Over the last 8 years there has been a trend in Nylon Elastane performance fabrics.  Its properties allow for better comfort, breathable and easy care.

However it comes with challenges in production such as running lines, barre and inconsistent stretch and recovery if not developed and produced in a certain way.

I was fortunate enough to be working with nylon fibres since the late 90’s in staple and filament spinning, dyeing and finishing.  I was able to take my knowledge from this into my role as Director of Raw Material Innovation with Lululemon.  Where I partnered with a number of mills to develop and commercialize the majority of their franchised core fabrics.

This included creating a full fibre to garment process to ensure consistency in performance and appearance.

I was the first to develop and commercialize 50gg interlock nylon spandex working with our mill partner.  This was an extremely tough challenge to get the desired appearance, hand and fit that gave the buttery soft feel.

A lot more manufacturers of Nylon Elastane fabrics now and only a few can do it consistently,  As seen in the photos where I corrected the finishing process of this Nylon Lycra Interlock fabric.  You can see the creases, running lines and poor selvedges in the photos, then the final corrected product that is running very flat.