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Toray Employs Proprietary Conjugate Spinning Technology to Develop Fabric that Combines Feel of Hand-Made Japanese Paper and Modern Functionality

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Nov. 27, 2020

Toray Industries, Inc.

Tokyo, Japan, November 27, 2020 – Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed Camifu™, a polyester filament fabric that combines the softness, smoothness, and comfort of synthetic fibers with the natural feel and random unevenness of traditional Japanese paper. The company will recommend the fabric for an array of apparel uses, from casual medium-weight fabrics for men’s and women’s outerwear to cut-and-sewn apparel, broadening the horizons of upmarket fashions in Japan and overseas markets. The company plans to commercialize Camifu™ from Spring/Summer 2022.

Unlike conventional fabrics, Camifu™ can match the Japanese paper features that inspired it. That is because Toray employed NANODESIGN®, its conjugate spinning technology, to develop a flat C cross-sectional shape that delivers a precise arrangement of three different polymers.

Using NANODESIGN®, Toray created a special cross-sectional structure in which it has arranged polymers with different heat shrinkage properties in special shapes on the left and right of a flat cross section, with a soluble polymer in the fiber center.

Toray heat treated polymers on the left and right side of the fiber to bend along the fiber. This, coupled with a flat shape, creates a unique twist and stretch. Varying the arrangement and shape of the polymer with adjacent fibers generates different torsional structures for each yarn, resulting in a yarn bundle structure containing complex voids.

A yarn bundle structure produces a random unevenness in the fabric texture so it feels like hand-made Japanese paper. Single yarns comprising polymers with different colorations and dyeability cover the fabric without aligning, for attractive fluctuations like those of Japanese paper. Camifu™ is eco-friendly, as one of its polymer is recycled from film scraps.
In designing Camifu™, Toray created a hollow structure inside the fiber by placing a soluble polymer within, augmenting yarn bundle voids from filament twisting during relaxing and weight reduction process on textile. This hollow portion imparts a lightness and resilient feel to the fabric. A precisely designed slit keeps functional agents within the fiber, making it possible to incorporate a range of features in the fabric.
As people learn to live with COVID-19, better living is increasingly as important in fashion as appearance. It will become more important than ever in manufacturing to combine advanced functionality for comfort with sustainability for peace of mind.

Toray will continue supplying innovative technologies and advanced materials to cater to increasingly diverse lifestyles and better living.
 
Product Summary Sheet
１． Product name: Camifu™
２．　Key feature: Combines natural feel of traditional Japanese paper with advanced functionality
３．　Technical overview: (1) Precise control of fiber cross section with NANODESIGN® conjugate spinning technology
(2) Arrangement of polymers with different heat shrinkage properties in special shapes on left and right of a flat cross section, with placement and shape varying according to adjacent fibers. Single yarns twist in various directions to deliver random unevenness of hand-made Japanese paper, with moderate resilience and fluctuating look
(3) Flat C cross-sectional shape keeps functional agent within hollow structure for advanced functionality
４．Launch date: From Spring/Summer 2022
５．Sales goals (1) Volume: 200,000 meters in 2022 (ending March 2023) and 500,000 meters in 2025
(2) Applications: Men’s and ladies’ outerwear, shirts, blouses, cut-and-sewn apparel, and other items
About Camifu™
Brand logo　 Fiber cross section
Fiber bundle Fiber bundle cross section
About NANODESIGN®
This conjugate spinning technology is a technique in which the fiber cross section is formed by polymer flow divided into many pieces. It is thus possible to design cross sections of conjugate fibers far more precisely than with conventional technology.
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