Editor's Viewpoint

The long awaited re-launch of the leading free content website for the knitting and hosiery industries is here at last. This month brings the highly anticipated re-launch of www.knittingindustry.com , which offers readers even greater benefits than before.

At the spring trade shows in Paris last week, leading Austrian cellulosic fibre producer Lenzing presented its latest eco fibre, MicroModal Edelweiss, which is made from European beech wood using eco manufacturing processes. Lenzing's textile fibres go in to knitted textiles for apparel as well as fabrics for sportswear and and healthcare applications. We were interested to find out more and attended the Edelweiss launch press conference at

Leading manufacturer of warp knitted seamless (WKS) garments Cifra, which has recently signed a collaboration agreement with circular seamless giant Tefron, exhibited at ISPO in Munich last month for the first time, claiming the show was a resounding success. Cifra says buyers were actually queuing to get on to the company's booth at the 17 hall, 80,000 visitor sportswear and sports equipment show. This was the first time the Milan based knitter had showcased at a sports

Billy Hunter meets Monforts Vice President, Klaus Heinrichs at ITMA in Barcelona Leading dyeing and finishing machinery manufacturer A. Monforts Textilmaschinen showcased its latest products for dyeing, finishing and sanforising at ITMA 2011 in Barcelona with special emphasis on energy saving solutions and environmental protection. The Mönchengladbach based company showed its wares on an impressive open plan 500 m² booth. Before t

The best knitting and probably textile technology story at the recent ITMA in Barcelona, was for me, the simultaneous introduction of combined spinning-knitting machines by three leading circular knitting machine builders - Germany's Mayer & Cie and Terrot and Taiwan's Pailung. All three companies had obviously been developing their concepts for some time before ITMA, but only two showed

ITMA, which kicks off tomorrow in Barcelona, is still the world's leading textile and garment machinery exhibition. Although shows based in Asia such as ITMA Asia + CITME attract similar exhibitor and visitor numbers, traditionally there has been nothing which even comes close to ITMA in terms of innovation in the textile machinery world. Barcelona should be no exception. The question is - how much real innovation will ther