News for
January/February 2007

“Green” is a new color for Tuscarora Yarns
Mt. Pleasant, NC - Fresh on the heels of the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City where the buzz words were “green”, “organic”, “recycle” and “sustainability”, Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina, based Tuscarora Yarns announces its established range of ecologically friendly yarns.  Tuscarora has produced a recycled cotton based product “Remadeä” for over 20 years for the upholstery market; Tuscarora now moves beyond recycling by producing environmentally friendly and health conscious products.
Prominent amongst the range are:

Sustainable yarns produced from

Antimicrobial yarns produced from

Tuscarora brings its unique blending ability to combine these fibers in a vast array of yarns for apparel, hosiery, home furnishings and medical applications.
2/28/07

Legwear Business Leaders Assess “Green” Challenges and Opportunities
Charlotte, NC -- A record turnout of over 100 legwear business leaders crowded The Sawtooth Building in Winston-Salem, NC for an interactive panel to discuss strategic challenges and opportunities represented by environmental trends.
“This high level of participation from our members demonstrates our commitment to proactively meet consumer needs and seek growth opportunities,” commented Sally Kay, President and CEO of The Hosiery Association (THA), which spearheaded the event.

Key findings and highlights of the Green Factor meeting included:

The critical question that looms over the industry remains, “What is the premium that consumers will pay for organic or 100% recycled products?”
All participants affirmed their commitment to proactively produce products that are good for the environment and their bottom line.
2/27/07

Lectra Presents its New Generation of Fashion Solutions at Lectra World 2007
Paris – Lectra, a leader in software, CAD/CAM equipment and related
services dedicated to the fashion, automotive, aeronautical, marine and furniture industries, unveiled its new generation of value-added solutions specifically developed for fashion professionals (apparel, footwear and accessories) in Bordeaux on February 5-6.
Lectra presented its latest innovative solutions through a series of interactive workshops held in its new International Conference Center, which was inaugurated on this occasion at the company’s industrial site in Bordeaux-Cestas (France).
The new generation of Vector automated multiply cutting systems provides a
powerful response to the needs of manufacturers, including optimization of the use of  technological equipment in terms of productivity and quality, reduction of costs and improved process flexibility and reliability.
Lectra’s new Power service solutions provide clients with tailored expertise and high added-value benefits to help them improve the overall performance of their production systems and protect their business. This new offer includes complete, real-time monitoring of client’s systems by Lectra’s experts in their International Client Call Centers, a program of preventive maintenance and upgrading of pilot software.
Lectra Fashion PLM provides a virtual collaborative environment that supports the iterative processes of design and development (specifications, sourcing, engineering) as well as those of marketing and retailing.
Kaledo allows for the structuring of the creation collection process, providing intelligence and encouraging creativity and innovation while facilitating collaboration between designers and the various players involved in the product development cycle.
Modaris 3D Fit represents a major breakthrough in CAD software. With realistic simulation and visualization of three-dimensional models in a broad range of colors and materials, Modaris 3D Fit enables precise fitting control as well as style validation and collections review.
Integrated into Lectra’s pattern-making solutions, the Easy Grading automated grading application accelerates and simplifies grading activities for fashion companies, producing time savings of up to 70%.
2/27/07

ecVision Plans Enhancements to Enrich the XpressCommerce User Experience
Iselin, NJ – ecVision®, a provider of Product Lifecycle Execution™ solutions
for consumer brand retailers, today announced the availability of XpressCommerce® version 8.4 and its plans for version 8.5. XpressCommerce is a comprehensive PLE™ solution that delivers the key functions of product lifecycle management (PLM) and supply chain execution (SCE) systems in a single system. The result is a progressive product that transforms a global supply network through exceptional collaboration and visibility.
“The enhancements to XpressCommerce that are programmed for release this year reinforce our commitment to develop a product that enables retail organizations to optimize their product lifecycle management and supply chain execution capabilities,” said Cheryl Layne, Vice President of Products and Solutions for ecVision. “With its internationalization features, operating system support, robust reporting capabilities and dashboards that provide user-defined views into the lifecycle, organizations with a globally dispersed network of users and trading partners will operate with greater efficiency.”
The enhancements that are included in today’s release focus on upgrades to the administrative functionality of the system. Highlights of the enhancements in XpressCommerce 8.4 include: a high-powered report engine for report creation, scheduling, automated execution and distribution; internationalization support; and capabilities to perform batch updates on templates, schedules, and fields.
2/27/07

TUKATECH launches free e-consulting  services
Los Angeles, CA. USA - TUKATECH, a knowledge-based group of engineers, consultants and specialists in the apparel sector has been implementing systems and solutions for the last 10 years globally. Simultaneously, they have been setting up design, development and production centers around the world. Many “TUKA” customers work with buyers who need clarification, information, knowledge of process control etc. for smoother communication. In order to help the entire supply chain, the Board of Directors have decided to share its knowledge database with Apparel Technicians, Managers, Exporters and Importers. New updates will be added weekly.
contact knowledge@tukatech.com for details.
2/27/07

Wasatch Releases High Definition Printing With 16-Bit Color Rendering Pipeline
Salt Lake City – Wasatch Computer Technology has released Wasatch SoftRIP® version 6.1 featuring the industry’s first full 16-bit color rendering pipeline. This innovation builds upon Wasatch’s Precision Stochastic Screens halftoning method to bring high definition color quality to the printing process.
16-bit rendering improves image quality in much the same way as switching from a glossy file format like a jpeg to the data rich RAW format used by professional digital photographers. RIPs with 8-bit rendering lose color data in the printing process. SoftRIP v6.1 maintains the color data to produce output that is truly faithful to the original source image.  The effects of this innovation will be particularly dynamic when working with vector gradients and printing with lower quality consumables.
 “With SoftRIP’s 16-bit color pipeline, color accuracy is improved and tonal banding becomes a thing of the past,” says Wasatch Vice President Jay Griffin. “Wasatch 6.1 will create a new definition of color quality in the digital inkjet market.”
2/2/07

dualjet™ Digital Printing Systems
Charleston, SC - Innowave Solutions LLC introduces  the dualjet™ line of digital printing systems  for sublimation and cotton printing utilizing ArTainium™ sublimation ink and Chromablast™ cotton ink from Sawgrass Technologies. This two-in-one desktop garment solution allows users to easily decorate 100% cotton T-shirts, sweatshirts, polo shirts and polyester performance apparel all from one printer.
“Our strength in the sublimation market has always been the ability to design printing systems which specifically address the needs of our customers and the markets they serve,” says Peter Valinski, Owner of Innowave Solutions. "By leveraging our sublimation expertise in large-format textile printing, we can now offer small-format users a unique multi-purpose apparel solution including a partner they can rely on as a part of their printing success.”
1/29/07

Lectra Unveils Easy Grading, an Intelligent Automated Grading Application for the Apparel Industry
Paris -  Lectra, a leader in software, CAD/CAM equipment and related services dedicated to the fashion businesses, announces the release of Easy Grading, a unique and powerful automated grading application. This innovation will be included in Lectra’s Modaris and PGS pattern-design solutions.
In a context of permanent collections renewal, multiplying product lines, and body measurement disparities, Easy Grading optimizes the grading process for apparel-sector companies, facilitating and accelerating grading activities by up to 70%. This application also satisfies quality requirements and contributes to perfectly-fitting garments, while enabling professionals to get more precise costing information.
Easy Grading uses traditional grading methods through Lectra’s patented grading calculation tools, allowing users to grade patterns with greater transparency and contributing to grading method sharing and standardization within a company.
Easy Grading will be released in February 2007 as part of the newest releases of Modaris and PGS, Lectra’s world-renowned pattern-design solutions for the apparel industry. These solutions complete Lectra’s offering for design, development, manufacturing and product lifecycle management (PLM).
1/29/07

PA1200fa Front Apply Label Printer/Applicator by Tharo Systems, Inc.
Brunswick, Ohio - Tharo Systems, Inc. introduces the new PA1200fa Front Apply Label Printer/Applicator. This new Printer/Applicator can print and apply labels to the leading side of a product moving down a conveyor. The PA1200fa was designed, engineered and built by Tharo Systems and is currently available using the Tharo H-Series thermal/thermal transfer printers with print resolutions of 203 or 300 dpi.
After a label is printed, it is stripped from the liner and held by suction on the applicator tamp pad. The tamp pad is mounted on a heavy-duty swing arm that extends over a conveyor and tamps the label to the product. Labels can be as small as 2” x 1” and up to 4.4” x 8”.
1/24/07

Lectra Unveils Modaris 3D Fit, the Most Powerful Virtual Prototyping Solution in the Apparel Industry
Paris – Lectra, a leader in software, CAD/CAM equipment and related services dedicated to the fashion business, announces the release of Modaris 3D Fit, its unique, state-of-the-art 3D virtual prototyping solution for pattern makers, designers, product developers, and marketing and sales teams.
The integration of 3D prototyping and product visualization into the collections development and marketing cycle will enable apparel professionals to shorten lead times and reduce development costs while facilitating collaborative work and decision making between all participants involved.
 “More than half of a garment’s cost depends on decisions made during the design and
development phase. Thus, prototyping plays an important part in the success of a collection,” according to Astrid Marlier, Lectra’s product manager for pattern making and marker making for the fashion market. “Modaris 3D Fit provides fashion companies with an additional competitive advantage.”  This innovative solution will help reduce the number of physical prototypes required and facilitate communication inside the company and between brands and subcontractors, regardless of their number and location.
Associating fabric information (with a library of 120 fabrics and their mechanical characteristics), 2D patterns, and 3D virtual mannequins (standard and configurable), Modaris 3D Fit enables simulation and realistic visualization of three-dimensional garments, with their various fabrics, motifs and color ranges. It allows garment fits to be checked for ease, balance, sewing lines, proportions in various fabrics and sizes, and the fine-tuning of product specifications. Taking into account the creative constraints of the designer and the production constraints of the pattern maker, Modaris 3D Fit optimizes the review of virtual prototypes and decision making prior to realization of physical prototypes.
In line with Lectra’s strategy of accompanying its customers in “project mode,” Modaris 3D Fit will be coupled with expert services. These services—such as customer process audit and additional parameter-setting sessions on fabric characterization and specific 3D mannequins—are all supported by Lectra’s solutions experts and consultants. Paired with Lectra’s world-renowned pattern-design solutions (Modaris and PGS), Modaris 3D Fit enables apparel professionals to manage the constant acceleration of collections and customization of styles. Modaris 3D Fit completes Lectra’s offering for design, development, manufacturing and product lifecycle management (PLM).
1/24/07

Seamless Consortium Urges Industry to Meet Growing Demand for Seamless Products
Charlotte, NC --- The newly formed Seamless Consortium, an industry education group representing manufacturers, suppliers, marketers and retailers of seamless apparel, is urging its partners to be proactive in meeting the consumer demand for seamless products.
“When given a choice, consumers absolutely prefer the comfort, appearance, durability, performance benefits, and ease of care that seamless technology affords,” says Diane Donahue, president of Acme-McCrary Seamless Division and chair of the Consortium.
While consumers have benefited from seamless products and recognized its advantages, the industry as a whole has been slow to fully capitalize on the technology. “Manufacturers, suppliers and retailers have an extraordinary opportunity to provide consumers with higher margin products that they value and demand,” advises Molly Kremidas of Regal Worldtex and active member within the group.
The Seamless Consortium is launching its efforts to encourage the design, development, production and marketing of seamless garments at the January 27-30 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Show in Salt Lake City, UT. “We chose one of the fastest growing shows of its kind to demonstrate seamless technology’s diverse capabilities to create high performance sports gear with added benefits,” offers Donahue.  
Additionally, the group has developed an informative, comprehensive, easy-to-read Seamless Handbook highlighting the advantages of seamless technology. Seamless apparel producers, distributors, marketers, suppliers and retailers are encouraged to become actively involved within the Seamless Consortium.
1/24/07

Lectra Honors Top Design Faculty at the ITAA Annual Meeting
Atlanta, GA - Lectra, a leader in software, CAD/CAM equipment and related services dedicated to large-scale users of textiles, leather and industrial fabrics, demonstrated its support for educational programs that promote technology in the apparel industry through its participation in the 2006 International Textile and Apparel Association’s (ITAA) Annual Meeting, held November 1-3 in San Antonio, Texas. The ITAA is a professional educational association composed of leading university scholars, educators and students working in the textile, apparel and merchandising disciplines.
At the meeting, Lectra co-sponsored the faculty design competition and granted three prestigious awards.  The first, the “Lectra Outstanding Faculty Designer Award” went to Linda Ohrn from Kent State University for her garment inspired by the waves of the heart in their different forms. Ms. Ohrn’s innovative design earned her trip to Paris including a visit to Lectra’s world headquarters and an invitation to attend the renowned seasonal fabric exhibition show, Première Vision, in 2007.
The second award, the “Lectra Innovation Award for Faculty Research”, was presented to Jiyeon Kim from South Carolina University for her research on the adoption of sensory enabling technology.
The final award, the “Lectra Innovation Award for Teaching”, went to Paula Sampson from Ball State University for her project detailing the important aspect of updating and using technology with visual merchandising.
 “The innovation and creativity emerging from apparel schools continues to grow each year,” commented Ina Taub, Project Manager for Lectra Americas. “Lectra is proud of its long-standing support for the ITAA, as well as of the accomplishments of these leading educators.”
1/24/07

Avery Dennison Retail Information Services Offers Retailers ROI-centered, RFID Integrated Solutions
Westlake Village, Calif.— Integrated RFID solutions that specify return-on-investment as their central business objective are now available from Avery Dennison Retail Information Services. The solutions, which reflect the business concerns of apparel and footwear retailers and are designed to provide them with convenient, cost-effective programs for their labeling needs, range from a preliminary analytical review of a retailer’s RFID labeling needs to a complete business case analysis and project implementation program.
Solution components can include consulting services, case and item level technologies, tags, labels, label printers and applicators, software, EAS loss prevention, anti-counterfeit and anti-diversion products, and supply chain efficiency processes.
To address the specific needs of its customers, Avery Dennison RIS is launching a new set of antenna designs based on printed ink technology. Combined with advanced production techniques, the designs will enable Avery Dennison RIS to supply apparel and footwear retailers with RFID “edge on” readable tags at the most economical price.
“Our new designs allow us to produce tickets and tags on very thin label stock, making the RFID element less obtrusive,” Phil Calderbank, Avery Dennison RIS’ director of marketing – RFID & Security, explains. “Plus, our manufacturing process incorporates some novel concepts that result in higher yields, thereby reducing waste. Our customers will benefit from both the cost savings and the higher quality of our RFID products.”
1/23/07

Unifi Offers a Solution to the Market: Recycled Performance
Greensboro, N.C. – Recycled performance may sound counterintuitive, but Unifi doesn’t think so. Taking their innovation and sustainability commitment one step further, Unifi Inc. has developed a revolutionary new performance yarn under the Company’s aio®, all-in-one, product offering- aio® Repreve® - the first 100% recycled yarn with permanent performance benefits. And what’s even better, Unifi guarantees that Repreve® is 100% recycled-all the time.
As part of Unifi’s aio (all-in-one performance) yarn family, Unifi can permanently engineer the benefits of Sorbtek moisture management and/or Reflexx performance stretch within Repreve, resulting in a 100% recycled yarn with permanent performance.  The Repreve brand is a first quality recycled polyester fiber that adheres to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for recycled products. 
“Research shows that today’s active consumers want eco-friendly athletic apparel that also offers technical performance features, which is precisely the solution Unifi is offering to the market in aio Repreve,” said Roger Berrier, vice president of commercial operations for Unifi.  “Unifi wanted to offer the industry a solution, where our customers would not have to sacrifice performance for eco-friendliness.  The quality, design flexibility and performance of aio Repreve offers a recycled polyester solution applicable to a wide range of end uses – from stretch denim to performance apparel and outerwear.”  
1/22/07

Nike’s Larry Miller To Present Keynote at  2007 Apparel Executive Forum
Columbia, SC — Larry Miller, president of the highly acclaimed Jordan Brand for Nike, will present the Opening Keynote Address, “Brand Jordan: Behind the Legend,” at the 2007 Apparel Executive Forum, produced by Apparel magazine. 
Miller’s keynote will address how the Jordan brand continues to resonate with its core fans while also appealing to a new generation of consumers. He also will offer an inside look at how the brand has evolved, exploring the extension of the brand, the role of new technologies in developing performance products, the strategy behind the NikeID custom design concept and more.
“We are delighted to have Larry kicking off this year’s Apparel Executive Forum, which carries a theme of ‘Best-in-Class Strategies to Drive Performance,’ ” said Apparel’s publisher Susan Black. “The Jordan brand story is a perfect example of best-in-class and promises to be a fascinating discussion about the key components in a brand’s success — from product characteristics to the consumer experience.”
The Apparel Executive Forum is an invitation-only event that brings together 75 to 100 senior-level executives representing apparel retailers, brands and manufacturers. It provides thought-leading content and unparalleled networking opportunities for exchanging ideas and developing strategic alliances. This year’s 7th annual forum will take place October 7-9, 2007, at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Key Biscayne, FL.  For more information, visit www.apparelmag.com.
1/15/07

Avery Dennison Retail Information Services and Vue Technology to Deliver Item-Level RFID Options to Retailers
Westlake Village, Calif. and Lake Forest, Calif. – Avery Dennison Retail Information Services (RIS) and Vue Technology today announced a marketing alliance that will deliver cost-efficient item-level RFID solutions to apparel, footwear and consumer goods retailers.  Under the agreement, Avery Dennison RIS will jointly market its broad line of item-level RFID tags and labels, label printers and printing software with Vue Technology’s industry-leading RFID infrastructure, networking and software products. 
The alliance will equip retailers with multi-component item-level RFID solutions that are designed specifically to provide both front and back room store execution benefits, including reduced out of stocks, increased efficiencies, and decreased labor costs and product shrink.  
 “Vue’s TrueVUE™ RFID Platform provides a unified RFID infrastructure that allows retailers to manage dock doors, portals, mobile devices, smart surfaces and smart shelves,” said Sharon Dalton, worldwide manager of alliances at Avery Dennison Retail Information Services. “This enables retailers to achieve RFID visibility down to the item-level. When combined with our tags, labels, printers and software, we are now uniquely positioned to provide extraordinarily effective solutions to retailers.” 
The combined product offering makes RFID solutions affordable for companies that may have previously found them cost-prohibitive.  For example, Vue Technology’s patented RF networking technology dramatically reduces conventional infrastructure costs by allowing standard RFID readers to network across thousands of antennas.
Through the alliance, Avery Dennison RIS and Vue will provide retail customers with complete item-level solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of a particular retailer, with the flexibility to deliver item-level benefits and ROI within pilot projects or full-scale deployments.   
1/9/07

Wasatch Releases Expanded Hi-Fi Capabilities and Speed Improvements for Epson Printers
Salt Lake City – Wasatch Computer Technology has announced new Epson
x800 drivers for use with exotic and alternative inksets. Today’s release introduces tools for customized inksets and greatly enhanced hi-fi printing. As a result, users can now achieve expanded gamuts, increased print speeds, and specialized niche application output.
The enhanced Epson x800 driver set supports True Dual CMYK Printing, similar to what is available on the x400 Epson series abroad. Using two CMYK print head banks simultaneously produces premium output with production-level speed.
The new hi-fi inkset creator streamlines the use of the 8 print heads for expanded gamut
printing. SoftRIP’s inkset wizard walks users through the selection and designation of inks such as orange, green, blue, red etc. The inkset customizer is available for use with all future hi-fi drivers in Wasatch SoftRIP.  The new driver set also provides flexibility for using these devices for multiple output applications without changeover costs and delays. Users may combine various ink configurations to achieve photographic, dye sublimation, and monochrome film output with one device.
1/9/07

OptiTex Introduces a Network Version for Nest++2, its Advanced Automatic Nesting Application
Petach-Tikva, Israel -- Israeli based OptiTex, a leading provider of software for the textile and fashion industry, recently announced the completion of its network version for Nest++2, the advanced automatic nesting application for the textile and automobile accessory industries.
The application incorporates a sophisticated algorithm for nesting, thus enabling patterns in the textile and automobile accessory industries (car upholstery, for example) to be put together in the most optimal way to achieve maximum utilization of fabric and to significantly reduce costs. The upgraded version of the application is innovative in that it enables the work to be done on a few computers simultaneously, allowing for markers to be optimized in overnight processes while being queued and executed in any batch or way specified by the user.
The Nest++2 solution delivers better results than those achieved manually. Only basic specifications are required for the application to automatically produce more efficient and condensed solutions. The application takes all the existing technical constraints into consideration, obtains fast results, enables precise cost proposals regarding the amount of fabric required, increases fabric utilization, elevates nesting standards, and reduces time and labor. Nest++2 is an independent software application that operates with OptiTex Marker Making software and/or other advanced CAD programs (computer-aided design programs) on the market.
1/2/07