CHAPTER 8 AND 9
THE TEXTILE AND FABRIC INDUSTRY
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
• Produce fibers, yarns and fabrics for fashion and
other products
• Extremely vital part of overall apparel industries
• Very large and vital to the economies of the US
FABRIC PRODUCTION
• 4 main steps in the production of finished fabrics:
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1. Fiber production
2. Yarn production
3. Fabric (cloth) production
4. Fabric Finishing:
• Processes involve highly specialized machinery and
great skill
• Firms strive for peak production and maximum
quality at lowest cost
• Also concerned about not damaging environment
STEP 1: FIBER PRODUCTION
• Fibers: thin, hair like strands that are the basic units in
textiles
• Agricultural industries supply natural fibers: cotton,
wool, flax, and silk
• Chemical companies produce manufactured
fibers: rayon, nylon, spandex, acetate and polyester
• Most are liquid chemical mixtures that form into thin
threads and solidify
• Manufactured fiber began in early 1900s grown in
popularity
STEP 2: YARN PRODUCTION
• Yarns are continuous strands, usually of multiple
fibers, ready for knitting, weaving, or other
processing into cloth
• Mills spin fibers into yarns
• Sometime several fibers twisted together to make
yarns
• A lot of yarn production is done the Southeast or in
other countries
STEP 3: FABRIC MANUFACTURING
• Fabric is cloth made from textile fibers and yarns
• Huge mechanized looms and knitting machines
produce great amounts of goods very fast
• Cloth is still unfinished: called greige goods
STEP 4: FABRIC FINISHING
• Done by bleaching, dyeing, printing, or applying
special coatings to the greige goods.
• This makes the color, texture, patterns, ease of care
and other characteristics
• Textile Converters: firms who buy greige goods for
finishing
• Keep tabs on what’s in fashion to anticipate
demand from buyers
DISTRIBUTION
• Sales offices market the finished fabric to:
• Apparel and accessory designers
• Fabric retailers
• Specialist for home and industrial uses
• Many firms have showrooms in NYC near the Garment
District
OTHER USES FOR TEXTILES
• Textiles are used for home furnishings too
• Upholstery, carpets, curtains, drapes
• Tablecloths, napkins, sheets, towels, blankets,
bedspreads, lampshades
• These goods are expected to last longer
than apparel items so have to have
performance characteristics such as
stain resistance, colorfastness, and
durability.
• Home furnishing trends are much slower
to change trends than apparel industries
TEXTILE MARKETING
• Marketing: process of finding or creating a
profitable market for specific goods or services
• Identifies customers, determines customers’ wants
and needs, and provides satisfying products at
acceptable prices to those customers
• Prices must also give profit to the company
• To create and sell fabrics successfully, marketing
strategies of the textile firms must ensure that the
right fabrics are available at the right time and at
the right place
FASHION CONSIDERATIONS
• Before developing fabrics, companies must:
• Come up with early projections of color, textures,
designs
• Must meet public acceptance at the time they
reach the market
• Textile Designers make these decisions year and a
half before public sees the fabrics
COLOR
• Color is the most important factor in
drawing a consumer to an item
• How do designer pick the colors a year and
half ahead?
• Logic, research and gut feeling
• Best and worst colors from previous season
are analyzed
• Same color family might be kept in popular
(ex- burgundy to purple to pink)
• Colors not used in a while brought back
FORECASTING SERVICES
• Business consultants that look
about 2 years ahead to predict
coming trends
• Foresee colors, textures,
silhouettes, and accessories for
the future
Sell this information to companies
that subscribe
• Present ideas in trend books,
color cards, fabric swatches,
videos, slides, sketches and on
their websites
FASHION FABRIC SALES
• Fabric collections are produced
with intended uses: for example
children’s wear or men’s sport
shirts, or bed sheets.
• Collections given distinct names
to help market them
• Maintain Fabric Libraries in their
showrooms for use by the
companies who buy from them
TECHNOLOGY
• Important to satisfy the market
• Research and Development
departments provide new
knowledge, new products and
improve old products
• New machinery
• New manufactured fibers
• New chemical finishes
• Innovation: creative, forward
thinking, introduction to new ideas
TEXTILES WORLDWIDE
• Textile industry is worldwide
scope
• US manufactures some textiles
increasingly brings in fibers, yarns
and fabrics from other counties
(importing)
• Imported because:
• 1. they have high quality
production
• 2. prices are low
• Lower wages for labor and lower
factory operation costs
• Example: Lace from France, Silk
from China, Wool from United
Kingdom
EXPORTS
• Firms also export: commercial products are sent out
of country
• US imports far more than exports creating trade
deficit
• Negative economic condition because the amounts of
imports is greater than the amount of exports
• Growing competition mostly from lower prices have cut into
the textile industry of the US: large amounts of money and
jobs lost, firms and factories closed
FUTURE OF TEXTILES
• Due to global competition, US textile industry is
more innovative and progressive
• Adapt rapid changes, higher degree of computer
technology
• Establishing American owned plants in other
countries
• Demands for textiles is always in the rise
• Experts predict Polyester to be predominant fiber
• Cotton will always be popular
• Environmentally friendly processing will increase
HOME SEWING PATTERNS
• Pattern making companies design and
make patterns for the home sewing market
• Make people have “sewing” skills but very
few have
“pattern making” skills
• Pattern catalogs are in fabric stores ahead
of the season for the type of garment
• Some companies even offer free sewing
patterns online that you can print off from
home computer
• Guide sheets are printed with the patterns as
a step by step illustrated direction for all
steps
• Notions are listed
• Fabric types are suggested too
PATTERN COMPANIES
• Designer Patterns: offered to give
home sewers access to some
couture designs
• Signature lines: have endorsement of
celebrities through licensing
• Easy to Sew: designs that are simple
to cut and make
DESIGNING THE PATTERNS
• Designed the same way ready to wear is done
• Designers are inspired by American and foreign
fashions
• Follow advice from trade publications and
fashion magazines
• Consider requests from customers
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Rough First sketch: Croquis
Shows front and back and any special details
Presented to management for Ok
Then final drawing with suitable fabric drawn for
display on cover of pattern envelope
INNOVATIONS FOR FUTURE:
• Pattern markings and instructions will become
bilingual
• European Patterns will become more available in Us
• More multi-sized patterns (several sizes printed
together on one pattern)
• More patterns for knit fabrics because the fabric is
becoming more popular
• Continue to see more computer software to design
your own patterns
THE END 