Italian companies partner on development sustainable high-performance textile solutions

Trinseo subsidiary API, an Italian company headquartered in Mussolente that is specialized in the production of thermoplastic elastomeric compounds and bioplastics, and Naples-based ICM (Industria Chimica Mediterranea), a key player in the footwear and leather goods industry have announced that they are joining forces on the development of innovative and sustainable technical fabrics. The companies said the initiative will allow them to meet increased customer demand for these fabrics from the fashion and footwear industries

The textile products to be developed will be produced in a solvent-free and plasticizer-free manufacturing process.

“Joining forces enables us to accelerate technical innovation time to market and to reduce our product’s environmental footprint,” said API’s Business Unit Manager Giancarlo Busa. “Our partnership is the outcome both of an important research and development program and a substantial technological investment.”

“We have had great success in building this partnership,” says ICM’s General Manager Roberto Palmieri. “It enables us to pair decades of technical knowledge in the plastics, leather goods & footwear industry.”

ICM and API will provide a first glimpse of their new textile solutions at the 2018 Pitti Immagine Uomo international fashion fair from June 12-15 in Florence, Italy. VIP buyers at the trade fair, as well as a selection of VIP press members, will receive an exclusive shopping bag made from the partnership’s new fabrics.

Designer Sergio Colantuoni, in collaboration with Pitti Immagine, conceptualized the bag’s exclusive pattern and texture, supported in the final product by PROTER, a company specializing in the research and development of digital printing. The bag’s design was inspired by this year’s event theme – P.O.P. PITTI OPTICAL POWER, a visual and virtual celebration, presenting a pop vision and full-colour graphic world.

http://www.trinseo.com