Specialty Fabrics Review April 2024 - 16

[ BRIEFS ] swatches
UGG shoes feature sugarcane and
repurposed wool
U
GG®
, a division of Deckers Brands, released two new shoes in the
Regenerate by UGG™ collection, which are created with materials
sourced from farms practicing regenerative agriculture.
The Tasman Crafted Regenerate and Ultra Mini Crafted Regenerate are
indoor-outdoor shoes with a SugarSole™, or a sugarcane ethylene vinyl
acetate outsole, and an UGGplush™ sock liner. The sugarcane used in the
outsole offers a renewable, natural alternative to petroleum-based ethylene.
The UGGplush liner is a proprietary blend of repurposed wool and Tencel™
lyocell, a viscose derived from harvested wood pulp from trees certified by the
Forest Stewardship Council.
The collection was launched last October as part of the company's
dedication to decreasing its carbon emissions and supporting regenerative
agriculture, a practice that helps restore soil, encourages wildlife diversity
and preserves land for future generations.
Most of the wool used in the company's footwear comes from byproducts
of the meat industry, including its sheepskin. Additionally, 100% of hides
used in UGG's products are sourced from Leather Working Group-certified
tanneries or are recycled leather.
UGG is committed to restoring 1 million acres of grasslands to regenerative
agriculture by 2025. So far, the company has helped restore 890,000 acres.
The Ultra Mini Crafted Regenerate (left) and
the Tasman Crafted Regenerate (right) were
released in January in the Regenerate by UGG™
collection. Image: UGG®
New smart textile fiber developed
with recycled cotton
R
This composite conductive fiber uses two
layers, one of recycled cotton-derived
cellulose and the other of a cellulose and
conductive polymer mixture. The fiber
is formed through wet spinning. Image:
Washington State University
esearchers at Washington State University (WSU) have created a conductive
composite fiber for smart textiles made from recycled cotton cellulose and
the synthetic polymer polyaniline.
The researchers used a wet-spun extrusion process to merge two solutions,
one containing a mixture of cellulose derived from short cottonseed linter
fibers and T-shirts and the conductive polymer and another of pure cellulose.
The solvents were also eco-friendly. The resulting fiber structure has the two
materials bonded side by side.
" We wanted these two solutions to work so that when the cotton and the
conductive polymer contact each other they mix to a certain degree to kind of glue
together, but we didn't want them to mix too much, otherwise the conductivity
would be reduced, " says Hang Liu, WSU textile researcher and the study's
corresponding author.
The fibers were tested as part of a system that powered an LED light bulb and
another that detected ammonia gas. Future applications could be sensor patches
on uniforms for firefighters, soldiers or other workers in chemical or hazardous
environments or applications in health or exercise monitoring. The research was
published in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers in December 2023. Funding came
from the National Science Foundation and the Walmart Foundation.
16 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / April 2024
Specialty Fabrics Review April 2024

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