The recent Interfilière show in Paris confirmed the importance of the cosmetic textiles or cosmetotextiles market for producers and marketers of next-to-skin knitted fabrics.
Interfilière organiser Eurovet, has published a seven page report on Cosmetotextiles (cosmetic textiles), which summarises a symposium held at the Paris show and which was jointly sponsored by Interfilière and La Federation de la Maille et de la Lingerie.
The symposium explained the advantages and disadvantages of processes, test methods and legal issues involved in developing, manufacturing and marketing cosmetotextiles.
Knitters enjoying success
In a recent Interfilière report for Knitting Industry entitled Despite economic woes, innovation abounds at Interfilière, freelance textiles and apparel journalist Debra Cobb reported that several knitters were enjoying success with cosmetic textiles, such as Dogi, Willy Hermann Superfine, Liebaert and Elastic Fabrics Europe, Eurojersey, Penn Textile Solutions and Brugnoli.
“Containing beneficial substances intended to be released on the skin, cosmetic textiles are predicted to represent a market of ？500 million next year (according to Textiles Intelligence), growing from a mere ？120 million in 2007,” Debra reported.
Definition
According to Eurovet the correct definition of a cosmetic textile was officially established in 2006 by the Office for the Standardisation of Texile and Clothing Industries (BNITH):
"A cosmetic textile is a textile article that contains a substance or a preparation that is intended to be released sustainably on to the different superficial parts of the human body, especially the skin, and which claim one (or more) particular propertie(s) such as cleansing, perfume, change of appearance, protection, maintenance in good conditioner correction of body odours".
Summing up their cosmetotextiles symposium, Interfilière and La Federation de la Maille et de la Lingerie said:
“Initiated a dozen or so years ago, cosmetic textiles made a discrete entrance through microencapsulation technology. They have since been developed and enhanced and are now taking their place in the limelight, thanks to the influence of shapewear and the slimming market.”
“Today, a new generation of cosmetic textiles has appeared which bring together the latest innovations in fibre and textile structures (ceramic fibres, 3D knitting, shapewear...). In this way, cosmetic textiles have really found their place in the slimming market and are now looking to conquer other segments of cosmetics (ant age, replumping, etc.) before attacking applications linked to sport and medicine.”
“Technological evolutions and innovations are going to transform this market in depth over the coming years. It is estimated that in 20 years, 80% of textiles will be technical or functionalised.”
