology in-house, further strengthening its domestic capabilities in camouflage fabric production.

£1m+ investment to dramatically boost Pincroft’s camouflage printing capacity

Global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, Pincroft, has announced an investment of over £1m for the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for its factory in the United Kingdom that is set to increase the textile manufacturer’s camouflage printing capacity to over 8 million metres a year.

STOLL: Agreement signed for the divestiture of selected assets

In early 2025, KARL MAYER announced its strategic decision to focus on its core business areas of WARP KNITTING, WARP PREPARATION, and TECHNICAL TEXTILES. As part of this move, the flat knitting machine business under the STOLL brand was discontinued and the production site in Reutlingen was closed in October 2025.

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.

Keeping products moving with Swedish automation at FILTECH 2026

At FILTECH 2026, taking place in Cologne from June 30th to July 2nd, members of TMAS – the Swedish textile machinery association – will highlight how the country’s engineering expertise is enabling filtration manufacturers to increase productivity, improve traceability and reduce dependence on labour-intensive manual processes.

Yarn Expo Shenzhen 2026 closes doors, advancing sustainable and innovative sourcing in South China

Yarn Expo Shenzhen 2026 served as a strategically positioned mid-year sourcing platform for the Greater Bay Area, highlighting Shenzhen’s role in connecting regional demand, supply and innovation exchange across the textile value chain. During the three-day fair, over 20,000 visits were drawn from 74 countries and regions[1], as exhibitors and buyers engaged with new developments in greener, performance-led, and value-added yarn and fibre solutions. Held in conjunction with Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics and PH Value, the fair underscored the benefits of closer synergy and new materials across yarn, fabric and apparel platforms for the South China market.

2026 general meeting of the Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen at ITA

The Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen e. V. (proRWTH) looked back on a successful year of support at their 2026 general meeting. The meeting took place at Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen and was combined with a joint session of the Executive Board and the Administrative Board. Before the general meeting began, participants were given a guided tour of ITA, providing them with fascinating insights into current research and development topics in textile engineering.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.