Tag Archives: athletic apparel

FibeRio and VF Corporation want their nanofiber technology to lead in apparel and footwear markets

An April 8, 2015 news item on Azonano describes a new business partnership,

FibeRio Technology Corporation, the total nanofiber solutions company, today announced a strategic partnership with VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, to develop and commercialize next-generation, performance apparel fabrics leveraging FibeRio’s proprietary nanotechnology.

The partnership centers on FibeRio’s Forcespinning® technology platform and its ability to produce unique nanofiber material in high volumes. VF intends to incorporate FibeRio’s capabilities and expertise across its three Global Innovation Centers which focus on advancements in performance apparel, footwear and jeanswear.

An April 8, 2015 FibeRio news release provides more details, including these about the respective companies which help to contextualize the deal,

About FibeRio Technology Corporation
FibeRio is the efficiency and performance layer expert offering composite media improvement services including nanofiber membrane development, pilot production for limited launches and performance layer supply. The Fiber Engine series delivers on the industry’s need for high output, versatile, yet economic nanofiber production solutions. For more information visit www.fiberiotech.com

About VF Corporation
VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) is a global leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories. The company’s highly diversified portfolio of 30 powerful brands spans numerous geographies, product categories, consumer demographics and sales channels, giving VF a unique industry position and the ability to create sustainable, long-term growth for our customers and shareholders. The company’s largest brands are The North Face®, Vans®, Timberland®, Wrangler®, Lee® and Nautica®. For more information, visit www.vfc.com.

There are the usual “we’re thrilled and about to do exciting things” quotes along with a dearth of details explaining how nanofibers are going to lead to higher performance,

“VF’s Global Innovation Center strategy is centered on the pursuit of disruptive design and materials that will meaningfully redefine the future of apparel and footwear for our consumers,” said Dan Cherian, Vice President, VF Global Innovation Centers. “Our partnership with FibeRio is a great step toward the co-development of proprietary, high-performance nanofiber materials that will help push the boundaries of performance and explore the creation of new apparel and footwear market categories.”

FibeRio CEO Ellery Buchanan stated, “We are excited to partner with VF Corporation on our Forcespinning-based advanced nanofiber textiles. VF’s long history of brand strength and operational excellence along with our leading commercial scale nanofiber production expertise creates an excellent opportunity to proactively shape the competitive landscape.”

Nanofibers’ higher surface area and smaller pore size improves the characteristics of fibrous material. This enables performance levels in any given application to be materially improved using significantly less material in the end product, which also allows for lighter weight and lower cost. [emphasis mine] FibeRio’s Forcespinning technology is the only technology platform capable of both commercial scale melt and solution spinning nanofibers. This provides a more sustainable method of production because melt spinning does not require solvents. [emphasis mine] Additionally, Forcespinning can be used to solution spin with vastly smaller amounts of solvents than traditional nanofiber production processes such as electrospinning.

Using less material could be considered a good thing, assuming it doesn’t mean that consumers need to purchase the item more frequently. The sustainability aspects such as no solvents or lesser amounts of solvent sound good unless increased demand means that a lesser amount becomes a greater amount.

I look forward to learning more as this partnership develops. One final note, I wonder if these folks are competitive with Teijin-Aramid (a Japanese-Dutch company in the Teijin Group), a company which does a lot of work with nanofibers last mentioned here in a Sept. 24, 2014 posting (scroll down about 60% of the way),

Still talking about textile fibres but on a completely different track, I received a news release this morning (Sept. 25, 2014) from Teijin Aramid about carbon nanotubes and fibres,

Researchers of Teijin Aramid, based in the Netherlands, and Rice University in the USA are awarded with the honorary ‘Paul Schlack Man-Made Fibers Prize’ for corporate-academic partnerships in fiber research. Their new super fibers are now driving innovation in aerospace, healthcare, automotive, and (smart) clothing.

I also found an April 12, 2012 post about Teijin Fibers (another Teijin Group company) and their work with nanofibers and golf gloves and athletic socks.