ABACELL is a revolutionary paper yarn that combines the advantages of Washi paper and Abaca – also known as Manila hemp, a species of banana tree cultivated in the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica as an industrial cultivation. It is a sustainable solution for the modern textile industry, environmentally friendly and 100% biodegradable. Abacell is water-resistant, lighter than cotton, highly durable, breathable, UV-resistant, antibacterial, cool feeling.
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Why talk about such a particular material suitable to be applied in worlds that are very different from each other, such as that of fashion, but also, with due attention, to that of safety, perhaps by studying natural and hyper-breathable socks? Because it denotes an increasingly pressing trend in the world of materials: taking inspiration from nature to create products that can maintain the required performance (think of the world of sports as well as that of work & safety). The challenge, however, is to invent new frontiers of raw materials. Materials that are able to combine technical requirements with environmental protection. Recycling, but even better biobased and biodegradability are increasingly at the center of attention.
Attention that ranges and invests all the components of a shoe. It is not limited to the ‘simplest’ parts but also goes so far as to rethink the structures, which have always been the backbone of a model that cannot ignore reliability, resistance and ergonomics.
Yet there are those who push themselves towards the new lands of the unexplored and the innovative. Like ALOFT. The brand presents a technology that makes it possible to produce 100% recyclable and very light soles dedicated above all to the world of safety because they guarantee high technical performance.
And there are those who venture into fields where making mistakes is prohibited, precisely by law, in which the protection of workers is absolutely in the first place: anti-perforation materials.
BIAGIOLI developed three articles for the safety shoe, that follow the new anti-perforation standard for 3 mm nails. They are conductive materials, some made with approximately 20% recycled yarn, therefore environmentally friendly. Material made from fully recycled high-density polyethylene.
POINTEX
POINTEX also deals with anti-perforation with its references dedicated to the world of work & safety and which present a touch of innovation.
Safety footwear made from fabrics created with polyurethane yarns, which are highly abrasion-resistant and pass all tests. Four different types of product: knitted fabric with circular machine weaving; padded fabric with polyurethane yarns, which also have thermal comfort characteristics; three-dimensional fabrics with high breathability; jacquard fabrics. In this case, the sustainable touch is inherent in the company being both GRS (recycling) and GOTS (sustainable and responsible development of organic textiles) certified.
LENZING AND COATS FOOTWEAR
Two important companies in the safety supply chain touch the world of uppers. A collaboration between LENZING and COATS FOOTWEAR resulted in the footwear industry’s first synthetic-free uppers and engineered fabrics, made with Lenzing’s TENCEL™ Lyocell Filament using Coats Footwear’s ProWeave™, an exclusive patented jacquard weaving technology that can be used with a range of different fibres and yarns. The first practical use of this colab is Circle Sportswear’s ‘SuperNatural Runner’, the first synthetic-free performance footwear using TENCEL™ Lyocell Filament blended with wool using ProWeave™ technology and other bio-based materials. The step to the world of safety is very short.
PRANEM
This excursus closes with the companies that work to innovate the world of work & safety with the stress to which we are subjecting our planet in mind, PRANEM. Their production includes a material that is intended for the production of polyurethane injected insoles and insoles. A conductive knitted fabric with a protective film on the back that has two functions: it blocks the flow of polyurethane during the injection phase and enlarges the conduction surface as this material has to discharge static electricity. And also, an insole safety material, Strobel seam, produced from post-consumer regenerated fibres.
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