Beijing, January 29th, 2007 (Reporter Wang Xian, Wang Dianjia) According to the report of China Voice, China Radio and Television Station, this winter, "polar fleece wearing" swept the fashion circle, not only appeared more "velvet" figures in the streets and lanes, but also the discussion on social media became more and more enthusiastic. Many "Thousand Praise Notes" shared the color matching and brand selection of polar fleece. How did polar fleece, once labeled as "cheap" and "earthy", become the new favorite of fashion? What advanced technology does it adopt on the technical level? In the future, what kind of changes and upgrades may polar fleece usher in?
China Voice "News with Views" of China Central Radio and Television General Station specially planned "Industry Insight", and talked with Chen Ye, a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Donghua University, and Cheng Wai, the head of scientific research and development planning of a well-known clothing material manufacturer in China, to learn about the "past lives" of polar fleece and look forward to more possibilities of the polar fleece market.
Chen Wei (Photo courtesy of Yang Guangwang)
Cheng Wai (Photo courtesy of respondents from Yangguang. com)
"velvet" clothing has become a winter trend.
How did polar fleece enter the fashion circle?
At present, cashmere sweater has become a popular choice for consumers to wear in winter, and there has been a topic with a reading volume of 220 million on social media # Don’t ask why you love to wear polar fleece #, and young people who are pursuing fashion are integrating "cashmere" clothing into their daily wear. Zheng Huikepu, head of science and technology R&D planning of a well-known clothing material manufacturer in China, said that these "cashmere" worn by young people can not be simply classified as polar fleece, but they are all artificial plush fabrics in essence, which are generally distinguished according to style, technology and feel.
Chen Ye, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, added that all kinds of cashmere fabrics, such as coral wool, polar wool and lamb wool, are mainly composed of chemical fibers. These fibers are light, warm and soft to the touch after multiple processes such as dyeing, napping, combing and shearing.
In fact, polar fleece and other velvet fabrics are not new things, but they have recently become the winter trend of tracer element. Chen Ye analyzed from two aspects. First of all, for the sake of public welfare, the fashion industry is reducing the materials used for animal fur and switching to materials made of chemical fiber, which provides a larger market space for fabrics such as polar fleece; Secondly, from the functional point of view, polar fleece fabric is not only soft and warm, but also easier to care for and clean than natural fur fabrics such as pure lamb wool, which is more attractive to young people who pursue a convenient life.
Zheng Hui explained from the aesthetic level that the popularity of polar fleece is inevitable. Polar fleece, which once had the label of "fashion disaster", has overcome the inherent impression of "bloated and difficult to control" through fine improvement of technology. The brand has developed new products such as fine polar fleece, and the fineness of cashmere has been significantly improved. Designers use zippers, buttons and other accessories to innovate material splicing and color matching, break the dullness and make polar fleece younger. In addition, the collocation of polar fleece clothing with jeans, old shoes or sweatpants, etc., is handsome or gentle in style, which also shows its collocation diversity and fashion potential.
Polar fleece fabric can control all kinds of colors (photo courtesy of respondents from Yangguang. com)
"Black technology" plus code, polar fleece is not what it used to be
What does the scientific research and development of "velvet" mainly depend on?
Compared with the early polar fleece, the polar fleece on the market has been significantly improved in touch, vision and technology. Chen Ye introduced that the advent of polar fleece was originally to meet the demand of outdoor activities for faster drying and lightweight textiles. At that time, it was mainly made of polyester fiber, and the fabric of the product was relatively heavy. With the technological progress, the current polar fleece fabric has a delicate grain feel and a feel close to that of fine lamb cashmere or real lamb cashmere. In addition, modern fabrics adopt superfine fiber and hollow technology, which reduces the gram weight and makes them more portable to wear; The development of bionic technology and the progress of granulation technology also make polar fleece fabrics more and more high-grade.
The continuous progress of polar fleece fabric can not be separated from the continuous innovation of scientific research and development. Cheng Wai’s enterprise, as one of the earliest pioneers engaged in polar fleece production in China, has established a relatively mature research and development system of school-enterprise cooperation. The company not only has a special Post-Doctoral Research Center, but also implements a talent introduction plan for graduates, and has established long-term cooperative relations with Donghua University and other universities. Through "Industry-University-Research Application", the scientific research results are applied to product development, and the polar fleece is directionally optimized, including enhancing the warmth of products and developing the versatility of fabrics.
At the same time, changes in market demand will drive enterprises to continuously carry out technological innovation. Based on market research and brand strategy, companies usually make corresponding technical adjustments and optimizations for consumers’ preference feedback and problems in product use. Cheng Wai revealed: "After gaining an insight into the market demand, we will start to solve key technical problems and strive to overcome technical bottlenecks through school-enterprise cooperation."
Polar fleece production workshop (photo courtesy of interviewee from Yangguang. com)
Made in China, it screams loudly.
Where will polar fleece go in the future?
Chen Ye pointed out that although fleece fabrics such as polar fleece originated in the United States, the China market has occupied a leading position in this field and continues to supply fabrics to international brands. "Because the raw materials of polar fleece and other velvet products are mostly polyester fibers represented by polyester, China is the largest polyester producer in the world, and it has shown its leading edge in high-level manufacturing technology and equipment." Cheng Wai said that from the past experience of enterprises participating in overseas exhibitions, their exhibits and fabrics were very popular in international exhibitions in Europe and America, and received positive feedback from overseas frontier markets.
Facing the future, Chen Ye predicted that in terms of preparation technology, polar fleece materials will pay more attention to simulation, and the fibers will become more delicate and soft, while maintaining a better hollow structure to enhance thermal insulation. The shape retention of materials is also an important direction of development, ensuring that they can still maintain curl elasticity after repeated washing. In addition, in the aspect of antistatic performance that consumers pay close attention to, at present, by adding antistatic agents or embedding functional particles, fiber fabrics have already possessed initial antistatic ability. In the future, if more thorough antistatic effect is achieved, it will bring great innovation to polar fleece and artificial velvet materials.
Polar fleece processing has a complicated process, as shown in the picture, the product is "brushed" by the "brushing" machine (photo courtesy of respondents sent by Yangguang. com)
Cheng Wai said that with the increasing environmental awareness of consumers, the development of new materials will tend to use renewable and degradable raw materials, and achieve the same performance and quality as the original materials through technical means to ensure ecological safety. In addition, the progress of science and technology will also promote the improvement of the versatility of clothing materials. In addition to keeping warm, the future polar fleece may also have the characteristics of low static electricity, wind and cold resistance, flame resistance and so on.
According to the data of a domestic head shopping platform, the prices of the 1000 best-selling polar fleece items are mostly below 300 yuan, among which the polar fleece items from 200 yuan to 299 yuan are the most popular. With the superposition of multi-functions, will "cheap velvet" no longer be cheap? Chen Ye pointed out that the increase of R&D cost may lead to price increase. "However, compared with real wool or cashmere, the price will still be more affordable and friendly." At the same time, when the market is growing and the technology is mature, the scale effect can reduce the production cost, thus keeping the product price at a reasonable level. Therefore, the development of science and technology and the operation of the market will balance the pricing of high-quality products and will not cause excessive economic burden to consumers.
Colorful polar fleece fabric (photo courtesy of respondents from Yangguang. com)
