INVISTA, owner of LYCRA fibre, and Lenzing, a leading producer of man-made cellulosics such as rayon, modal, and lyocell, are working together to bring improved aesthetic performance to stretch fabrics. By combining INVISTA’s patented LYCRA dualFX fabric technology with LENZING’s TENCEL fibre, the two companies are delivering a cellulosic denim fabrics with significantly improved shape retention, say the companies.
According to Federica Albiero, INVISTA’s Denim Account Manager for Southern Europe, about a year ago INVISTA began hearing about the challenges its mill customers were facing in developing stretch cellulosic fabrics. The company initiated a study to identify the underlying mechanisms of these issues and determine how to improve them.
“Given the growing popularity of both LYCRA fibre and TENCEL fibre in the denim market, it was only natural that people wanted to combine them to come up with really amazing fabrics”, Albiero said. “However, as mills began experimenting they encountered issues such as growth, fabrics not keeping their shape, and fabric puckering due to seam slippage.”
To address these issues INVISTA looked to its LYCRA dualFX fabric technology, which combines two stretch fibres – LYCRA fibre and LYCRA T400 fibre – into a single yarn. INVISTA ran trials pairing this technology with blends of cotton and TENCEL fibre. The trials showed significant improvement in fabric recovery and slippage to the point where the fabric performance met or exceeded INVISTA’s and the industry’s standards, according to the company. From there, INVISTA and Lenzing decided to work together to promote these fabrics in the marketplace.
“This initiative represents two globally innovative fibre companies working together to provide the denim market with fabrics that meet the performance needs of modern consumers”, says Michael Kininmonth, Senior Project Manager of Denim at Lenzing Fibres Inc. “Superior comfort with stretch and long-lasting recovery are set to become the next core product in women’s wear.”
“LYCRA dualFX fabrics bring a whole new standard of performance to denim so it was only natural to extend that technology to blends with TENCEL fibre”, said Albiero.
Blending TENCEL into denim fabric results in an improvement for the environment because it is made from wood grown in sustainably managed forests, says Lenzing. The production process for TENCEL fibre is based on a closed loop solvent spinning process and represents the greatest environmental achievement in cellulose fibre technology.
INVISTA introduced its LYCRA dualFX fabric technology to the market about two years ago. Initial applications were with cotton, where it brought improved shape retention to denim fabrics, especially to super stretch styles that were difficult to control using standard corespun yarns.
