LE Textile, a producer of stretch fabrics and lace for lingerie, swimwear and sportswear, has developed a special collection based on Tencel lyocell fibre, for soft, supple handle and better comfort.

The warp-knitting specialist will showcase these innovative fabrics at the next Interfilière fair that will be held from 9-11 July in Lyon.

The company has been known for some time on the market under its old name of Elastic Textile Europe. Since 2013, it has belonged to Lauma Fabrics Group, a Latvian-based manufacturer, and is now known as LE Textile. The company, which is based in Neukirchen, also develops products used in the medical sector and industry, for example, in the automotive sector.

Sustainable warp knits

The newly developed soft fabrics are said to offer sustainability advantages, reinforcing the company’s commitment to using sustainable materials and production processes.  

In 2006, Elastic Textile Europa, as it was then known, developed a stretch knitted fabric from eco-cotton and the elastomer, Dorlastan Type V550, which was awarded the Cradle to Cradle Certificate of the EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency).

The subsequent processing stages followed. The company produced the first recyclable bra, which attracted the interest of the public at the Nutec trade fair in November 2008 in Frankfurt.

Using Tencel fibres

The year 2014 saw the next phase of the development, when Lenzing’s Tencel fibres were used instead of eco-cotton. The first prototype was premiered at Interfilière in Paris in July 2014, and other production-ready products were shown at the next Interfilière in January 2015.

The company gathered many new ideas from the conversations at the fair, which it incorporated into the further development of the Tencel collection. “We were showing something completely new with these fabrics, which stimulated the interest of the visitors we met,” commented Harald Mai, the Director of Development at LE Textile.

The fabrics made from Tencel were being shown in the Show Room at the recent Fabric Start exhibition in Munich in February. They were one of the reasons why many of the visitors, who were particularly interested in their environmentally friendly features, paid a visit to Lauma’s stand, the group’s German subsidiary reports.

Full range of lingerie and apparel textiles

Lace raschel machines and high-speed raschel machines in the RSE series by Karl Mayer are used to produce the environmentally friendly fabrics made from Tencel fibres. According to the company, the use of the top-quality spun yarns with first-rate mechanical properties allow to ensure that fibre fly does not cause any problems during processing.

The previously used Dorlastan Type V550 elastomer, was used to provide elasticity in the sustainably produced warp-knitted textiles. This product from Asahi Kasei was granted the Environmental Compatibility Certificate by the Hohenstein Laboratories in November 2013. A special line in the collection also contains polyamide to ensure that the fabrics can mould to the body.

The following types of fabrics can be produced from the yarns:

• smooth, two-way-stretch fabrics having a dense surface and soft handle, produced on an RSE raschel machine in a gauge of E 28
• lightweight, all-over-patterned lace produced on a lace raschel machine in a gauge of E 24
• tulle having two different performance profiles, depending on the percentage of elastane used, and exhibiting a distinct, natural look, also produced on an RSE raschel machine in a gauge of E 28
• raschel-knitted fabrics with geometric patterns and two-colour effects produced by the package dyeing of polyamide and Tencel
• fabrics with a ribbed construction on the surface and two-way stretch, produced on an RSE 5 EL in a gauge of E 28

www.karlmayer.com