Messe Frankfurt had a chance to sit down with Mrs Emily Chiang, from the Marketing Department of Tung Ho Textiles, and discuss how function adds value to textile products.

Messe Frankfurt: Could you begin by telling us more about Tung Ho Textiles?

Mrs Emily Chiang: Tung Ho Textiles has been in business for a very long time, and we have a lot of experience in manufacturing. We specialise in functional spun yarns. The advantage of our products is that we combine the functions directly into the fibres, which makes them highly durable and the functions are longer lasting. We create natural yarns that are antibacterial, anti-odour, and also very soft. And we also offer customisation according to customers’ needs.

MF: Taiwanese manufacturers are well known for innovative ideas – could you tell us more about your highlighted products at Yarn Expo?

EC: At this fair, we’re showing a material that uses fish scale waste. Fish processing facilities collect and sell the scale waste, and we can recycle this into fibre. Fish scales create a very soft hand feel and the fabric will naturally have good moisture management. For example, it can protect skin from the drying effects of air-conditioning, keeping skin moisturised, and it’s also anti-odour. So we are looking into more materials like this – naturally functional. We also have more eco-friendly products, which include blends using Lenzing’s ECOVERO™ and TENCEL™. We focus on getting approval from control unions and acquiring key sustainable certifications. So we are trying very hard to offer more sustainable products, which will also meet customers’ needs and trends.

MF: Do you think that end-use consumers will pay more for textile products that are functional?

EC: I think this is still fairly niche. There is high demand, until they see the price, because it is expensive. So it depends on how well the end-use products are marketed. Customers need to understand why functional products are expensive. For example, in Taiwan, our yarns are used to make functional bedding and the marketing is very good, meaning that the customers understand the benefits and then they are willing to pay more. But on the other side, our yarn is more durable. It may be cheaper to apply functions to fabrics, but our method is different – the functions are spun into our yarn and it lasts longer. So I think demand is growing more and more because durability increases the sustainability of products.