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Update 59: 11-02-2023
Project Re-FREAM is long finished by now, but I am still working on project Marinero. In fact, I have been working on project Marinero since 2018. It became even more my mission in 2021 to push even further and to broaden my horizon. My dear cousin, who was like a brother to me, commit suicide during the corona pandemic in 2021. Ever since I have felt an empty void inside me, which was not a good place for me to be in. I remembered our last conversations and I decided to follow up on some wishes he shared with me before. Around that same period I got in contact with a new knitting product developer, named Damien Semerdjian. He is a very talented knitting technician from Paris. We collaborated an entire year to finish a very special design, which is an ode to my cousin. I must say that I was very lucky to work with Damien. He really showed a lot of love and hard work to make my design extra special. During the end of our collaboration he told me that after one year he started to understand my vision, and that he was very happy with the end result. When I look at the Michelangelo dress I can see a lot of things, memories from the past and all the places I have visited in my life. It truly touches my heart, and I can not wait to sell it to consumers. I am truly lucky and extra thankful to work with such amazing teams. The final prototype was scanned by Jaap from Replicad, and 3D artist Misha Gurovich created the atmosphere, which is inspired by fisherman village SalobreƱa.

3D art by: Misha Gurovich
Scan by: Replicad
Biodegradable yarns: Aitex
Materials: TextielLab Tilburg
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Update 58: 09-11-2022
After Damien and myself have selected official samples we started working on the pattern blueprint of the knitted Michelangelo dress. To make this pattern has been a step by step process and lasted several months. Damien has really put his dedication into adjusting the blueprint until it finally matched my vision. It has been a very technical and difficult process, because our goal is to 3D knit an entire dress in one single complete piece. Meaning that everything is organically connected, no seams and no separate patterns. Each and single adjustment caused an entire domino effect within the digital blueprint. The way to work was that Damien needed to knit an entire test dress, put it on the mannequin and add marking points to adjust where it was needed. This could be for example the placement of the pleats hip wave, or the split that needs to perfectly end within the armpit area. We continued this process several times until it was perfect. Damien produced at least 4 test prototypes until we found the correct balance. The final step to proceed was to select yarns and colors to continue the production. Official colors are: orange, green, yellow, blue and several mixed color combinations. A total of 8 Michelangelo haute couture prototypes will be produced to finally complete the capsule collection.
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Update 57: 06-09-2022
The third week knitting development has been challenging for me. I needed to work on a weaving and knitting project at the same time. It was manageable but challenging for me to focus on two totally different worlds. At the same time I really enjoyed those moments very deeply, mainly because both processes are going so well. When both projects go well I get happy, and this works very good for my soul. The process with Damien is nearly complete. We just have to find the right balance to create the pattern for the knitted dress. Damien communicates all the challenges and concessions we need to make if I really want to push something forward that I have in my mind. At this time in the project I feel positive to learn about what the boundaries are and to work around these boundaries, to kind of search for the limits and hope for the best in the end. All the ingredients are there currently to create the perfect dress that I have inside my mind. I just have to see the samples and intuitively analyze how to work around those final steps.
The main challenges that Damien had to endure with was the addition of the split and the wave bulb form that have to be integrated in one single knitted pattern. Damien explained me that with all the techniques that I want to combine it would be better to knit separate parts. To me personally this felt like the option when everything else does not seem to work. So, we continued to still combine and experiment, maybe it would work. Damien explained me with what kind of patterns he works in his software program. I cut these patterns to demonstrate Damien how I would like the bulb-form to look like. At the same time I let Damien know that I would like to incorporate moulage codes into the knitting pattern. Like for example: square goes on square and triangle goes on triangle etc. We will add this later on when the final knitted pattern is fully defined.
The knitted dress that we are making seems to be inspired by two woven dresses combined. The haute couture dresses from Tormenta have the bulb-form and pleating techniques. It's interesting to put these woven and knitted samples next to each other. The most interesting part of the new knitted dress design is the pleated swirl that we are creating. The movements and shapes really remind me of the Adaptive Archi-Filament. It's lovely how we can transfer the aesthetic of the Archi-Filament concept and transfer it into a blown up sculptural shape! My goal is that we will finalize the entire pattern within the forth week of the knitting development.
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Update 56: 12-08-2022
The second week knitting development has been all about creating the back-part of the Adaptive Archi-Filament dress design. The front part has already been determined in the first week. First of all, Damien and I created a single piece of front-part design in order to see if we could create a beautiful framework around it, meaning that the finishing will already have its own royal gesture! During the second test sample we already concluded that the framework idea is correct and fit for the total design. I am very lucky that Damien is super skilled, and even more happy that he was able to create all these different design ideas within one piece of knitting textile. At first he said it was impossible and that I needed to sew those pieces together, but during the process Damien was able to knit the seams together. I was shocked and overwhelmed that Damien was able to pull it off in the end!
When Damien finished the final front-panel textile sample I had the idea to create a bigger piece out of it. Damien advised me that we should do a raw version large scale kitting pattern, meaning that I needed to forget about the details a little bit. The detailed version will come later when the raw shape will be further defined. It was already nice for me to play around on the mannequin with the small fabric swatches. It really embodies the wave dress from Tormenta. It also reminds me a little bit of the bulb dress from the Tormenta collection. This dress has a pleating effect that closes near the shoulder and open towards the hip. I love to play around with these kind of open and close techniques! The knitting design embodies 2 of the woven haute couture garments that I created for Tormenta.
What I learned so far from knitting is that knitting structures can be very deep, meaning that woven structures can be much more lighter and flat. The deeper you go with knitting causes the textile to have more weight on it, meaning that the chain structure could have a more bulky and heavy feel to it. This also depends on the yarns and filaments we use to create the design. The mistake that I initially made is that I almost wanted to copy the design idea from the woven Tormenta wave dress, and to transfer it into the knitting structure using different textiles qualities in the front and back-panels of the dress. This would mean that the front and back panels would have complete different weights on them. I tested the first moulage effects and it was not working! The front panel is heavier compared to the back panel. I just wanted to disrupt this entire initial idea and just use my common sense to solve this issue!
  • How did I design the woven Tormenta wave dress? Using similar weight and woven design panels in the front and back part of the dress.
  • How can I fix the knitting front and back panel issue? To use similar weight on the front and back part of the dress.
  • How do I normally work on a design? I work ''WITH'' the fabric and I create the final design. I never force the fabric to become something that it does not want to accept!
What happened here? I did not create any dress with my bare hands since 2017, meaning that this was around that time when I created Tormenta. The projects afterwards I wanted to let go control and take a complete other direction, meaning that I wanted to create a dialogue with the natural elements. To shape the textiles around the mannequin, without touching or intervening the process.

So, this new process with the knitting world has made me very emotional, because I learned how to create with my hands again. It felt very liberating and new at the same time. Maybe I will create a new design principle in the future, where I put textiles outside and to let them shape, and afterwards mold these new 3D shaped materials around the mannequin.

When I started working ''with'' the knitted fabric I learned that the neckline should not be straight like the woven dress, it should cross diagonal around the neck. This asymmetrical movement feels much better for this specific knitting design. Anything else is molded exactly like the woven wave dress, and I feel this new knitting project has the soul of the Tormenta designs. In the end I made a nice moulage on the mannequin study, using the knitted Stoll ADF textiles produced in collaboration with Damien.

We are half way throughout the knitting project and we successfully found the raw blueprint of the Adaptive Archi-Filament knitted garment. I am happy that we finally created visually from what I imagined back in 2020. It's an intense experience that the current designs almost have their official shape, but I am very much looking forward to completing this project!
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Update 55: 15-07-2022
The first week working with Damien Semerdjian at TextielLab Tilburg has been quite successful! We have worked before during project Re-FREAM, within the rectangle frame that was inspired by the weaving techniques. However, this round I wanted to disrupt that frame and go completely blank on what we could do in terms of shape. I gave Damien carte blanche to experiment with what I call ''shape islands''. Meaning that I would like to develop a specific shape technique, dedicate it to a specific category and further develop them ones we select the official shapes. The most important part here is that each shape has a unique aesthetic and technique to it. If it does not have that, or it would look too much like the other one that we already developed, it would mean that we need to step outside of the box and experiment more!
We were able to develop several samples, the ones below made the final cut into the shape island categories:
  1. Swirl pleating technique
  2. Contracting bindings technique
  3. Elastic wave technique
  4. Puff line technique
  5. Folding line technique
  6. Up and down the wave technique
The main materials that I chose to make these sample have been:
  • PLA bioplastic multifilament
  • Rpet recycled plastic from the sea
  • Elastic yarns
  • PVA soluble yarns
  • Puff yarns
  • Bioplastic monofilament
The main reason why I started to work in the realm of knitting was to convert my previous woven shape studies into ready to wear samples. The concessions that I made before working with weaving was to use the end of the floats of the woven textiles. Sometimes I used monofilament, and when these are cut they don't feel that soft to the skin. This has been a technical issue for me to bring these previous couture designs to the market, because finishing these technical filaments would need a total industrial non existing approach. The only thing that I found yet was via Villa Noailles -> Premiere Vision Paris 2018. During the Paris commercial textile fair I was able to find an Italian supplier that sells finishing band with silicone on the folding line. However, I needed to first draw the patterns on the textile, tape all the framework and put liquid silicon on it. Let it dry 24 hours, cut the patterns, and then finally add the silicon band on top of the edges. Only one of my woven design prototypes have this existing finishing up to this point. It's nearly impossible to continue this technique on a professional production scale, even for haute couture! We would need to find/build new machines and tools to make this all happen. My goal here is to find alternative ways to reach a balance that ticks all the boxes for me. The knitting realm starts to open!
I work with zero waste patterns, meaning that I don't cut away any fabric to create a shape. I use the qualities of the materials versus textile technique to produce the 3D pattern. With weaving you are restricted within the square production method. With knitting you can produce all kinds of shapes, while not producing any textile waste. With knitting I can even use monofilaments, because they only need to be cut off on 2 places within the entire knitting pattern, meaning it would be a lot softer to the skin! So, this new field for me is starting to become very playful and fun. I used one of my 2017 Tormenta designs to start off the knitting project with Damien. It's important for me to re-visit old prototype studies and evaluate them until they are optimal. This way Damien has a 3D visible blueprint of what the final knitted dress would need to look like. However, it's a starting point, we could adapt the shape while we go down the experimental road.
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Update 54: 04-07-2022
We are near the final steps of completing project Adaptive Archi-Filament 1st stage! It's time to start working at TextielLab Tilburg again. For me personally I experience this moment to be very exciting, because all the steps lead towards creating the final adaptive fashion design. It will be great to see everything finally come together in the knitted prototypes. Many researches have taken place in terms of the yarn and filament development. At this stage of the project we were able to transfer the texture of rain throughout the development of a new kind of monofilament. With the idea of this concept being possible to become my first patented commercial product (short term development). The concept of the Adaptive Archi-Filament will be further developed throughout a new R&D platform. The technical requirements that are needed to further develop the new Adaptive Archi-Filament will be based on the texture techniques that we were able to reach within the first stage of this project. It is realistic to conclude that the Adaptive Archi-Filament will need to have the long term development, probably throughout several new R&D projects.
Some valuable mentions that have been great during the project
  • The team of Aitex have worked more hours (versus available budget), in order to reach signature filament development goals.
  • The team of Aitex have been very invested in the development of this project, they even send me a huge box of ''surprise materials'', with the idea that Damien @ TextielLab and myself could experiment with a large spectrum of special effect yarns. Very cool!
The facts, where are we at this stage?
The end stage of this project was that we could not develop an industrial production of my signature filament, because it would mean the monofilament machine would have to be adapted with new non-existing machine parts. Aitex advised me to follow up this step throughout the 2nd stage new project development. I agree on that! The good part here is that Aitex have been able to produce one bobbin, with this single (1kg/7,7km) bobbin I could create a few of my final knitted samples.
But what are my thoughts on this current stage of development?
  1. It's great that we have been able to produce one final raindrop texture monofilament bobbin prototype, but do I want to use the entire single bobbin during the final production of the knitted fashion designs? I think not! But we could use it to create small knitted textile samples. This will be the way to go! Because I want to use this bobbin to have a physical reference prototype in the future.
  2. Aitex have opened up to me a window of new materials that we can experiment with (the surprise box), some of them have adaptive qualities that I could experiment with. This might allow me to learn how to work with those yarn properties and to incorporate these ideas within the second stage of project Adaptive Archi-Filament. Seems interesting!
  3. Do I want to use all the unexpected new materials that we have been able to get during this project, or would I have to select specific ones in order to create the final adaptive knitted prototypes? The first knitting tests will allow me to make cuts on this decision.
End conclusion: project Adaptive Archi-Filament has reached more than its initial goals (in terms of the availability of new materials) The development of the raindrop filaments, with the addition of the surprise box, have elevated the project to have a wide spectrum of new materials that we could use for the production of the adaptive knitted fashion designs.
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Update 53: 21-06-2022
During the TechTextilMesse Frankfurt I was asked by Anja Bisgaard Gaede from Spottrends to attend at the HeimTextil. This round the TechTextil and HeimTextil were at the same time at Messe Frankfurt. For me it was really interesting to have a special exposition at the HeimTextil and to have my own startup booth at the TechTextil. During the fair a lot of people that saw the Hyper Nature expo wanted to come and meet me in person at my stand at TechTextil. It was a good moment for me to explain about my work and to expand my network. Hyper Nature is an expo dedicated to an infinite inspiration source within the design world, the countless ideas that nature has to offer is a starting point for all kinds of creatives across the globe. Hyper Nature zooms in to new perspectives around the topic of nature, such as for example the dialogue between nature and the creation of textile shapes. More info about Hyper Nature can be found on this link: https://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/programme-events/trends/hyper-nature.html Underneath an impression of the project Marinero - fashion manufactured by rain. What you can see is Marinero prototype number 37 -> upper chest = Aitex Adaptive Archi-Filament, following by a gradient with materials such as: Seacell yarns dyed with seaweed pigments and Rpet materials, recycled plastic from the sea. The waist effect is created by the upper chest area smart materials, that Aitex specially produced for project Marinero. The woven textile is developed in collaboration with TextielLab Tilburg.
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Update 52: 20-06-2022
Bioplastic made from milk and industrial PLA multifilament made from waste food industry.
Recently I have been researching the origin of how plastic was made. In the library I found out that the first plastic ever made was made from milk, the first experiments originate from German chemist Adolf Spitteler. In 1897 he discovered that milk, when mixed with formaldehyde, turns into a plasticlike material. This topic seemed very interesting for me. Milk can be used as a starting point to create PLA. In fact when the milk is getting sour lactic acid is formed ā€“ this is the monomer for PLA. Any carbohydrate byproducts in milk industry which can be fermented with right bacteria/microbiology could be used for producing lactic acid. However, industrially PLA monomer is typically made from fermented plant starch such as from corn, cassava, sugarcane or sugar beet pulp. These materials are mostly taken from the waste food industry, in order to produce industrial PLA filaments. The most important characterization of this product is that it's biodegradable. Co-creation partner Aitex textile institute in Alcoy recently offered me to work with a high quality PLA mono and multifilament, which I can use to create the knitted fashion prototypes for project Adaptive Archi-Filament. Next to that Adaptive Skins will also have the unique opportunity to supply this beautiful PLA material on industrial scale. The aim here is to contribute to the supply and demand of biodegradable materials on a global scale. The PLA multifilament FPY is available for minimum orders of 500 kg and this product is showcased at the TechTextilMesse Frankfurt 20 - 24th of June 2022, Hall 9.1, booth F.10. The TechTextil also has the digital extension that can be explored until the 8th of July 2022: https://techtextil.digital.messefrankfurt.com/

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Update 51: 16-06-2022
Visiting Bilbao has been an interesting and deep experience for me personally. I was able to visit Museum Gugenheim, where I saw several artworks that I liked. It's ironic to me how sometimes art that we never really cared about before can become very meaningful when life continues to go forward. I had that experience looking at the works of Dubuffet, a French artist who was well known for his paintings of children, mentally gifted and detainees. One of the paintings made me very emotional, because it reminded me of the schizophrenia that my cousin was struggling with. When I looked at this painting, I thought: ''this is what it must have looked or felt like for him...'' It's a tragic situation, because he committed suicide during the corona pandemic. Losing him felt like losing an important part of myself as well. It took me quite some time to accept the fact that he is not here on this planet anymore. The paintings of Dubuffet reminded me of the clownish moments that my cousin and myself had during our birthday parties at McDonalds in the 90's. I want to hold on to these images, because they felt very joyful and silly, which gives me energy to continue my goals in life. To quote Dubuffet about his work: '' the celebration of the human''. The celebration of life is what I will focus on!
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Update 50: 15-06-2022
Project Marinero wins the 8th edition of BIAAF award 2022. It's an honor to receive this first prize, category A - fashion. 92 countries have submitted works to Bilbao international art and fashion. 1300 portfolios were reviewed carefully by the BIAAF team. The jury consists of members from: LVMH, Vogue, Balenciaga and more. This month marks the 10th year anniversary of my work as an innovation production developer. I am looking forward for much more to come in the future. A special thanks to the Re-FREAM network and creative industries fund nl for giving me the chance to co-create on such an interesting international level. Besides that, I also want to thank everybody that I have been able to connect with over the years. Each and single one of you have been part of this ongoing journey full of unexpected surprises. This award is shared with you. I am looking forward to connect again.
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Update 49: 15-05-2022
May 2022 is a very exciting month, because we have made so many steps to improve the raindrop filament and we are almost finished finalizing everything! I had the chance to test the filaments with weaving, but also with knitting we did a more in depth test development. The most important aspect that we need to consider for the weaving is that the filament needs to have a strong breaking point. If the final chosen sample will work with knitting, it will surely also work for weaving! We mainly focus on the knitting to see how thin the filaments needs to be produced, in order to make it work throughout the knitting process. The goal is that the final filament product can be used for weaving and knitting.
On Saturday the 14th of May I had a full test day with knitting product developer Damien Semerdjian. It was a good moment to test all the 8 raindrop filament prototype bobbins that Quico from Aitex made for us. Underneath you can find the comments on each bobbin:
  • P01 - Damien could work well with this filament. The surface is quite smooth and the breaking-point tenacity is good. The problem is only that this test version almost has no raindrops. So, it's a no in terms of conceptual aspect.
  • P02 - This sample is weaker compared to P01. Damien did not like to work with this filament sample. The breakingpoint is weak, meaning it snapped a lot of times during the knitting process. This one was canceled for sure!
  • P03 - Similar to P02, the big raindrops are a problem for the machine. The filament also does not have too much elasticity, and this is crucial quality that is missing in this prototype. Also, the drops show a weak spot in the filament, meaning that on the raindrops the filament breaks even more easy. Not good! The only good thing about this prototype is that it's conceptually approved.
  • P04 - This version works better in terms of tenacity, it has a stronger breaking-point. However, Damien confirmed this sample is on the bottom of the list. It's not good for the knitting machine, it caused an error on the machine. Damien needed an hour to discard the filament that got stuck inside the machine. This error also broke some of the knitting needles, which is really not a good sign.
The only good thing so far is that knitting sample 3 turned out to look interesting, in terms of knitting effect versus raindrop visible effect. At this point in the development we hoped for a good ending, because the first half way through made all of us worry a little bit.
  • P05 - This sample was similar to sample P04, we did not even dare to try it considering what happend with the machine using sample 4. The breaking-point was also the most weak of all 8 samples. So, we were sure this one would not be the official one. But, it did have the best raindrop effect of all 8. We just need to look at all the aspects here to find the correct equilibrium. We hoped the final 3 will give us that kind of best result.
  • P06 - Damien got a little bit more relaxed working with this sample. The tenacity is better and this sample also has good elasticity as well. The raindrops are minimal on this sample, but so far we are happy that this one works well on the machine.
  • P07 - Similar to P06, which is good news. The only minor aspect is that there is even less raindrop effect compared to sample 7. The raindrops needs to be more closely following each other up, and this samples has just one raindrop each 20 cm. The drops that are there have a good size in terms of working on the machine versus conceptual aspect.
  • P08 - Damien confirmed he could work the best with this sample. The tenacity and elasticity are the strongest compared to the other 7. This is very good news! Meaning that sample 8 has the equilibrium we have been hoping for! The raindrops follow each other up each 5 cm and the size of the drops are good. The drops are also beautifully visible within the knitting structure. This sample will be the official one.
Bravo Damien Semerdjian for making time in the weekend, right before you went back to Paris! Merci beaucoup for the dedication of my team, to be able to catch all deadlines. it's a great job! All my compliments go out to all of them. It's so important and lucky if you find the people that will sometimes run faster for you. It gives hope and energy to all of us. Especially when the results are good and what we all hoped for to reach. Next step will be Aitex production!
 

Sample 8 will be the official prototype for project Adaptive Archi-Filament
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Update 48: 20-04-2022
The second sample with less raindrop effect was confirmed to have a good quality. Judith Peskens from weaving and Damien Semerdjian from knitting @ TextielLab have tested the second bobbin and it was working much better compared with the first sample. However, it would have been an ideal situation if we could bring sample 1 and 2 somewhere meeting more in the middle (aesthetics versus quality). The team of Aitex made 8 new trials, using different parameters and biomaterials.
It was very surprising to see when Quico from Aitex confirmed me about those 8 new samples. Assuming that we would just get 1 new and final sample, but instead we got 8. So, this was great news! Each sample has a different quality and raindrop effect. It's difficult too choose just yet which of them is the best one. I would need to schedule with TextielLab to see what sample works best on the machine, but also to mainly consider the best looking sample. Maybe the best looking sample will have the weakest quality, while the least interesting looking sample would have the strongest density. This will need time in testing and open dialogue about what option would be the best one in the end. But it's exciting to know that one of these 8 new samples will be the final official one for project Archi-Filament.
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Update 47: 06-03-2022
The first bobbin was tested by Judith and Damien at TextielLab Tilburg. They used the bio-plastic raindrop filament on the jacquard weaving and ADF knitting machine. Unfortunately there have been some issues, it seems that the filament raindrop textures are too sharp and they can loop into technical errors while producing the textiles. Luckily Quico rushed into problem solving with his filament team and they made another adjustment around the texture. The new and improved bobbin was send to my atelier, but I did not like the conceptual subtle style of the raindrop textures. However, the bobbin was send to TextielLab in order to check if this quality is better? I have had some ideas to create the raindrop textures inside the core of a transparent smooth bio-plastic monofilament. This would be interesting if possible. Quico is doing some new experiments to see what is doable, until then we still have a good alternative second option. The second bobbin filament diameter is 0,35mm and has less raindrop texture effect. The search continues!
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Update 46: 14-02-2022
One initial bobbin test prototype was send to my office. Quico from Aitex informed me that that to start it would be possible to produce 60kg of the bioplastic raindrop filament. Afterwards it would be possible to produce more quantity if needed. The filament was already tested on the textile producing machines from Aitex and all went well, but more tests at TextielLab will follow in order to just make sure that the quality is well enough for its final use. Studio Adaptive Skins will offer the filament to the commercial market starting in June 2022. The bioplastic raindrop filament will be showcased at the Techtextil Messe Frankfurt, at the filament and yarn section. There is an industrial scale minimum order of 500 kg, but in addition it will also be possible for designers and architects to buy per kg. 1kg of the bioplastic raindrop filament will be around 7,7 km of material. The special edition of buying per 1 kg is linked to the first test production of 60kg, when this initial stock runs out there will be limited access towards buying per kg.
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Update 45: 07-02-2022
The waffle filament prototype was sent to Quico Rico Vilaplana @ Aitex Alcoy. The filament production team analyzed the sample versus the required wishes. They had some good ideas to just try out some new techniques, using air blowing technology, inspired by the production of glass air blowing. This just seemed like magic, to try and apply this idea on such a micro millimeter scale. However, I knew the guys from Aitex would pull it off, especially looking back on how they created the transforming Archi-Filament, which also was mind blowing to me.
So, stepping away from the embossing technique seemed very abstract to me, because this was the technique that WK+ applied to make their initial beautiful prototype. However, when I received the first 6 prototypes from Aitex, I saw that they even surpassed my wishes. The filament really looked like it has raindrops on it. I could not believe that this was even produced with bio-plastic, meaning that we reached our goal for project Adaptive Archi-Filament. Underneath you can find the 6 Archi-Filament prototypes and my thoughts on them:
  1. the first sample (P1) has a memo written on it - irregular, not good! At first it is looking good, but touching it I understand that the quality is very stiff and the irregular texture would not work well with the textile production machine.
  2. the second sample (P2) - āŒ€  0,4 mm, also has a memo written on it: ''not good!''. I am assuming that the airblowing technique works out in initial trials, but the Aitex team thought they could even make it better.
  3. the third sample (P3) - āŒ€ 0,3 + 0,4 mm. This sample shows the balance that the Aitex team was looking for. The diameter has to have a combination of 0,3 and 0,4 mm, and this matches with textile producing machines. It's a very good sample.
  4. the forth sample (P4) - āŒ€  0,3 + 0,4 mm. This sample is a winner for me, showing the raindrop effect in an organic non-repetitive manner. I updated the Aitex team that we can produce the commercial production using this samples as a base.
  5. the fifth sample (P5) - āŒ€ 0,3 + 0,4 mm. This sample has less air blowing technique. Personally not grabbing me, but nice to see a different texture.
  6. the fifth sample (P6) - āŒ€ 0,3 mm. This sample has a bit more air blowing technique compared to sample 5. It's better compared to sample 5, showcasing an even thinner quality by only using - āŒ€ 0,3 mm. But it does not match the overall balance of sample 4.
I tested sample 4 with natural light, it shines like raindrops on a wire, matching my conceptual project goal. The next challenge would be to test the first spooled cone on the TextielLab textile producing machines (weaving + knitting). I am happy the Aitex team offered to do an initial special commercial production for me, around 100 kg of bio-plastic Ɔrchi-Fil.
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Update 44: 12-12-2021
WK+ is a research institute at the Johannes Kepler University. They are specialized in R&D projects, meaning that they can not accept commercial scale orders. WK+ advised me to find an additional commercial production partner. It did not seem logic to rebuild the WK+ monofilament machine and make it production scale ready. They worked on creating the first textured filament sample, preparing a summary and photographic documentation about the  process. I shared all the WK+ data with my tech partners in Spain. Through Aitex textile institute Alcoy I was able to find a production company in Barcelona. Jaime Gonzales produced a new technique to create a dynamic texture into the monofilament. The technique shows an interesting waffle effect. This technique can be used for large quantity orders, but it did not match the conceptual requirements. Besides, it did have a large diameter of āŒ€ 2mm, which can not fit through a textile producing machine. However, it was possible to produce the waffle filament in 0,3 mm, but it also just did not match any technical requirements. For example, I did bring the filament sample to TextielLab, but also here we found out that the waffle edges were too sharp to produce a textile, meaning it would cut through the warp during textile production. All interesting to initially find out, this would help to further develop everything later on in the process. Focusing on the sharpness of the filament, to soften the edges of the texture. Underneath you can see a sample of the waffle texture monofilament.
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Update 43: 07-11-2021
Project Adaptive Archi-Filament is all about converting initial R&D (research and development) into industrial application scale. Team Adaptive Skins and WK+ @ JKU have worked on plastics during the first stage of the project, and during the second stage of the project the focus is to create the same Archi-Filament quality, but using bio-plastics.
Initial trials adapting conventional monofilament machine have resulted into an improved production process, meaning that the machines can work more fast using a specific technique. During project Marinero the result of the texture monofilament was interesting, but the production process was way too slow, meaning that producing larger volumes would not be commercial applicable. The goal for the second stage is to work on the production machine, in order to find the right tools and balance, which will lower the commercial production costs.

The concept of the Archi-Filament are rain particles on a wire, these textures and shapes create an interesting contrast. I imagine when woven or knitted into a fabric, it would look like a crystalized textile. Underneath you can find an image of the concept.
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Update 42: 22-09-2021
After project Re-FREAM was completed Studio Adaptive Skins was granted by the Creative Industries Fund NL, in order to continue the development of the Archi-Filament.
It has been interesting to keep contact with the partners from project Re-FREAM. We have been able to add a new research to the project, in collaboration with Care Applications Alcoy. This research is an extension to the sustainable dyeing techniques, that we initially started in Groningen NL. Working with seabased materials has been insightful, in terms of what we can or can't do with them. We have been able to dye Seacell yarns with algae pigment, that resulted into platinum aqua green textiles.
Carmina Ferri from Care Applications suggested to look into waste materials from the food industry. Care Applications is known for its sustainable dyeing technology, reducing over 80% of water usage during the textile dying process. The technology applied is a nano nebulization technique, which sprays the pigments into the textiles, resulting into beautiful soft pastel shades. We have worked with pigments that Care Applications already worked with (Spirulina blue), but also experimented with new materials, such as squid ink. Underneath you can find an overview of the Care Applications office and its machines. Besides that, an overview of the dyeing process can also be found on the Adaptive Skins website, go to: technique -> dyeing.

Project Adaptive Archi-Filament
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Final report project Marinero,

tekst by Katharina Sand


Artist/Project Jef Montes: Marinero / Adaptive Archi-Filament

Shaping flexible futures with responsive materials

Keywords

future of yarns / adaptive yarns / yarn innovation / adaptive archi-filament / future of textiles / textile architecture /2D to 3D patterns/ 3D printing textured mono-filament / fashion manufacturing with responsive materials / designing with climate/ co-creating fashion with nature / tailored by weather/ sustainable manufacturing/

conditional design of garments / new fashion business models / redesigning fashion careers

Hubs: Valencia and Linz

Partners: Aitex, Wood K plus/ Johannes Kepler University and the Fashion & Technology department of the Ufg in Linz, as well as Empa, Haratech, TextielLab Tilburg

Intro

Fashion manufactured by rain. The poetics of this novel design approach by Dutch designer Jef Montes is so captivating, that it is easy to miss his reinvention of the fashion system. While his Re-FREAM research started as a fashion collection, the process propelled Montes towards the development of a new fashion business model. The resulting Adaptive Archi-Filament radically redefines entrepreneurial strategy for fashion designers. Rather than simply using fibers to produce fashion, his signature creative filaments both shape and financially sustain his creative collections, becoming the foundation for his brand.

Technology/Design

His research flow began with the aquatic interplay of the ā€œMarineroā€ fashion collection. Rather than using traditional pattern-making, the goal was to create woven and knitted garments with 2D fabrics which re-configure into 3D shapes through their interaction with water. Underwater experiments and tests with soluble yarns gave way to rain interaction experiments, as well as sweat testing.

Through the close collaboration with the Re-FREAM hubs, Montes gained a new understanding of the process of creating yarns. ā€œAitex was like a kindergarten playground for meā€, Montes recalls, ā€œthere are so many ways to produce a filament or a yarn. It was amazing for me to collaborate with all the technicians and the chemists, to understand a multifilament works! Or where do the polymers come from? As I became more open-minded, it went from macro to micro, and became yarn innovationā€. These exchanges re-oriented the founder and creative director of Studio Adaptive Skins towards textile architecture.

His final presentation demonstrates co-creation with rainy weather. 42 garment designs were exposed to rain in a dramatic roof installation over 30 days, showcasing and documenting the potential of manufacturing with the new hydro-responsive yarns. Meteorological conditions generated dynamic shapes. In the course of this design process, the Adaptive Archi-filament evolved into the resolution for a major fashion design challenge: creating commercially viable signature pieces without compromising design integrity.

Society

Co-designing with nature means lowering energy consumption and waste. Montes re-situates the slowness of these natural processes into the field of the sublime. Deeply rooted in Conditional Design, the garments were given shape and evolve through the chance and rhythms of drizzle and downpours, or transpiration. The garments embody environmental consciousness, aesthetically drawing attention to the poetics of nature

The generative framework of Montesā€™s designs produces no waste. As water is an overarching theme and a precious resource, materials found within the sea were also used to create garment structures. Testing included recycled sea-plastics interwoven with sea-weed based threads (horizontal versus vertical)..

Outcome/Outlook

Producing filament prototypes of his concept in both Spain and Austria, Montes was able to work with two different teams and outcomes. In addition, the testing provided by the EMPA lab allowed a comparison of the - more uniform - impact of weather on the textiles to the impact - more localized - sweat interaction. The collaborations allowed for not only material innovation, but also a vast collection of data on all the parameters of the filaments and their qualities, as well as a potential application analysis.

By reorienting his research, the call also allowed him to restructure his vision of design entrepreneurship. The research journey will be presented in the ā€˜Makers Secretsā€™ at the Dutch national TextielMuseum Tilburg, starting 26th of June 2021 until the 8th of May 2022. During London Fashion Week, Montes collaborated with Fashion Scout, for a digital presentation of project Marinero.

Challenges/Whatā€™s Next

In 2022, as part of the commercial development of the project, Montes will showcase the filament prototype available for order at the Frankfurt TechTextil Fair. Intrigued by the materialsā€™ responsiveness to the human body, Montes aims to continue collaborations with his research partners to investigate the interplay of textile architectures with their surroundings - including the experiences of light, sound and climate. A shift from rainwater to seawater experimentation is another key goal.

Yet the work reaches far beyond material innovation as a source for composing aesthetically sensational fashion. Intertwining his fashion expertise with that of technicians, scientists and industry experts, the project evolved from adaptive garments which morph through the weather into rethinking fashion entrepreneurship. Not just responsive filaments, but also frameworks, supply chains, and design processes which incorporate transition and new forms of interdisciplinary interplay. Adaptive manufacturing which responds to both humans and the environment.

TECH BOX

First trials at Haratech tested 3D printing of recycled ocean plastics into moving spiral adaptive filament, with a coating filler of silicon. It became the 3D printed prototype for the layered multifilament yarn for the Johannes Kepler University and Wood K plus, which allowed the development of one type of filament production.

In parallel at Aitex in Alcoy, the team used the core of Elastan, and then twisted absorbent multi-filaments around it. Three different types of mechanical yarns were twisted, and then dipped in a soluble polyvinyl alcohol coating, resulting in a raffia-like texture when dry. The thickest variation of the Adaptive Archi-Filament, it displayed the best absorption quality. Montes made first knitting tests with these yarns on the industrial Italian knitting machines at the Ufg fashion department, which he continued at the TextielLab Tilburg. A total of 42 woven and knitted garment versions were produced and experimented upon. They combined Aitex Archi-Filament, Wood K Plus textured and melt-coated filaments, soluble yarns, Rpet yarns, monofilaments, and Seacell yarns dyed with seaweed pigments. In addition, testing by the Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology analyzed how the garments were transformed by sweat, allowing for a new alternative to the ā€œtailored by weatherā€ experiments: tailored by the userā€™s bodies.

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Update 41: 28-04-2021

  • Presentation: I have been thinking about showcasing the project throughout an official presentation. But after everything locked down it was interesting to learn that several showcasing platforms have been going from physical towards digital presentations. During London Fashion Week I have collaborated with Fashion Scout, to make a digital presentation for project Marinero. For this presentation I have worked with a model and used my studio rooftop as an alternative presentation platform. This was an interesting coming together of new worlds, because the installations seemed to be an appealing backdrop for the fashion design documentation. The process film and final designs can be watched in the link underneath.
  • Project overview: After finishing project Marinero I have been focusing on the exposition of the TextielMuseum. This is a logic step for me because it is about showcasing the entire process of this project. It was very nice to find out that the curator from TextielMuseum Tilburg wanted to purchase the installation and best selected design results. Good news, because this way the designs will be well taken care off by the museum professionals and stored safely within the archive of the museum.
  • New experiment: Looking back at project Marinero it has been all about ā€an alternative and sustainable production methodā€. This keeps me thinking about making the next step. My idea is to go from rainwater towards seawater. The original concept of Marinero was to create the collection using the waves of the sea. These brainwaves have been still active in my mind and I would like to still do this experiment in the future. The goal is to re-use the installation and bring it below sea level. This idea has been illustrated by Erik Crins in the image underneath.
  • New project: Currently I am working on the next project ā€œAdaptive Archi-Filamentā€. I have been lucky to receive a new national grant that will help me to further develop future goals. My partners from Linz have been very cooperative and are also looking for new grants, to have more research possibilities and therefor improved final filament outcomes. Next to that I will be also working again with Damien Semerdjian from TextielLab Tilburg, to further research techniques and develop wearable knitted Archi-FIlament prototypes.

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Update 40: 28-04-2021

Project overall steps:

  • yarn and filament development study
  • prototype Archi-Filament concept #1 Valencia
  • prototype Archi-Filament concept #2 Linz
  • artisanal dyeing of natural yarns research and development
  • filament and yarn quality research St. Gallen
  • 36 woven textiles production
  • 6 knitted textiles production
  • material installation process and experiment
  • data collecting and report overview open source online

In terms of project accomplished goals, I would say that we reached 100% successful status. This is mainly reached because of the commitment and dedication of all project partners involved. I am very thankful to all of the amazing people that helped me during this journey. Design 33 would be the best result in terms of the original Marinero concept design. Next to that we have found more possibilities on several levels. This excites me to keep the research and development going for the upcoming years.

The documentation of the entire project has been one of the main important topics. We would have never reached these interesting results without these years and years of research. Itā€™s important to share experience and showcase all these steps. This journey will be presented in the exposition ā€makers secretsā€ at the Dutch national TextielMuseum Tilburg, starting 26th of June 2021 till the 8th of May 2022.

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Update 39: 28-04-2021

This category was supposed to be the conclusion category. But once again more unexpected things happened. I would say that this is another failed production category, that eventually turned out to be partly successful. Itā€™s ironic to me how situations like these shift my mind into adaptations of the original idea. The adaptation on this one was to first restore designs 25, 26 and 27. Why did I do this? Because once again the TextielLab made production mistakes, leaving me but no other choice than re-use past designs and create an entire new test category. Designs 37 + 38 + 39 are the restored previous ones and designs 40 +41 + 42 are flawed newly woven conclusion designs. The last 3 designs turned out to be super long (materials almost touching the floor) slightly mermaid tail aesthetically looking, with a very low transparent open back (late 20ā€™s silhouette)

  • Design 37: Former design 25. Restored twill material, cutting away several failed floated woven yarns, allowing the textile to breath again. The cutting by hand lasted over 3 weeks. The final design feels lighter aesthetically and also shows an interesting deforming effect. I decided to add a new experiment after thinking about my future plans. I used the tumble dryer to see what happens with the material. Next to that, design 37 shows the twill effect versus gradient yarns.
  • Design 38: Designs 37, 38 and 39 were experimented using rain water and tumble dryer effect afterwards. This experiment is about simulating the wave force of the sea. I tried to simulate the effect of the sea, because I would like to bring the installation below sea level in the future. Design 38 shows the repetitive woven yarn rib effect (woven 1 after 1 repeated throughout the entire fabric)
  • Design 39: This design shows the best result in terms of gradient effect versus shape change. I like the fact that this design shows an abstract and distorted waist effect. What you see here is the satin technique woven with several yarns: Seacell dyed with algae yarns, Aitex archi-filament, Rpet yarns, shrinking yarns and monofilament.
  • Design 40: One of the three mermaid garments. This is a failed woven TextielLab produced conclusion category material. The final design is scheduled mid 2021, this design needs to be adjusted within the digital blueprint. The mermaid dress is woven far too long and also has the backside of the fabric flipped onto the front. I would need to sit together again with Judith to rework this design.
  • Design 41: I do like the three mermaid designs aesthetically. But these designs are flawed in terms of weaving machine production. I needed to repair a lot of finishing mistakes, making the fabric strong enough again, to hold the entire construction together in one piece.
  • Design 42: We produced three twill versions where the binding in each design slightly shifts within the construction of the fabric. On top of that we used yarn gradient using several yarns: WK+ archi, Seacell yarns, Aitex archi, Rpet yarns and monofilament. Design 41 is my favorite of the three mermaid designs. The deformed Aitex yarn effect shows something different in terms of shape change. The mermaid effect is created because the Aitex yarns deform around the knee area. The intention was that this effect would have been placed within the waist area. Nonetheless still an interesting design.

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Update 38: 28-04-2021

After analyzing the 36 garments it was clear that design 33 was the best one, but I had the idea of choosing a few of the other remaining best results and start an additional experiment named the conclusion category. The idea behind is was to create improved versions of designs 2 and 34. Each of them would get 3 variations, to see the difference between detailed style alternatives. I send this idea to TextielLab Tilburg and Judith already had a good idea how to approach these improved variations. 

At first I needed to send an overview to Judith with images and ideas on how to improve these designs. This way we could prepare ourselves beforehand. The best part of this ambitious plan was that Jaime from Aitex and Jurgen from WK+ were willing to produce additional filament production. This made me super happy, because all the yarns produced before were almost finished. The Aitex version of the archi-filament is great to create tension in the fabric, that creates the new shape. The WK+ version adds the interesting texture on top of the deforming yarns, which create an interesting contrast woven together within a gradient. 

The three variations from design 2 create the waist effect that I initially really wanted to reach. The balance here lies within the twill technique versus the Aitex archi-filament. These 2 work very well woven together and deformed result afterwards. The gradient of this design begins with the textured monofilament of WK+ and fades out towards the Aitex yarns within the center of the woven material. 

The three variations from design 34 are merged materials from designs 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. We used the front parts of the garment from designs 22 + 23 + 24, with the back parts of the garment from designs 19 + 20 + 21. These different styles together, with front parts merged with other backsides, cause an intricate deforming contraction from front to back. This is an interesting design aesthetic outcome, because itā€™s so different from what I had thought about beforehand. This is where the materials take over and surprise me as a designer. Itā€™s always thrilling to me when these little accidents turn out to be something unexpected. It makes me want to explore more and more.

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Update 37: 28-04-2021

The interesting part of the test category is that we started thinking that most of these designs would turn out to be less interesting test tryouts. In some of the cases this was true, but I would say that 50/50 turned out to be pleasant surprises. As a designer and researcher it makes me happy when unexpected things happen.

  • Design 31: The test design for the Seaweed category. We applied 4x 20 cm techniques in the front of the garment and 4x 20 cm techniques in the back of the garment. We picked 6 out of 8 to create the entire Seaweed category (designs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). This test garment (31) also shows potential of an alternative design aesthetic. But in this case I donā€™t really like the shape change and overall shape of the design. Still a flawed test design to me.
  • Design 32: This was supposed to be an alternative to design 33. What happened with the Aitex category and developing design 33 left us with no choice but to use soluble yarns and twisted TextielLab yarns. This to me just feels like a simulation of design 33. The soluble integrated yarns also make this design not so wearable. I think that if this had been done like design 33 we would have had 2 similar variations. One rib variation (32) and another satin variation (33) of this design aesthetic.

 

  • Design 33: I would say that the perfect balance is a match on this one, in terms of a wearable second skin, adaptive material communicating with the human body and tailored effect going from 2D to 3D. Design 33 would be the best result within the entire research. Itā€™s ironic, because at first I thought this design was a failed one during the development at TextielLab. This even motivates me more at this stage to always keep an open mind and try out alternatives from the original idea. Itā€™s very easy to think about something that sounds like a daydream, but never reaching that level of visual effect. In this case I am happy that we went from text, to sketch board and successfully reaching the final design. Design 33 to me personally reflects an early experiment of adaptive wear to the personal user in the future. Itā€™s an early prototype and simulation of what could become better, when further researched and improved. At this point in time we were lucky enough to create the tailored effect (flat surface towards 3D shape, using female mannequin to shape around it). This was already a highly challenging process to reach. In the future it will be interesting for me to see how the Archi-Filament stays adaptive, constantly slightly changing with the person who wears it, as well as external factors from the environment. But then again, this process needs a lot of time, patience and step by step approach.

 

  • Design 34: This is an example of a test design turning into a better result than the entire developed category afterwards. However, the Wood K Plus category has been a success in terms of aesthetic and deforming fabric change balance. But to me personally design 34 has an interesting contrast of back to front contraction of the deforming garment. I am so excited about this surprise that I wanted to create another category, named the ā€conclusionā€ category.
  • Design 35: The test version for the mix category. I think that this design also turned out to be more interesting compared to the entire mix category. Itā€™s about adding another binding style each 20 cmā€™s that shows an interesting shape contrast. It feels well balanced and wearable.
  • Design 36: Another test that turned out to be stronger than the entire category. This Aitex design was developed before adding twisted (fake) Aitex yarns. We made some design mistakes after finding out that the Aitex coated yarns were almost entirely used. The production mistake afterwards made the entire category marked as failed. However, the test design is strong in shape (feels a bit too heavy still for my taste) and also wearable, but not as strong as the Aitex design 33.

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Update 36: 28-04-2021

The 6 designs for this installation belong to the Aitex category. It has been interesting to see how these designs were developed at TextileLab Tilburg. In the end this category did not result into what I had in mind. For example: design 33 is what I had in mind, but this design only had almost 10 km of Aitex archi-filament. It was impossible to create an entire new category based on design 33, because we had a total of 70+ km, so there was not enough Aitex yarn to create what I had in mind for the entire Aitex category. What we did was to twist some other yarns from TextielLab Tilburg. At first I thought it was a good idea, but in the end there have been too many yarns added into one fabric design. The risk in this is that yarns get shifted and not woven correctly. So a lot of confusion happend and fabric restoration was needed within this category.
  • Design 25: Failed production test 1. Within this twill designs most of the yarns are shifted and need to be restored by hand, meaning that yarns need to be taken out piece by piece. In terms of Aitex yarns you can see that there is some shape change, but not interesting enough for what I had in mind.
  • Design 26: Failed production test 2. The satin binding shows the most interesting shape change of all 3 designs (25, 26 and 27 are related, because of yarn use). This one needs to be restored also.
  • Design 27: Failed production test 3. Too many yarns, the fabric looks heavy on this rib variation. This design also needs to be adjusted by hand. This involves a lot of extra work inside my studio.
  • Design 28: This soluble twill variation shows shape change in a more dramatic way. We added soluble yarns within the last 3 designs. It causes another way of friction in combination with the Aitex yarns. It is interesting, but less wearable compared to designs 25, 26 and 27. Where is the balance?
  • Design 29: The change on this rib variation shows the best waist tailored effect. I like the asymmetrical sleeve design within these open and tight rib binding technique.
  • Design 30: Although these last 3 designs are less wearable, I do like the texture effect of the pre-deformed textile ( left in the picture ), but the production flaws still bother me within this category. I cant adjust the last 3 designs, because the soluble yarns have manipulated most of the yarns, making it impossible to restore the flaws.

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Update 35: 28-04-2021

Dear reader, this is my last Re-FREAM blog. ā€Onderzoek brengt licht, meaning research brings lightā€ The Marinero journey for project Re-FREAM comes to its final stage. 2020/21 has been an interesting year and I want to thank you for following this journey with me. I learned that creativity never stops, itā€™s always an ongoing process, even more important during difficult times. Losing a loved one has been a very painful experience for me personally during this worldwide pandemic. Thankfully I can find some positive balance and distraction throughout my work.

I am currently starting an upcoming new project ā€Adaptive Archi-Filamentā€. Together with my tech partner WK+ at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz we will continue to work on the next steps for new filament developments. There is more to research in terms of new Archi-Filament technology. Next to that I will also work on the commercial development of the textured monofilament, developed with WK+ during project Re-FREAM. I will first need to find a monofilament supplier that is able to develop the textured filament. In 2022 I will showcase the filament prototype available for order at the Frankfurt TechTextilMesse.

Developing a commercial product is an interesting new step for me, because it opens a wider perspective on who will eventually use the textured monofilament. My initial target group are textiles designers and other creatives that work for example at TextielLab Tilburg. The TechTextilMesse Frankfurt will be an interesting platform to see what kind of new buyers I might attract. I love the unexpected things in life, so I might get surprised to see how all of this will unravel in the future.

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Update 34: 07-01-2021

The interesting part of this project is that you can experiment a lot. There is room to make mistakes, sometimes good and sometimes bad. However, itā€™s also about working on it until it feels right. The case with this category is that we only applied Wood K Plus filaments. It feels a lot more pure comparing to the chaotic playing around, that we did with the woven mix category. I am very happy with the aesthetic outcome of the Wood K Plus category. Visually itā€™s not something that I expected, it was a nice additional surprise.

  • Design 19: With the first 3 designs we again applied the thick Wood K Plus melt coated monofilament. You can see it much clearer now, because we kept everything else very soft and simple. The transformation is minimal, but if you look clear enough you can see that itā€™s not a change in size, itā€™s more about a change in flexibility. We choose to add the melt coated filament every 21 cm within this twill variation.
  • Design 20: The green glow is caused by the green sea weed yarns. The stiff melt coated yarns are placed every 14 cm within this satin variation. The melt coated filament has a thick outer layer of PVA and a thin monofilament within its core. During the rain it goes from very stiff to super flexible.
  • Design 21: In this third rib variation it becomes clear to me that my favorite measurement is to add the melt coated filament each 7 cm. This is the most time consuming and expensive variation of all 3.
  • Design 22: The remaining 3 designs are my favorite till now. Inside this rib variation we added the Wood K Plus textured monofilament together with soluble yarns. Within this category I do really like the floated design aesthetic. It matches more with what I had in my mind for the floated design. I wanted to create a synergy with the floats near the arms and more added floats within the fabric design. All together creating an organic flow.
  • Design 23: The second variation showcases the satin binding. We used normal monofilament and added the Wood K Plus filaments within small strokes across the entire fabric. The effect looks crystalized and reflective at the same time.
  • Design 24: This twill variation has the most added textured monofilament. I really like that the textured filaments and soluble yarns work well together. This combination creates the correct transformation during the rain. At first I was a bit worried, because monofilaments in general are stiff and not so flexible. But it seems that this combination causes a contraction. The only part that needs to be worked on for me is that this experiment is not wearable enough. Itā€™s more a special item that I could show for example during an official presentation and also for pr purposes.

I am currently still looking for the correct balance within the remaining fabric experiments. I got a feeling that we will find this wearable balance within the next categories.

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Update 33: 07-01-2021

The weaving mix category consists several materials like: Aitex Archi-Filament, Wood K Plus Textured and melt coated filament, soluble yarns, Rpet yarns, monofilaments and Seacell yarns. This category was intended to experiment with floats, but it did not seem to have worked out nicely in my opinion. I will continue to work on these fabrics by deconstructing some of the designs. I believe there is a potential when several filaments are removed.

  • Design 13: What you see here is the twill variation. The idea for the first 3 designs was to add melt coated monofilaments. These Wood K Plus filaments needed to be added manually by hand. This was a time consuming and precious process. Itā€™s a pity that I will need to cut them away, but in the end it will be much better aesthetically.
  • Design 14: There are some minor transformation changes using the rib binding, but not enough to match my vision. What I am noticing is that the Aitex yarns do not work effectively near the neck parts. This is due to the fact of gravity ( fabric weight versus filament quality power )
  • Design 15: This variation has the satin binding. The combination of all those yarns create a messy look, something that I donā€™t like. I am noticing that the Aitex yarns need to be only woven within a woven structure ( does not work effectively with floats )
  • Design 16: The addition of soluble yarns in the remaining 3 designs contribute to make an interesting dialogue with the Aitex transforming yarns and the Wood K Plus filaments. This variation has a twill binding. I donā€™t mind the floats on this design, it looks good.
  • Design 17: The second version shows another twill variation. The rain transforming part shows a different kind of deformed shape. The previous first twill ( 16 ) contracts in a flexible way and the second twill ( 17 ) becomes a bit stiff and reflects more light on the fabric surface. The difference between those two is that the first twill is woven more open and the second twill has a tighter binding.
  • Design 18: The last design of this category showcases the rib variation. It seems that the chest, waist and hips are emphasized ( similar to the previous two designs ), but this quality is the most flexible. This means that the combination of soluble yarns and Archi-Filaments are crucial within this multi yarns category. However, 13 + 14 + 15 are wearable and 16 + 17 + 18 are more artistic objects.

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Update 32: 07-01-2021

The idea for this category was to work with multiple knitting techniques and see how the Archi-Filaments respond within these structures. We were inspired by the base blueprints of the weaving designs and transferred this information within knitting structures.

  • Design 7: What you see here is 1 of 3 variations. We used 1 fabric blueprint and switched the base yarns to create variations. We applied Rpet yarns for the base knitting construction and added the Aitex floated yarns on top of the knitting structure ( knitting and weaving ) The result with rain was clearly visible, but too minimal for what I preferred.
  • Design 8: This is the second variation and has the same binding design as the previous one. We replaced the Aitex yarns with soluble yarns on top of the Rpet yarns. This deformation process is what I like to see, but I prefer that this effect is caused only with the Archi-Filament and not using soluble yarns to reach this effect.
  • Design 9: Variation 3 is a mix of soluble Aitex and soluble yarns on top of the Rpet structure. As you can see, itā€™s visually a mix of the first previous designs, in terms of reached transformation. I donā€™t know if I personally like this aesthetic, but a good start for my first time ever knitting production. The issue for me lies in the technical limitation of the transparent net part of the design. We used a transparent thin monofilament to develop the net texture and created a knitted hole part for the head. It was nicely finished and we also added monofilaments floats on top of it, this in order to make it look more technically complex. It looks good, but it does not grab me so much as I wished for.
  • Design 10: We decided to switch the pattern of the previous designs and try something new. The challenge here is that we are knitting in a different direction of the machine ( basically flipping the pattern 90 degrees ) The limitation here is that you need to accept the width limit of the ADF knitting machine. This is the reason why we created a top and skirt for this design. Aesthetically this matches more with the weaving designs, because of the 0,2 monofilament floats near the arms and the neck. I also liked what it did in terms of rain transformation. We used Rpet yarns to create the entire base knitting structure. The Aitex yarns create asymmetrical smocking effects, that result into an intricate texture. For now this was an interesting additional experiment. I will keep this in mind for the future.
  • Design 11: The previous designs were interesting experiments, but I was still looking for a knitting variation that matched my expectations aesthetically. The final two designs came very close towards reaching that goal. We used the Wood K Plus textured monofilament to create the entire base of the garments ( floats within the knitting structure and also floating parts to create the sleeves and neckhole. Everything needs to have an organic flow )
  • Design 12: The base of the final two designs ( 11 & 12 ) are developed with soluble yarns and textured monofilaments, all together connected throughout a knitted net. Only one variation is more loose connected and the second one has a tighter binding. This results into the two different looking textures. During the rain process the soluble yarns cause a chain effect together with the Wood K Plus filaments. The soluble yarns melt away and the net texture is what holds everything together, making this designs perfectly wearable. At the same time I also think that the material is transforming enough to make an aesthetic design statement. My goal is to study this technique more within a new project. But for now this was a very interesting experiment.

The overall conclusion for the first two installations is that the combination of weaving and knitting show the best potential of wearable quality. The knitted prototypes are developed with sharp technical filaments, but they still feel soft on the skin. My plan is that I will continue to work with the knitting techniques in the future and also to create wearable prototypes for the commercial fashion market. In terms of project Marinero there is one woven design that shows the best balance between weaving techniques and added yarns. Design 2 could be a commercial prototype by just adding a few adjustments, in terms of silicone hem finishing. But I would need to find a production company that could create this finishing for me.

The biggest challenge with technical filaments are that they need to get a special unconventional ( non fashion ) finishing, because the cut ends can feel a bit sharp on the skin. This issue could be solved, by for example dipping the ends of the warp filaments with liquid silicone. This would also help to keep the entire construction locked in its own shape. So, the quality of the woven design will also become much better.

    -

    Update 31: 07-01-2021

    The idea for installation 1 was to create the Seacell category. The first 6 designs were meant to be non deforming, but during the process we did add some of the Aitex Archi-Filaments. It was a good initial test to see how these yarns work in a woven structure.

    • Design 1: This design has a rib binding with Aitex yarns in the upper chest part. The lower part of the garment creates an a-line volume, because the Aitex yarns contract on the upper part of the pattern.
    • Design 2: What you see here is the twill variation. The Aitex yarns are added in the waist area. This design has a lot of potential aesthetically.
    • Design 3: This is the satin variation. The Aitex yarns are added partly throughout the entire fabric design. I think the right side of the binding shows an interesting texture effect.
    • Design 4: Another twill variation. We added the Aitex yarns in the upper chest area and lower hips area. I am not a big fan of this design, but it is interesting to compare to the other designs.
    • Design 5: This is another satin variation. The Aitex yarns are added throughout the entire fabric, using an interesting gradient technique. I like the detailed wavy textures on this fabric design.
    • Design 6: I thought that the rib binding would be the ideal solution for the Aitex yarns. But this tighter woven binding shows that it was not really the case. It is important to know that we need to approach the fabric designs in an open woven style.

    Important note: the twill technique works the best with the Aitex yarns.

    -

    Update 30: 07-01-2021

    Since we are currently focusing on the new normal, I realize how important it is to think about the meaning of positive change. The daily news is asking what we can do to create a better future. What fundamental change do we need in order to shape the new world? My contribution towards this positive change would be to work with nature, instead of working against it. In my own experience I am currently feeling the urge to escape urban life. Within this time of crisis I take much joy wandering in forests and studying the growth of plants. To look for slow natural developments. Very small and simple, but truly super complex things! What I love about raw nature is that life grows uncontrollably. ā€No controlā€ inspired me to challenge myself, to not experience any control within the shaping process Ā“Ā“design follows materialĀ“Ā“. I can inspire myself to draw life lines within a textile blueprint, but the idea is to ā€not touch or style the fabricā€ going from 2D to 3D. Itā€™s about letting go the constant desire to control and perfect the process of creation in fashion. Allowing future fabrics to make a direct dialogue around the body, constantly changing and adapting.

    With this project I am researching yarns and fabrics on a technical challenging level. Within this process I am shaping new design aesthetics, based on responsive technology interacting with meteorological conditions. The goal is to analyze the deforming behavior of 36 adaptive fabric designs. I can see what techniques work the best, based on the tailored by weather overview results. This information will allow me to improve high performing fabric blueprints in the future. The intention is also to optimize new and improved versions of the Archi-Filament. I would like to learn more about how I can push the boundaries between new materials and current technology. To eventually make the filament mechanically more powerful.

    How can we shape our future fabrics? By looking at the essence of creating fabrics. For me this starts with designing and developing new yarns, that have unique architectural characteristics.

    -
    Update 29: 13-10-2020 Empa lab results

    The end of the first call of Re-FREAM is near and my collaboration with Empa has come to itā€™s final stage. It was very interesting and refreshing for me to learn about this amazing company. We were able to send woven and knitted samples to St.Gallen. Several test were done by collaborative scientist Agnes Psikuta. The interesting part is that we tried out several treatments applied to the fabrics, to see how the fabrics for example behave when washed inside the washing machine. An overview of test results was presented to me, showcasing the dimensions and fabrics changing deformation. Next to that I also received an Application Potential Analyses. This will help me to think about commercial adaptations of the developed Re-FREAM yarns and filaments.

    My personal thoughts are that I would like to follow up using the melt coating technique. These samples were produced with Wood KPlus in Linz. With Aitex in Alcoy I was able to work with the dip coating technique. The results are artistically very interesting, but for a commercial adaptation it would be too difficult and fragile to reproduce. I would say that with project Re-FREAM we reached an interesting new level of innovation, a hybrid balance between artistic and commercial outcomes.

    Observation test Agnes Psikuta @ Empa

    Knitting fabric samples:

    • SPRAY > before = 40 cm & after = 38 cm
    • STEAM IRON > before = 40 cm & after = 28 cm
    • WASH > before = 40 cm & after = 26 cm

    Weaving fabric samples:

    • SPRAY > before = 36 cm & after = 18 cm
    • STEAM IRON .> before = 36 cm & after = 19 cm
    • WASH > before = 66 cm & after = 39 cm
    Conclusion lab experiments = knitting samples need a combination of moisture and warmth, in order to deform the fabric. The weaving samples show the full deformation process, just by using cold moisture. These samples were adapted into 3D cloth software, by using the smocking effect tools > going from 2D to 3D around the body. The simulation pattern is structured by adding dark horizontal lines, showcasing where the Aitex Archi-Filaments are included inside the fabric pattern.
    Final recommendations: improve future samples of Archi-Filament > current prototype = going from 2D to 3D ( but not back again towards 2D ). It would be interesting to research improvements on the reversible effect of the filament. If successful, a wider spectrum of applications would be possible.

    -
    Update 28: 13-10-2020

    The final step of creating the Marinero garments was to stitch all the designs in my studio office. The process is quite simple, the patterns are rectangular and easy to fold together. The fabrics are fastened with pins and stitched with the industrial sewing machine. Itā€™s always nice to unpack the designs and see the final outcomes of the fabrics. At TextileLab we initially produced the test category, meaning that for each test garment we added several layers of techniques, but for the official designs we choose 1 layer for each new garment. I did not see the official designs until I unpacked them all at my studio in Arnhem. Each design has a number and relates to the other one following up. Itā€™s a very thoughtful and organic process. Everything is linked to each other and it all makes sense once you see the collection overview.

    I started working with the seaweed and knitting category. The difference between the two is that the woven designs need to be cut from the roll. With the knitted designs I did not need to cut anything. Each design was already finished and ready to stitch with the machine. The majority of the fabrics are woven textiles. So I will need to cut all remaining categories from the fabric roll. During the cut it is important that this needs to be done in a sharp and clean way, because this cut already creates the finishing of the woven garment. During fabric production we applied a special finishing yarn within the first few cm's of each textile. This finishing keeps the entire design in its shape.

    -

    Update 27: 13-10-2020 Knitting effect test
    During the knitting production several extra garments were produced, these garments were not optimal enough. For each design Damien Semerdjian needed to produce the entire garment twice or even a third time in a row. I used all these flawed test garments, in order to make more roof top rain experiments. This was great for me to see the fabric effect, but also interesting for Damien, because we saw that some techniques were not working out well. We were able to adjust some details, making the final knitted designs more optimal. The interesting thing about this is that we can work more organically throughout the whole process, producing test garments and instantly seeing the deformation effect. The initial tests showed that the Archi-Filaments already change size and shape up to 50%. We divided vertical lines throughout the design of the garment, showcasing detailed technique diversity. Throughout the fabric frame we locked all the Archi-Filaments, this helps to keep the shape in itā€™s place. Throughout the centre of the fabric we made several parts more fragile, allowing the fabric to burst open and created several detailed smocking effects.

    -

    Update 26: 13-10-2020 Weaving effect test
    During the weaving production Judith Peskens and I were working on the Mix 1 category. At first we wanted to play around with several yarns, to combine the Re-FREAM yarns with yarns that TextileLab had available. In the end we decided that this was too much and I did not see that this way of working would fit with the other categories. So, we decided to just not make it complicated and use the Re-FREAM yarns for the Mix 1 category. However, the garment sample was already created and I had the idea to use it for the first rain experiment. The garment was stitched in my studio in Arnhem and I brought the dress to the roof top. I used 1 black painted mannequin as a base for the fabric. The time lapse camera was placed on a single aluminium tube, right in front of the mannequin. It was also a good moment for me to find out how this camera works. The process was recorded for about a week. It was good for me to see how the Aitex Archi-Filaments reacted with the rain. The early July weather in Arnhem has been crazy until now. We had rain, sun, extreme humidity, strong winds and hail all together in 1 day. I am looking forward to the other remaining 30 weaving garment prototypes.

    -

    Update 25: 06-06-2020

    *Melt coating production

    JĆ¼rgen LeƟlhumer from Wood K Plus wrote a summary based on interview questions:

    • Can you explain what exact materials are used to create the sample 1 textured filament?

    For the production of the textured filament we used a high viscosity polyamide 6 (PA6) from DSM. The used PA6 is a film extrusion grade and was recommended by the supplier for the production of 3D printing filaments. It is lubricated and a food contact quality.

    Material specific properties:

    1. Viscosity number: 210 cm3/g
    2. Melt Viscosity (260 Ā°C): 1120 Pa s
    3. Density: 1130 kg/m3

    In general polyamide 6 is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer and is made by ring-opening polymerization of  Īµ-caprolactam.

    • How does this production process work? Please explain step by step.

    For the production of the textured filament we used the following machinery:

    1. Conical twin-screw extruder with hole-die
    2. Single-screw feeder
    3. Self-made stamping unit (embossing roller + pressure roller)
    4. Cooling via band-conveyer (air)
    5. Haul off unit
    6. Winding unit

    First of all the PA6 have to be pre-dried to avoid air bubbles in the filament. The dried polymer is than filled in the feeder and dosed into the extruder. In the cylinder the polymer is melted via temperature (heater bands) as well as friction, conveyed via the screws and pressed through the hole-die to form the round filament (diameter of 1.75 mm). Afterward the textured surface is created by the embossing roller. The diameter of the filament is adjusted with the haul-off speed. Last but not least the cooled filament is spooled via a winding unit.

    • What technologies are used to create the textured filament?

    The basic technology is extrusion, a continuous process to produce plastic products (3D printing filaments, decking profiles, pipes, films etc.). For the shaping a simple hole-die were used. In contrast to a standard filament extrusion, an embossing step was necessary to create the textured surface.

    • What was the most challenging part to produce this filament?

    The most challenging part was the development of a suitable embossing roller and to define the proper amount and positioning of the rollers. The following figures show the different development steps from the first idea and prototype to the final version with embossing and pressure roller. To reach the final diameter of 0.5 mm it was necessary to stretch the filament. This was done by increasing of the haul-off speed. It was challenging to find the right balance between the output rate of the extruder (kg/h) and the haul-off speed (m/min). Furthermore, a serial production is different to a test operation. To reach a constant filament quality, various factors have to be considered, beginning from the pre-drying of the material.

    • Do you think using the melt coating technique will work to create the original concept of the Adaptive Archi-Filament? (Some trials with mix polymers were interesting, but needed to be further researched)

    We think it is possible to produce the Adaptive Archi-Filament (polymeric filament with an urge to build frizzed structures encapsulated with a water-soluble polymer) with the melt coating process. But not with the current available equipment and material combination. A collaboration with toolmakers would be necessary. In the frame of a bachelor or master thesis the right raw materials and material combination could be investigated. A realistic time to get what you want and to produce a filament which meets your expectations would be one year and more (depending on budget).

    • What is your advise in terms of our collaboration follow up in the future? How do we step forward?

    Of course we are interested in a further collaboration. One possibility would be to look for a suitable funding pool. I think the best idea would be a meeting after the completion of the Re-FREAM project and trials at TextileLab. Together we should create a kind of specification sheet. This should include the expectations and technical requirements.

    -

    Update 25: 06-06-2020

    Jaime Gonzalez from Aitex wrote a summary based on interview questions:

    • Can you explain what exact materials are used to create the Archi-Filament? Explain per yarn and filament:
    1. Monofilament Elastic yarn: is a thermoplastic polyurethane synthetic fiber.
    2. Multifilament1: PLA Polylactic acid.
    3. Multifilament2: rPA recycled polyamide from sea nets.
    4. Metallic yarn: PES (Polyester) bright white yarn + PES (Polyester) bright grey yarn.
    5. Dip coating: PVA (Polyvinyl acetate).
    • What yarns did Aitex produce for the Archi-Filament? How does this process work?

    We had to manufacture PLA and rPA yarns by using the melt spinning process. The solid polymers are melted in the extruder barrel and the melted materials are forced through the multiple hole mold called Ā“spinneretĀ“. During this process the polymers are solidified by cooling them down with air. The process named ' as-spun fiber ' = when the resulting fibers get collected and not undergone any further treatments. At the end of these processes all fibers get collected using the spin-line winder.

    The multifilament manufactured within the extruder machine had to be textured by Taslan Air-Jet texturising process:

    Air-jet texturising process is a purely mechanical method that uses a cold air-stream, to produce bulked yarns of low extensibility. The air-textured yarns resemble spun yarns in their appearance and physical characteristics. The air-jet texturising process is by far the most versatile of all the yarn texturising methods. It blends filaments together during the production process.

    The air textured yarn is a bulky yarn with permanent crimps and loops. Interlacing of filaments in the jet can cause the loops to be locked into the yarn. Loop frequency, loop dimensions, loop stability and physical bulk are the important characteristics of air jet textured yarns.

    Yarns produced by the air-jet texturising are totally different structures. These yarns are much more closely to simulate spun yarn textures. Whereas the bulkiness of the stretch yarns decreases with the degree of the yarn tension.

    • What other yarns were used to create the Archi-Filament? Yarns that Aitex did not make. (For example the elastane.)

    Metalic yarn (PES (Polyester) Bright White yarn + PES (Polyester) bright grey yarn) and monofilament Elastic yarn. This selection of materials needed to be bought from other companies in Spain. These yarns and filaments were integrated with the yarns produced by Aitex.

    • What technologies are used to create the yarns and Archi-Filament?
    1. Melt spinning process => Taslan Air Texturing => Twisting process => Dip coating.
    2. Twisting Process is how we join the different yarns (rPA + PLA + Meallic color yarn + Elastane)
    3. Dip coating with PVA.
    • What was the most challenging part to produce this yarn?

    The design process starts by joining all yarns and filaments together. During the twisting process we had to control the tension of the elastane filament. This was necessary to achieve the looping effect of the Archi-Filament. The most challenging step was to balance the elastane tension versus the coating process.

    -

    Update 24: 06-06-2020
    We already reached the goal of the project by creating the Archi-Filament with Aitex. However, with Wood K Plus it's a development process that needs more time. Why ?, because the melt coating technique is a much more restricted process. We tried to work with the melt coating technique before with Aitex, but the team advised me to work with the dip coating technique. With the dip process we could do more by hand and also use a wider range of materials.

    With Wood K Plus we followed up using the melt coating technique. I realized the difficulty of this process. But I still wanted to try and see what happens using this technique. It's very realistic to conclude that we need more time and effort to develop this version of the Archi-Filament. I am very thankful to the team of WK+ to have worked so many days and nights to find several production solutions.

    For project Re-FREAM we decided to develop two separate filaments. Test version number 1 shows the looping shape. Test version number 2 shows the transformation process ''from stiff to flexible''. These 2 versions combined in a textile will simulate the concept of the Archi-Filament. The idea is to see and analyse how these filaments interact with each other. We will use the data collected from the tailored by weather installations. With this information we can develop new and improved prototypes.

    -

    Update 23: 30-04-2020

    The mannequins that are going to be used for the tailored by weather installations are second hand torsos from Gruppo Corso Breukelen. This company offered me a special price for the 30 mannequins. Plus 1 extra torso to make the first test sample. Itā€™s important to test the fiberglass quality by drilling holes into the mannequin. These torsos will be hanging inside the installation frame. The torsos will be constructed with steel wires. Originally the torsos have skin colored mat finish. Painting the mannequins black will create the correct contrast with the white Marinero garments. Local artist from Arnhem Harmen Liemburg painted all the 30 torsos by hand. 

    We choose to apply blackboard paint. I personally think that blackboard paint has a nice texture. It has a carbon mat texture when itā€™s dry, but when itā€™s wet the texture becomes very shiny and almost reflective. I am very happy and thankful with all the extra work that Harmen has put into all these torsos. The last stage of finishing this job is to create holes in the neck and leg parts. We used the test torso to drill several holes and check if the fiberglass did not break to much. Harmen communicates with Bart Nijboer to see where the holes need to be exactly placed. Bart needs to double check the test torso inside his designed installation frame. Finding the right balance is key! Itā€™s all about double checking and clear communication.    

    -
    Update 22: 07-04-2020

    Previously I mentioned that March and April were going to be a challenging time. I was referring to several deadlines concerning filament and fabric producing. In this case the real challenge was to slow down experiencing the global corona crisis. I needed to adapt in terms of project goals and deadlines. The co-creation project is temporarily not the main priority anymore. ItĀ“s heartbreaking to read the news about the crisis day by day. Understanding that much love is needed in times where making physical contact is almost impossible. Staying strong, keeping faith and helping others wherever you can. Social distancing will hopefully contribute to stop spreading the virus. I hope the crisis will be solved soon.

    In terms of the project we are still able to stay productive. During the crisis it is not possible to travel to the other hubs. In my case it was originally planned to focus on local production during the months February, March and April. This means that I do not need to travel to the other hubs abroad for the coming months. My team and I are producing the material installations in Arnhem. We have had a lot of fun working together, while keeping 1.5 meters distance! We are doing all we can to keep the energy very positive. Working in the Netherlands at this stage is easier for me to manage the process and having local collaborative contacts. I have been working together with a Dutch 3D artist, creating the final stage of the tailored by weather animation. This 3D render animation will help outsiders by visually explaining and showcasing how we work step by step. Another highlight is that I am also collaborating with a Dutch creative studio based in Groningen. This amazing team is dyeing Seacell silk yarns with seaweed pigment. It is very inspiring how we can still manage to be productive, even during lock-down times.

    Itā€™s not a surprise that the TextileLab fabric production is going to be postponed. I was scheduled to work with TextileLab Tilburg on the last day of March (31-03-2020). But we need to wait until the crisis ends to start rescheduling again. On the 25th of March it was announced that TextileLab will stay closed until the 1st of June. With project Re-FREAM it is possible to extend the co-creation process until late August 2020. This will help the artists to finish their projects in time.

    For now we will work on what we can do locally, minimizing our lives to help others during this difficult time. Focusing on health recovery and healing the broken hearts of people. But also not to forget that healing life in general is very important. We need to be careful with how we are currently living over-consuming lifestyles. Because we need to keep in mind that we are still experiencing a global warming issue. It will be a matter of time when we start to realize that minimizing will possibly be a life style that humans in general need to consider in the future.

    -

    Update 21: 07-03-2020
    March is an exciting month during the project. All deadlines for the Archi-Filament production need to be finished and shipped to TextileLab Tilburg before the end of this month. My filament creation mentor Jaime Gonzales from Aitex has been preparing the production of the Aitex Archi-Filament. During the production process the idea was to order materials from Aitex partners. Unfortunately because of the lack of time left Jaime was forced to produce all the yarns in Aitex. He has worked very hard to push the production of the Archi-Filament. Studio Adaptive Skins is very thankful to him that he could manage to complete the idea of the Archi-Filament. 60KM are scheduled to be finished medio March and I have all the faith that this will turn out successfully. So all the props for this stage of the project go to Jaime. Muchas gracias!!!


    The process of Wood K Plus goes into another direction. We are still in the experimental fase. Jurgen and Konrad from Wood K Plus did an amazing experiment for the first Archi-Filament test. But the challenge is that this technique still needs to be discovered. They did not know what mix of polymers were used for that specific experiment. So they need to ask and work with a chemist to find out the right balance and duplicate the same technique again. With Aitex we are focusing on the dipcoating technique and with Wood K Plus we are focusing on the melt coating technique. The same concept of the Archi-Filament, but executed in totally different ways. The status right now for Wood K Plus is that we will look what we can still do with the time left. If we find something that works over the next weeks we can try to produce 10KM minimum. With this amount I can use the filament to create at least 1 weaving and 1 knitting fabric prototype. Image 1 = Aitex Archi-Filament production cone and image 2 = Wood K Plus Archi-Filament initial experimental test. 

    Update 20: 20-02-2020
    Studio Adaptive Skins commissioned Harmen van Liemburg and Bart Nijboer to work on the tailored by weather installations. These amazing talented artists are based in Arnhem. So we will work as a group together on this ambitious plan. *Harmen is an artist/ graphic designer/ screenprinter, mostly working on the autonomous side of the professional spectrum.* He will work on painting the mannequins and he will drill holes in the neck and knees parts. Bart will work on the steel construction installations. *Bart is an artist specialized in spatial images that are composed of different forms and objects, referring to processes in nature.* The creation process started with meeting at the studio of Harmen. Here we prepared the working plan and also admired Harmens beautiful work. To follow the weather by installation process go to -> Menu and click on section ''WATER WIRE'' and go to -> update 8.

    -

    Update 19: 12-02-2020
    ''Tailored by weather'' versus ''tailored by sweat''

    *PANAMA - mono-filament warp & PVA yarn weft.
    - Underneath on the left you can see the technical drawing of the tailored by weather.
    - Underneath on the right you can the technical drawing of the tailored by sweat.
    * Conclusion 

    - Weather effect (LEFT) = accentuates the body shapes by bursting effect.
    * Rain, humidity, snow, wind and sun warmth have a direct influence on the deforming process.

    - Sweat robot effect (RIGHT)  = specific body parts moisture ''chest, waist, hips and upper leg''. 

    * Material adapts to the sweat areas ''figure hugging'' This could be interesting from a thermodynamic point of view.

    *SATIN - mono-filament warp & PVA yarn weft.
    - Underneath on the left you can see the technical drawing of the tailored by weather.
    - Underneath on the right you can the technical drawing of the tailored by sweat.
    * Conclusion

    - Weather effect (LEFT) = very linear and stiff pleats effect.
    * Rain, humidity, snow, wind and sun warmth have a direct influence on the deforming process.

    - Sweat robot effect (RIGHT) = dynamic stiff pleats effect versus creamy satin effect.
    * Very interesting to see: ''chest, waist, hips and upper leg'' sweat parts forcing the material to deform.

    * Moves away from the body creating an abstract 3D effect. 

    * Aesthetically the most interesting from the sweat robot experiment.

    -

    *Overall conclusion:

    * Effect rain is all over the body - Effect sweat robot is on specific body parts.

    -
    Update 18: 09-02-2020 Empa sweat robot Marinero panama and satin experiment

    -

    Update 17: 29-01-2020

    During the last week of January I was able to create a weaving test version with Aitex in Alcoy. Quico helped me to create the woven fabric. He knows how to control the weaving machine. The process of the mono filament warp needs to be done by hand. This was done one day before by two Aitex employers. Each warp filament needs to be transported by hand through the frame of the weaving machine. Quico placed the warp into the weaving machine to prepare the weaving process. The prototype of the Adaptive Archi-Filament (weft) was applied to create the fabric. It became clear that the final version of the filament needs to get a double dip-coating production process. During weaving the yarn started to unravel and this was not optimal. In the end we were able to create the weaving sample of 30 cm wide and 2 meters long. This was a great timing because we could show the yarn and fabric samples during the Midterm presentation in Madrid. 
    Photo's @ Aitex Alcoy

    -

    During the midterm presentation in Madrid all the tech partners came to attend the Re-FREAM meetings. On the 27th of January we had a panel discussion and on the 28th all the artists gave a 10 minute presentation at the IED university, center for higher education of design. Aitex mentor Jaime and myself explained about the current developments and the next steps towards the final Re-FREAM presentation. Currently all the yarn prototypes from Aitex and Wood K Plus are almost production ready. During April I will work with TextileLab Tilburg to create the fabrics. And finally some metal constructions will be produced to start the outdoor weather experiments. Click on section ''water wire'' at the Studio Adaptive Skins menu and you will find all the steps of the tailored by weather installations.
    Midterm photo: SOMOSMONOS foto & video

    -

    Update 16: 20-01-2020
    Empa ''Sam'' sweat robot test. >Tailored by sweat<
    Agnes from Empa material technology tested the two Marinero Satin and Panama samples. Compared to the ''tailored by weather experiment'' the Empa robot test shows another way of material versus sweat behavior. The matrix demonstrates that the chest and hips parts are the most effecting, because these body parts have a direct connection with the fabric. However the sweat also finds its way around the direct contact areas, depending where it moves through the fabric. This means that movement also will have an influence in making contact with the fabric. This robot experiment inspired me to think about a future project focusing on sweat. This seems an interesting step after having focused on the weather. In this case the next stage of project Marinero will go from external towards more internal.
    Underneath you will see an example of the Panama garment (on the left) and the Satin garment (on the right) before and after effects.
    Panama on the left shows more direct contact with the body - Satin shows more abstract 3D shape moving away from the body

    -

    Update 15: 23-12-2019

    The building of TextileMuseum st.Gallen exists from the year 1886. It was initially build as a library and school for pattern design. Studio Adaptive Skins member Jef had a private tour at the library. It was very inspiring to hear the history of the region. The beginning of the 19th century Swiss people were poor, so they had to be resourceful with their local products. The locals made jewelry of straw. Aargau is the origin of the straw-braids technique. St. Gallen is famous for its lace production. Around 4000 pattern books are safely stored in the library and can be seen under supervision. The Museum also showcases seasonal changing expositions. The upcoming exposition will be about new materials medio 2020.

    -

    Update 14: 23-12-2019 Empa working plan

    Benchmark test for archi filaments (status 17.12.2019)

    1) Quantification of yarn and fabric structure transformation with relative humidity

    Setup:

    • Climatic chamber settings 20% and 80%
    • Samples yarns and fabric samples placed on humidity resistant raster
    • Video camera, scale

    Protocol:

    • Measurement over 18h
    • First 20% and then 80%
    • Samples geometry measured before and after

    2) Quantification of yarn and fabric structure transformation with liquid water

    Setup:

    • Climatic chamber settings 20%
    • Samples yarns and fabric samples placed on humidity resistant raster
    • Video camera, scale

    Protocol:

    • Samples geometry measured before and after

    3) Quantification of the effect of dress transformation due to sweating on its appearance and thermal resistance

    Setup:

    • Climatic chamber settings 20C, 30%
    • Thermal manikin with fabric skin
    • Video camera
    • 3D scanner

    Samples:

    • PVA dresses (Panama and satin)
    • New dresses (2 types, optionally more)
    • Protocol:
    • 2D scanning before and after sweating test (if it works)
    • Thermal resistance measurement before and after sweating test
    • Sweating test over few hours with additional walking phase at the end of sweating phase18h
    • Video camera record of entire sweating phase with geometrical transformation of the dress (from front)

    Analysis:

    • Demonstrative videos to observe geometrical transformation of the dress when the moisture comes from inside (sweating) as opposed to outside (weather).
    • Estimation of the thermal effect of the geometrical transformation on the human body

    4) Rooftop experiment (quantification of effect of weather conditions on geometrical transformation of the dress)

    Setup:

    • Rooftop at Empa (administrative building)
    • 4-6 torso manikins on the rack
    • Rack (needs to be clarified if it will be shipped or built on site by Empa technician)
    • Webcam

    Protocol:

    • Measurement during month May 2020
    • Samples:
    • 4-6 dresses made of different archi filaments

    5) Application potential analysis

    • Based on quantified geometrical transformation of fabrics made with archi filaments, a theoretical ap-plication potential analysis will be carried out to identify possible future practical application of the fabrics as well as the target transformation for optimal performance.

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    Update 13: 23-12-2019
    The last Re-FREAM meeting of the year 2019 was dedicated to Empa in Switzerland. Studio Adaptive Skins provided 2 of the Marinero first blueprints from experiment 1 & 2. Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology will analyse these garments on sweat mannequins. Parameters will be analysed and date will be collected. The rain is more an organic process that you can not really capture data within the deformation of the actual garments. The sweat mannequin controls the moisture that comes from within. Within this frame we can actually see and collect data from certain parts of the body that have the most deforming fabric effect. 

    Studio Adaptive Skins member Jef got a tour at Empa on 16 December. Collaborating scientist Agnes Psikuta demonstrated the photo climatic chamber -> sweat mannequin -> computer controlled mannequin ''SAM''. 

    -Measuring climate chamber
    -Control humidity
    -Manage sweat rate
    *Reference poster ''Family mannequins''
    *More prototypes developed
    • -Sweating plate late 90's
    • -Sweating arm sleeves -> retired late 90's - *not made by Empa. Bought and researched
    • -sweating torso - *system build up by Empa -> *Allows you measure a sandwich of materials
    Controlled system by flat = great analyse
    1. Drape is more difficult to capture
    2. Sample a and b are to abstract
    Experiments:
    1. -sweating head helmets ( buried under the ground after technical difficulties *exploding head )
    2. -sweat doll
    3. -Hand ( burned ) system overhear
    • Wires in hand analyse fabrics
    • Mannequin was finished 1997 + -
    • Moving test for firefighters etc
    1. Moving system
    2. Sweating system
    • Electricity and water doesn't work well. *It needs a good technology
    • - heating comes from inside
    • Aluminium is conductive
    • Respond time is fast
    • Nano pure water
    • *Human sweat produces tiny bit of minerals
    • *Does not change the properties, so nano pure water is a good option
    Room F233 *sewing lab
    -Moisture management testing
    -10 by 10 cm
    *Final test Adaptive Archi-Filament *plus fabric usage

    Cloth 3D pull test and bending test machine
    1. Parameter plus thickness measurement
    2. Plus scale for weight
    3. Grams per square meter
    Rain tower
    1. Rain sensors underneath clothes
    2. Measuring change in resistance
    3. Water is conductive
    • Detect if its wet or not?
    Parameters analysis
    • Mainly upper body clothing
    1. Easier to work with cotton -> Hygroscopy
    2. Means that it bounds moisture within and it holds moisture within
    Rain installation:
    • Metal plates are perforated
    • Individual pipes
    • Control water of each segment ( uniform rain )
    • Controlling rain styles
    • hydraulic system for water delivery rain tower
    *Rain drop poster note 1 is worst and note 5 is best - why? 1 soaks and 5 repel water. *It rolls off
    Highlight note: Maybe use rain tower installation as a B option if it does not rain in the month May 2020

    Click on section ''water wire'' at the Studio Adaptive Skins menu and you will find notes on the development of all the international Marinero outdoor adaptive material installation/expositions. -> Update 5 @ section water wire

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    Update 12: 22-12-2019
    Fishbone final gelatine test @ Haratech Linz. After 1 month the fishbone gelatine tests were still laying in water at the Haratech office. In the beginning the water was transparent, but now the water became very cloudy. This is caused because of the fishbone gelatine decaying process. Things were starting to smell fishy, but no dissolving qualities as we expected. In fact the gelatine has been absorbing more water, and seems more stronger within its structure. These base material studies will help Wood K plus to follow up on their fishbone monofilament experiments. More updates about these follow ups will be posted in 2020. Underneath you will find an overview of the material measured over the last month.
    Date: 14-11-2019

    1. = 85,0 mm - 242,0 gr
    2. = 83,0 mm - 430,0 gr
    3. = 78,0 mm - 205,0 gr
    4. = 74,0 mm - 241,0 gr 
    5. = 72,0 mm - 340,0 gr
    Date: 21-11-2019
    1. = 90,0 mm - 274,0 gr
    2. = 90,0 mm - 447,3 gr
    3. = 85,0 mm - 229,0 gr
    4. = 82,0 mm - 277,0 gr
    5. = 78,0 mm - 347,0 gr
    Date: 13-12-2019
    1. = 81,0 mm - 191,3 gr
    2. = 76,0 mm - 265,2 gr
    3. = 69,0 mm - 137,6 gr
    4. = 72,0 mm - 205,3 gr
    5. = 67,0 mm - 210,6 gr

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    Update 11: 22-12-2019 Wood K plus x Adaptive Archi-Filament 2nd version (B)

    Start with multi-filament and continue to mono-filament

    Few questions:
    Challenge in the process?
    -smooth and now texture - why?
    -upgrade output 90 gr per hour normally 3 kg
    -different speeds -> low speed on belt increases output to filament
    -idea was to make the wave within texture 
    -> effect reached *also a stretch mechanical component inside the 0,4mm version
    -making process = texture tape on wheel and holding it by hand during production ( improvise )

    Notes
    *Option 3d effect textiellab
    -Gradient pva yarn vs a.a.f
    -Soluble and bursting vs elastic effect?

    Click on section ''yarn'' at the Studio Adaptive Skins menu and you will find notes on the first Wood K plus version of the Adaptive Archi-Filament. -> Update 5 @ section yarn

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    Update 10: 22-12-2019
    Medio December was the first meeting with Wood K plus in Linz. We got a tour inside the Johannes Kepler University Linz demonstrating all the services and techniques that the company offers. The facility main office and showroom of W.K+ are inside the university ( photo ref. below ) . It was surprising to see an experiment with one of their products, analyzing quality checks after 10 years exposure to several weather conditions. *Optical problem <-> mechanical problem / materials: wood in combination with polymers. You could actually see that the material was affected by mold and moss. This was very inspiring in terms of the connection with project Marinero and outside weather experiments.

    -Filament extrusion * access to the institute of injection molding
    • Quality control diameter checks
    • Air or water pass
    • Conical extrude - diameter diversity ( paralel extrude = continues diameter )
    • Ovens ( photo ref. ) are for carbon fibers *only to create carbon fibers.
    • Final materials are for example: coffee filters etc ( photo ref. plastic boxes )
    - Extrusion hall
    • Compounding of low filt materials
    • Bigger machines ( photo ref. ) are fir higher filt ( bigger amount )

    Wood K plus: We are a leading research institute in the area wood and wood-related renewable resources in Europe. Our core competences are materials research and process technology along the complete value chain ā€“ from raw material to finished products. We develop methods and basics and perform applied research on the economy-science interface.

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    Update 9: 21-12-2019
    In December Jef and Kevin went to Austria to visit the Fashion and Technology department (F&T) at the Linz art university (UFG). The fashion department has an interesting collection of antique industrial Italian knitting machines. Kevin worked on the double bed knitting machine to produce some material samples, with the Aitex version of the Adaptive Archi-Filement. The final step was to test the deforming effect of the material. To see and analyse the effect of the Archi-Filament, within a knitting structure. Click on section ''knitting'' at the Studio Adaptive Skins menu and you will find Kevin's notes on the first water experiment. -> Update 3 @ section knitting

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    Update 8: 07-12-2019
    Alcoy has a beautiful history of Textile Industry. Studio Adaptive Skins attended an intimate exclusive tour at the local textile museum showcasing an interesting historical overview on textile machine developments. A very emotionally moving exposition, where you could actually experience these old forgotten machines. Several generations could see these old machines working again producing fabrics. The most personally inspiring was to actually see and read all the info about the local hard working people in textile factories throughout the years.

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    Update 7: 05-12-2019 Adaptive Archi-Filament design prototype test

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    Update 6: 24-11-2019

    The last two weeks of November Studio Adaptive Skins is working together with Aitex Textile Research Institute Alcoy to develop the first tests of the adaptive-archi-filament. We agreed to first work on the understanding of all the filament producing machines, and after following up how we can use this technology to integrate with the adaptive archi-filament concept. Underneath you can find photoĀ“s and information about the industrial filament production machines + Aitex technician team.

    Multi filament machine ( Salvador Giner Grau )

    • 1 day machine prep process
    • Many detailed steps before to be able to use the machine
    • Can use different (bio) polymer materials
    • 1 continuous filament (non broken)
    • Linear filament core structure means strong, crossing means weaker
    • More filaments twisted into 1 synthetic yarn
    • Material = poly-amide 6 recycled multi filament

    Filament finishing machine  ( Rafael Escorcia Serrano )
    Several twisting techniques. Mechanic changes to the yarn.
    Primitive machines simple twisting, two for one twisting, hollow spindle twisting, ring twisting, direct cabling twisting and simple twisting.

    • Single yarn covering
    • Multi-yarn covering
    • Hamel twisting
    • Double yarn twisting
    • Multi-color mulin twisting
    • Multi yarn twisting
    • Multi yarn parallel twisting
    • Cross yarn covering
    • Siro twisting
    • Lycra covering twisting

    Compound extrude machine  ( Salvador Giner Grau )

    • Mix materials polymers additives
    • Experiment with different polymers
    • Mixing these particles (crisps)
    • Using to create monofilament
    • To create base material for monofilament
    • *Bio polymer = pla, phb, pcl, pva - bio polymer that are not synthetic = starch corn and potato

    Weaving machine ( Francisco Rico Vilaplana )

    • Able to create wrap (vertical) and weft (horizontal) inside Aitex
    • *normally you can be more creative with the weft, but with this machine it can also be with the wrap
    • *we can simulate the Marinero blueprint on smaller scale and test how the filament behaves in a fabric
    • Max 50 cm weft weaving
    • *idea making miniature samples with my own designed yarns
    • Can change weaving styles from satin to panama etc
    • Machine dobby loom = name technology
    • Handcraft prep before starting the fabric weaving production

    Drawn textured yarn machine ( Rafael Escorcia Serrano )

    Ā§  Sample yarns shown are synthetic polymers

    Ā§  This machine can only texture continuous filaments. It can not texture the are broken up in parts ( open end )

    Ā§  The friction disks are the key elements that create the texture

    Ā§  Before the friction disks a stretching is added using the heaters and godets velocities to increase the yarn tenacity.

    Ā§  There are 2 different types of heaters:  polyester/polyamide heater and  polypropylene/polyethylene

    Ā§  The more disks means more friction *need to find a balance for the limits depending yarn type

    Ā§  The process objective is to change the plastic aspect of the yarn giving it a volume similar to natural fibres.

    Monofilament machine ( Miguel MuƱoz Pina )

    • Several mono machine metal head designs
    • These so called heads are placed at the mouth of the monofilament machine
    • *reference multifilament machine -> cascade effect -> 1 hole = mono ( middle hole ) the 2 extra holes next to it are bi-component, and used when you want to create a Ā“coatingĀ“
    • Breaker = where you put the filter in the 2nd part ( to create the mono )
    • *metal head designs are produced loyal with an Aitex partner -> fountain metal parts - rulers
    • New idea for metal head design -> contact local producer to make new ones
    • *monofilament production baths are used (cool bath) poly-amide * related materials. Some materials ( polyester and related ) must go into a 40Ā“C bath. The production flow will simply work better.
    • Monofilament production tip = there are more machines involved within this chain. Some machines can be in and excluded based on the materials ( polymers/crisp parts )
    • *adaptive archi-filament tip -> = melt coating
    • Process monofilament machine = trying to find balance between start and end ( depending polymers )
    • Challenge is -> when the monofilament falls off the machine wheels rules. It can slow down the prep process.

    Air jet texturing machine ( Rafael Escorcia Serrano )

    Ā§  Sample yarns shown are synthetic polymers

    Ā§  This machine can only texture continuous filaments. It can not texture the are broken up in parts ( open end )

    Ā§  The wheel temperature of the machine causes a stretching which increases the tenacity/strength of the yarn.

    Ā§   Water used inside the machine allows the yarn to prepare filament to the air pressure.

    Ā§  An air pressure jet ā€œdestroyā€ the filaments creating interlaced curls which gives the volume to the yarn.

    Ā§  *controlled defect effect. You can add more or less defect to the yarn. The yarn looks like it is more textured ( hairy ) in some parts. -No.

    Ā§  Fancy controlled defect effect. You can add more or less defect to the yarn. The yarn looks like it is more textured ( hairy ) in some parts.

    Ā§  The process objective is to change the plastic aspect of the yarn giving it a volume similar to natural fibres.

    Open end machine ( Paulino Morant Gisbert )

    The main components are:
        -Dis-integrator cylinder: To position the parallel fibres
        -Adaptor: it carries the fibre of the breaker to the rotor
        -Rotor: rotates at high speed to give torsion and generate the thread
        -Nozzle: Provides twist to the thread
        -Torque stop: gives an extra torque

    Maximum fibre length that can be used is 60mm.
    The splice is the union of the fibres to be able to wind the thread.
    Find a joint equal to the thread so that it is not noticed.


    Steps:
        1.The wick enters the splitter cylinder
        2. Individual fibres pass to the rotor area
        3. The fibres enter the rotor where the thread is formed by the speed of rotation, producing the twisting effect
        4. The thread comes out of the nozzle
        5. Go through the Torque Stop that gives you extra torque
        6. The thread is wound
        7. The finished coil is removed

    Cut machine ( Salvador Giner Grau )
    Steps: Multifilament yarn and than we put the bobbins. In the fillet where the filaments are joined and inserted into the cutting head to obtain the short fibres.

    Cut machine process
    Insert the blades into the head.
    Mount the cutting head on the machine.
    Cutting head is cutting roller.


    Sintetical fibers:
    - Compounding
    - Multifilament spinning
    - Texturing process (air textured yarn or drawn textured yarn)

    Mixing fibers:
    - compounding
    - multifilament spinning
    - crimp process
    - cutting process
    - mixing process
    - carding process
    - open end

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    Update 5: 22-11-2019
    The third week of November I visited Haratech in Linz to start the Re-FREAM co-creation process. The team and I experimented on working with fish bone gelatin. We need to test the material for the soluble capsule that will surround the core of the adaptive archi-filament. We made 5 options starting the gelatin experiment with cold water, boiled water and cold water heated in an oven. After 24 hours the materials were all firm with several textures. The cold water showed a bubble texture, the boiled water showed a transparent texture, and the oven heated versions showed a misty transparent texture. The final step of the first experiment was to put the samples into water. To see the soluble effect of the gelatin. After another 24 hours the gelatin inside the water showed no change.

    • Research shown in the picture above from left to fight (fbg = fish bone gelatin)
    • LEFT = 20 ml fbg mixed with 200 ml cold water = bubble effect
    • LEFT MIDDLE =  20 ml fbg mixed with 400 ml cold water = bubble semi transparent effect
    • MIDDLE = 20 ml fbg mixed with 200 ml boiled water = transparent effect
    • MIDDLE RIGHT = 20 ml fbg mixed with 200 ml cold water. Put in the oven -> 50Ā“ + 30 min  = misty effect
    • RIGHT = 20 ml fbg mixed with 400 ml cold water. Put in the oven -> 50Ā“ + 30 min = misty transparent effect
    • Conclusion soluble effect after putting the samples 24H in a bucket of tap water = absorbs water -> non soluble

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    Update 4: 21-11-2019

    On 07-11-2019 Studio Adaptive Skins visited the Vienna Textile Lab. The meeting was with professor Karin Fleck and her laboratory team. The demonstration showed a process on how to dye textile with bacteria. The Vienna Textile Lab team have a close connection with creative local artists who collect several bacteria in the Vienna forest area. In the lab they have a database where all the collected bacteriaĀ“s are analysed and categorised. Some bacteriaĀ“s produce more brighter colours than others. For Studio Adaptive Skins some plans are scheduled to allow the bacteriaĀ“s to dye the garments in a non controlled way. ItĀ“s a natural and sustainable process. Studio will document this process to showcase the steps. Underneath you can find impressions of the Textile Lab in Vienna. Plus related inspirational photo documentations at MAK Museum design lab Vienna. Bacteria artwork from artist Sonja BƤumel and the ocean cleanup project. All related topics connected to Studio Adaptive Skins and project Marinero.

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    Update 3: 23-10-2019
    The photographs underneath show the Marinero campaign. The photo's were made in Valencia with model Alejandro Renterƭa AlmarƔz.
    Photo @ Valencia - (C) Studio Adaptive Skins

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    Update 2: 22-10-2019
    During my stay in Alcoy I was intrigued by empty ruins that can be found in the city center of Alcoy. I found out that these ruins were textile factories. They were build to have a great potential economically. But during the economic crisis the city had to close down and stop building most of these factories. The buildings are impossible to enter. The doors are closed down with bricks and cement. For the project I want to do a small research on the history and possible future for these buildings. I was informed that Alcoy had a huge potential textile wise. I want to know what happend with these dreams. The photographs underneath demonstrate the state of one of these textile factories.
    Photo @ Alcoy

    Update 1: 21-10-2019
    The first steps of project Re-FREAM have been made. The first meeting was in September during Ars Electronica in Linz. This was a moment for everybody to get to know each other. The 10 lucky international designers explained their projects and made plans with the platform to define what they want to develop within the coming year. Studio Adaptive Skins specifically want to develop the yarns and filaments within project Re-FREAM. It is a great chance for designers to get more deeper inside the fashion industry. Being able to explore and collaborate in places that are normally not reachable or really difficult to get inside as an individual. Each designer will get specific places inside the EU to work on their projects.

    Studio Adaptive Skins will work with HUBS Valencia and Linz. The second meeting that we had was in October to visit the Aitex company in Alcoy/Spain. The company presented a very interesting process on all the different things that they offer within the Aitex textile research institute. The photographs underneath demonstrate a fraction of the services that Aitex offers. It was amazing to see and hear on how they produce all their yarns and filaments. The team was very open to listen to the dreams that Studio Adaptive Skins has for project Marinero. Looking very much forward to work more with Aitex. The first idea is to create monofilaments and yarns mixed with recycled sea plastic and algae.
    Photo @ Aitex

    Studio Adaptive Skins wins the Re-FREAM award 2019. The 55.000 euro prize will be invested for the development of the Marinero yarns and filaments. Re-FREAM is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020research and innovation program under grant agreement NO 825647. Studio Adaptive Skins will get the opportunity to work in HUBS Valencia and Linz. Interdisciplinary collaborations are needed to create the collection. On this page updates will be placed about the whole process of Re-FREAM.
    Photo @ Triƫste