The Textile + Design Lab at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand, is engaged in design and innovation using fashion and textile technology for the purposes of research, product development, training and education. The lab covers knit design, e-textiles, digital supply and distribution chains, sustainability and resource development.
Digital textile design and development has been a key area of focus for the past six years. The Textile + Design Lab has made significant efforts to overcome some of the technical issues encountered when trying to digitally print Merino wool fabrics.
Whilst the lab had been successfully digitally printing Merino/possum knitwear for several years, they were not able to achieve the same quality of prints on 100% Merino.
“The prints had a mottled appearance and dye retention and cross staining of residual dye were also concerns on both woollen fabrics and knitwear,” explains Peter Heslop, manager of the Textile + Design Lab.
“Our Shima Seiki flatbed printer was developed with printed knitwear in mind so preparing the knitted products prior to printing and developing a suitable wet finishing process were the main obstacles that we had to deal with.”
Heslop and his team applied for funding from the commercialisation department to conduct the R&D work. Typically projects involve individuals or groups of six or more research staff and postgraduate students, depending on the nature of the work. Many of the problems they encountered were related to raw material preparation and post printing processes.
“The funding enabled us to engage the help of a textile chemist who helped us formulate processes, particularly in the wet finishing area,” says Heslop. “The results of the work we have done have helped us to identify certain raw materials that have better dye affinity, which in turn give us good vibrant colours without any residual dye transferring onto the printed fabric or garment.”
With digital printing there is no limit to the number of colours that can be incorporated into a single design. The Textile + Design Lab encourages its students and commercial partners to use this advantage to create a point of difference between their designs and those printed conventionally.
One such commercial partner is New Zealand Merino performance wear company Icebreaker, which has worked with the lab since it was opened in 2006. Icebreaker approached the researchers to work on the development of prints for 100% knitted Merino base layer garments.
“Although we were fairly ‘green’ with regard to digitally printing on wool fabrics at that time, we took up the challenge by colour matching to their palette and turning around about eight new designs in a matter of a week or so,” says Heslop.
“This product development exercise highlighted just how quickly new products could be converted from design to finished garment, another advantage of the digital printing process.”
The Textile + Design Lab is not solely focused on digital printing, carrying out significant R&D work on whole garment and intarsia knitting technology. The lab originally installed a Shima SES 7 gauge wholegarment machine and a 10 gauge wholegarment accessory machine. The ultimate aim of the research is to support domestic knitwear production.
“One of our objectives is to increase capability within the New Zealand apparel and textile sectors by engaging with the industry so designers and manufacturers can access this state of the art technology, develop new products and then make informed decisions as to whether this technology is right for them,” Heslop explains.
“There have been seven or eight cases whereby our commercial partners have invested in their own wholegarment machines having gone down this path with us. That in turn has helped to retain more knitwear production in New Zealand, which in turn should create job opportunities for our graduates.”
Some of the more hi-tech R&D has incorporated conductive materials, such as the lab’s work with Zephyr Technology, a New Zealand based specialist in physiological monitoring devices.
Heslop’s team has also collaborated with Footfalls and Heartbeats, a developer of smart knitted structures intended for the first response, sports and medical sectors. These smart garments measure the wearer’s respiratory rate without the use of obtrusive monitoring devices. Research with Footfalls and Heartbeats is likely to continue to the end of 2013.
“The acquisition of a 14 gauge Shima intarsia machine about 12 months ago has helped us to develop more sophisticated patterning for this type of application, as well as being able to produce more complex designs for knitwear,” Heslop adds.
“We are optimistic about getting involved in R&D projects in the medical/healthcare sector. We also expect to see more design led research activity from our postgraduate students particularly in the areas of fashion, knitwear and textiles.”
Over the past six years, the Textile + Design Lab at AUT has built up technical expertise in both electronic flatbed knitting and digital textile printing. Heslop and his team are encouraged by the number of enquiries they receive from overseas, suggesting that the international profile of the R&D centre is growing. The ultimate aim of the lab is to continue to expand, whilst at the same time supporting its New Zealand based students and commercial research partners.