#Technical Textiles

2025-09-11

Royal visit celebrates Pincroft role in military textiles

Pincroft Dyeing and Printing, a global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, welcomed Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to its Adlington site in Lancashire on Tuesday 9 September 2025, to showcase a £1.5 million investment in advanced camouflage printing technology.

The Princess Royal, who serves as President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, toured the upgraded production line, which includes a new rotary printer and laser engraving equipment. The visit highlighted how the company’s innovations support defence forces worldwide, with camouflage fabrics supplied to the UK Ministry of Defence, the Finnish Army, Estonian Defence Forces, Australian Defence, and others.

The visit was hosted by Group CEO John Vareldzis and Managing Director Mike Collins, with Her Royal Highness meeting technical managers, dyehouse and engraving specialists, as well as a select number of guests during the tour.

John Vareldzis said: “We are extremely privileged and honoured to have hosted Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at our factory and to showcase our latest investment in printing camouflage fabrics. This moment also highlights the dedication of our people, whose expertise underpins more than 130 years of textile heritage.”

The event concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion, celebrating Pincroft’s commitment to British manufacturing and global military excellence.

UK government leaders unveil Pincroft’s £1.5m military textile printing expansion

Global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, Pincroft, has reinforced its position in camouflage fabric manufacturing with a £1.5 million investment in cutting-edge rotary printing technology. During a high-profile visit from UK government officials, the company also announced it has brought rotary laser engraving technology in-house, further strengthening its domestic capabilities in camouflage fabric production.

£1m+ investment to dramatically boost Pincroft’s camouflage printing capacity

Global leader in military fabric printing, dyeing and finishing, Pincroft, has announced an investment of over £1m for the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for its factory in the United Kingdom that is set to increase the textile manufacturer’s camouflage printing capacity to over 8 million metres a year.

STOLL: Agreement signed for the divestiture of selected assets

In early 2025, KARL MAYER announced its strategic decision to focus on its core business areas of WARP KNITTING, WARP PREPARATION, and TECHNICAL TEXTILES. As part of this move, the flat knitting machine business under the STOLL brand was discontinued and the production site in Reutlingen was closed in October 2025.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.

Keeping products moving with Swedish automation at FILTECH 2026

At FILTECH 2026, taking place in Cologne from June 30th to July 2nd, members of TMAS – the Swedish textile machinery association – will highlight how the country’s engineering expertise is enabling filtration manufacturers to increase productivity, improve traceability and reduce dependence on labour-intensive manual processes.

Reju opens its first R&D Center in the U.S. in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

Reju, the company specializing in textile regeneration, today announced the opening of a Research and Development (R&D) Center in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, the company's first proprietary research center in North America. Located within Technip Energies' existing Advanced Materials and Catalysts research center, the lab will allow Reju to accelerate the rollout of its recycling technologies and develop its next-generation circular solutions.

Itema reaffirms its commitment to the Syrian textile industry at NasTex 2026

From July 18th to 21st, Itema will exhibit at NasTex at the Damascus Fairground (Hall 11 – Stand C02), marking its return to one of the Middle East’s historically significant textile markets. Itema will showcase advanced weaving technology designed to support the competitiveness and technological evolution of Syrian manufacturers and announces a new partnership with Growfast Agency as the sole agent of Itema in Syria.

KARL MAYER's HKS 2-SE Expands Possibilities for Premium Stretch WARP KNITS

Warp knitted fabrics with a woven look are more in demand than ever in the fashion and apparel industries. Stretch WARP KNITS, in particular, impress with their freedom of movement, breathability, and virtually wrinkle-free wear – thereby opening up new style worlds such as smart casual or business casual. When it comes to the highly efficient production of premium-quality stretch WARP KNITS, the HKS 2-SE has long been the machine of choice. KARL MAYER’s best-selling tricot machine produces standard elastic fabrics characterized by high gauges, smooth, delicate surfaces, and a soft hand feel.