Design Project with Focus on Sustainability and Environment Protection
In search of a product to stabilize delicate knitwear and to fix fine yarns, Tim Rühl, a student in the Master in Knitwear Design program, contacted us. The project was a collaboration between the fashion house Alexander McQueen, Kering and the Master’s program in Knitwear of the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris.
“The project involved the interpretation of the McQueen universe, a personal view on today's biodiversity issues, and innovations with sustainable materials.“
GOTS-Certified Yarns, Recycling of Materials and Waste Prevention
The focus of Rühl’s design project was on sustainability and environmental protection. The selected materials consisted of GOTS-certified yarns as well as of recycled materials that were refined and upgraded. To avoid waste and offcuts, the designer aimed to knit all the pieces directly into shape. The jacquard jersey could not be knitted into shape for technical reasons, which meant that it had to be tailored afterwards.
The yarn used for the knitted fabric is GOTS-certified and consists of 82 % organic cotton and 18 % polyamide. In order to achieve the extremely high transparency of the fabric, it was necessary to use very fine and delicate yarns. The polyamide blend provided the yarn with the necessary tear resistance.
PERIPRET CTS liq. for the Stabilization of Delicate Knitwear
PERIPRET CTS liq. is a product that meets the designer’s requirements in terms of sustainability and environmental protection. Originally, the product is used as a modern sizing agent for warps and it is suitable for spray application. In Tim Rühl’s design project, PERIPRET CTS liq. was applied as a stabilizing agent which was sprayed onto the knitted parts and then dried. This stiffened the loops of the knitwear and locked the designed runs, preventing them from further unraveling.
PERIPRET CTS liq. Based on Chitosan Polymers
PERIPRET CTS liq. is a GOTS-certified textile auxiliary which is based on the biopolymer chitosan. The product has a high adhesion power for staple fiber yarns.
What Is Chitosan?
Chitosan and chitosanprodukte are derived from chitin, a renewable raw material. After cellulose, chitin is the most abundant natural biopolymer. It is the main component of the exoskeleton of insects, spiders, and crustaceans. Big amounts of chitin waste arise from crab peeling as well as from the production of animal feed made of insects. The vegan variant can be produced from residues of mushroom cultivation.Chitosan can either be obtained by chitin acetylation with hot caustic soda or enzymatic decomposition with chitin deacetylase. There is a fluent transition between chitin and chitosan. The product is called chitosan when the acetyl groups of the chitin polymers are degraded by 40 to 50 % and the product is soluble in organic acids. Due to its film-forming properties chitosan biopolymer are very suitable as sizing agent, among other applications.
Are You Interested in Sustainable Textile Finishing?
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- Sylvia Palikowski
- Application technology
- +49 7121 9589-24
- sylvia.palikowski@drpetry.de