21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviraltextiles in ItalyBy Brenda Dionisi 19 April 2021

English

Italian high-end textile companies are integrating sophisticated antiviral technology into their product ranges in response to demanddriven by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the antibacterial properties of textiles have been a trend in the fashion sector for some time, particularly for athleisure clothing integratingodour-limiting properties, Covid-19 has prompted many textile and fashion companies to conduct research and development into fabrics andclothing designed to kill or harm viruses.

This work builds on how microbe-fighting materials from the healthcare sector have been utilised by the apparel and sportswear sectors, beingpresented as wellness technology. But as the pandemic evolves globally, “there has been a realisation in the textiles industry that fibres and finishesthat can defend against airborne illness will be a bigger consideration for customers both now and in the future,” says Helen Palmer, head ofmaterials, knit and textiles at global trends forecaster WGSN.

“We are starting to see antiviral apparel entering the market, but presently for higher end and innovative brands,” Palmer explains, citing Italianluxury textile manufacturer the Albini Group, which supplies shirting fabric to luxury brands and groups such as Kering, Prada and Armani.

Albini has developed antiviral products working with Swiss textile innovation firm HeiQ, which first developed its patent pending HeiQ Viroblocktextile finishing treatment in 2013, during the Ebola crisis.

Albini’s ViroFormula fabric is ideal for producing “shirts, jackets and trousers, as well as for masks, gowns and any other garment,” according toAlbini. It has already been picked up by Italian brand Apposta for custom-made dress shirts.

HeiQ’s antiviral treatment can be applied to all fibre types, from medical nonwovens, such as for face masks, to fabrics for clothing and hometextiles. It has International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification regarding ISO 18184 (antiviral) and ISO 20743 (antibacterial).

HeiQ’s textile finishing uses antimicrobial silver, whose charge attracts viruses to spherical liposomes which deplete the virus membrane ofcholesterol, with the silver able to kill up to 99.99% of SARS-CoV-2 (the Covid-19 causing virus) on textile surfaces in 30 minutes.

So, this is a powerful product – however, even HeiQ could bear improvement. Its treatment’s antiviral properties are limited in time, with Albinireporting that its antiviral power fades after 30 washes at 60°C maximum and as regards wool, after five dry cleans.

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Such concerns have been inspiring the synthetic Italian fibre producer Fulgar SpA, which in January this year began producing at scale its antiviralsynthetic yarn Q-Skin, designed to tap into the sustainability narrative. Last year it partnered with Belgian firm Rhodia-Solvay Group to produce anddistribute across Europe its permanent antiviral Amni Virus-Bac OFF based yarns.

The antiviral and antibacterial agent is permanently incorporated into the polymer matrix of the 6.6 polyamide yarn, and antiviral properties arepermanent. The science behind the development is based on electron affinity, preventing viruses from anchoring on the textile surface whilstneutralising viruses and preventing replication and contamination.

ELECTRON AFFINITY

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21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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(/media/11464353/web-fulgar_texturizing-plant-2.jpg)

Machines Fulgar’s state-of-the-art yarn texturing plant

“With sustainability now at the centre of all product development, the production of this new yarn has a low ecological impact and the product itselfhas a longer life,” says Alan Garosi, marketing manager at Fulgar, tells WTiN. “Further, since it does not contain silver ions like other antiviraltreatments might, the yarn does not release harmful chemicals at washing into the environment, so this is a major plus.”

Garosi says interest in the antiviral yarn, which boasts the same other technical and material standards of non-treated polyamides, so far has beenused in select garment categories such as athleisure, intimate wear and outerwear. “Since it takes about six months to develop a collection, weexpect to see this interest materialise over the next few months,” he reveals.

21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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Alan Garosi, marketing manager at synthetic fibre specialist Fulgar

In January, a major producer of seamless warp knit apparel, Milan-based Cifra SpA, launched a sports and athleisure collection using the Q-Skinyarn. The garment line features base layers, leggings, tops, long-sleeve shirts, helmet liners and accessories such as gloves and water bottlecovers, with the garments made using Cifra’s proprietary seamless warp knit WKS technology.

Running has grown in popularity since the start of the pandemic and these technical body-mapping garments are perfect for anyone participating inthe sport, says Cifra’s CEO Cesare Citterio. “The line’s iconic item is a long-sleeved base layer featuring a turtleneck that becomes a face maskthat runners can conveniently pull up over the mouth and nose for brief stops during or after a run,” explains Citterio. “I’ve tried it myself whenrunning and it really gives added functionality. It would also be ideal for [outdoor] sports like skiing.”

The strongest feature of Fulgar’s new yarn is permanence, yet with no migration of antiviral and antibacterial agents onto the skin and into theenvironment, Citterio claims. “While permanent antiviral fabric treatments were not yet available at the start of the pandemic, research andinnovation have since responded to this demand and, at least with synthetic knitted fabrics, we can now extend the life of antiviral garments andhave unlimited washes.”

The sportswear collection is sold on a dedicated e-commerce platform, where Cifra also sells face masks treated with HeiQ Viroblock.

“We are a B2B company and decided to release a sportswear line direct to consumers to more quickly bring this technology to market and also usethe collection as a showcase for our clients and brands interested in incorporating antiviral garments in upcoming collections,” says Citterio.

“There has been particularly strong interest in antiviral fabrics during the pandemic and our hope is that this trend will persist post-pandemic,especially now that we can supply highly functional, well-made and certified antiviral polyamides with a permanent effect.”

BODY-MAPPING GARMENTS

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21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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(/media/11464352/web-cifra-s-new-antiviral-body-mapping-sportswear-collection-credit-cifra-spa.jpg)

Antiviral body-mapping sportswear from seamless warp knit apparel producer Cifra

Meanwhile, last September Sweden-based textile technology firm Polygiene launched ViralOff, which can reduce viruses – including SARS-CoV-2– by 99% within two hours. Its antiviral agent is a colloidal silver-based biocide (not silver nanoparticles), which interacts with key proteins, inhibitingthe virus from attaching to textile fibres and thus reducing the possibility of cross contamination.

This technology has been picked up by the Veneto, Italy-based natural fibre textile producer Marzotto Group, and, after running several trials toensure treatment resistance following multiple water and dry washings, it is applying the technology at finishing for all its divisions producing naturalfibre fabrics, such as wool, linen and cotton.

Thus far, the market response for these fabrics has been interesting, ‘especially in Asia,’ Giorgio Todesco, CEO of Marzotto Wool Manufacturing,tells WTiN. Customers’ needs have changed since the start of the pandemic and they are now paying greater attention to the technical performanceof the products they buy, he observes.

“Although we believe that when the pandemic will be under control there will be less research on antimicrobial products, we think that ViralOfffabrics will always be interesting and, particularly, they will become a standard requirement in the segment of professional uniforms,” he says.

TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE

21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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(/media/11464354/web-viralofffabrics2.jpg)

Woven fabric from the Marzotto Group treated with the ViralOff technology from Swedish company Polygiene

GRAPHENE YARN

21/04/2021 Covid-19 continues to inspire new antiviral textiles in Italy

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Another novel and sustainable antiviral yarn is being made with biomass-derived graphene by Swiss technical textile producer Technow SA. Sincethe company’s graphene fabrics have several proven properties, including electro-conductivity, thermal-regulation and antibacterial properties, earlyin the pandemic it decided to test SARS-CoV-2 on one of its rayon and graphene extruded fabrics. Results showed a 98.83% reduction in viral loadafter two hours.

“We decided to test our ‘smart’ yarn against Covid-19 to fully understand the remarkable properties of this innovative material,” says FrancescoLazzati, a Technow founder and head of business development. “Initially we thought of its potential as a fabric for face masks and the needs of themedical sector, even if this is not our current customer base.” Clients and brands have since expressed interest in the fabric for outerwear andaccessories such as scarves and gloves, he reveals.

The graphene-extruded fabric is especially noteworthy for its low environmental footprint and impact on natural systems, Lazzati tells WTiN. “Firstly,our graphene does not come from a non-renewable mineral, such as graphite but from burnt corn cobs – a biomass waste product from the foodindustry. Further, there is no chemical pollution in the whole production process.”

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Looking ahead, while much development has taken place during the pandemic, it remains unclear whether we will see antiviral clothes as astandard ‘must-have’ anytime soon.

“There’s still a clear absence of these technologies for mass market fashion consumers,” says Nia Silva, materials editor at New York-based fashiontrends forecasting agency Fashion Snoops. “At the moment, most large-scale efforts are targeted to applications for global health care industries inthe form of personal protective equipment (PPE) masks, gowns, suits and surgical dressings.”

Antiviral finishing technologies can add a considerable cost difference, Silva adds, so products built for longevity, such as outerwear pieces, are keyareas for development.

And while antiviral technologies are being developed across Europe, the US and Asia, to date applications in the fashion apparel industry havebeen limited to specialty drops, such as the antiviral jeans launched by Italian brand Diesel, which brokered a 100% exclusive on the use of ViralOffand Polygiene’s anti-odour technology for select jeans garments in its spring/summer 2021 collection.

Silva adds that environmental regulations mandating such chemical finishing technologies might put the brakes on any long-term adoption ofantiviral apparel. “The demand for antiviral technologies has been global, but the European Union tends to be stricter in chemical usage for appareland textiles in comparison to the US or Asia, so this might affect the availability of these technologies on a mass market scale for fashion,” heexplains.

On the whole, interest in antiviral textiles has been mixed, with a healthy dose of scepticism, adds Palmer, but the proof will be in the selling. “UnderArmour’s antiviral treated Sportsmasks sold out within the first hour, so we can see there is a future for virus-repelling textiles,” she concludes.

FUTURE DEMAND PROSPECTS

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References

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