Interview with Eva de Laat, Creative Director of Material Experience Center on the future of the textile industry post pandemic

SHANGHAI, June 2, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Morning Coffee with Eva de Laat, Creative Director of Material Experience Center, on how the 2-year global pandemic has radically accelerated the development of the textile industry, creating a catalyst change in trends, consumption needs, and the sustainable movement.

1.    Can you give us a brief intro of MEC - mission, vision of MEC powered by San-toni?

Eva: Knitting machinery leaders Santoni, in collaboration with the designers Eva x Carola, have officially opened their new Materials Experience Center (MEC) at Santo-ni's headquarters in Shanghai. The new space is a research and inspiration center for leading professionals in the textiles industry to meet clients, research ideas, and work on bespoke projects. It will be a pivotal space for inspiration, ideation, implementation, and knowledge sharing.

Designing the future; MEC is created to meet the needs of today's consumer, designers and brands

Championing sustainability and futuristic design thinking when it comes to textile, garments and product manufacturing.

A physical and digital space for leading professionals in the textile industry to meet, research ideas and work on bespoke projects. A pivotal space for inspiration, ideation, implementation and knowledge sharing.

1.1.    There's been a significant influence on the knitwear industry during the pandemic. With the impact of smart home-working, creating a stronger need for knitted items and the loungewear trend shifting to a more casual-and-comfort vibe rather than just pure aesthetics. What are the factors that could potentially accelerate the development of the knitwear industry for 2021-2023? And do you believe this trend is just a 'pandemic fad' or is it here to stay for good?

Eva: As an industry, we have an issue (ie. sustainable practice) and an opportunity (ie. digitalization). Both these directions were already in place before Covid-19 and have only been accelerating since. We feel both topics are extremely important, and we believe everything we do should be considered smart and functional. What we use and wear should be helping and enhancing the person's body and their experience. Both sustainability and digitalization can help to support the end consumers' needs and experience and therefore – no matter the reason – embracing and incorporating into your strategies. Other important directions for us are personalization and partnerships.

2.    How does MEC, powered by Santoni, help brands, designers, and partners progress further with this developing trend combining both knitwear and technology?

Eva: We work from the yarn and machine up to create and tailor products, always keeping the end-user in mind. Every element is connected and holistically aligned to make purposeful decisions when making and experimenting with our textiles. This brings materials that are considered and lasting.
Textile exploration is our expertise and it is through active collaborations that we create advanced concept creations and innovations. With this in mind, we created MEC, a platform for knowledge sharing & learning. A place that promotes the gathering of professionals for ideation and experiences. A 'space' for brainstorming, developing new prototypes, and initiate innovative partnerships. The results are propositions and go-to-market strategies.

Depending on the needs and requirements of each partnership and collaboration we define our process, working flow, and end objective together. Depending on the pro-ject purpose this could be inspirational journeys, training, or intensive (online) workshops to create a new application together.

3.    Can you please share with us some of the biggest challenges you're facing today, how you plan to adapt to these, and also to MEC's forecasted ones for the near future?

Eva: It remains one of our biggest challenges how to truly develop tactile materials in a digital age. With us being located mostly in the Netherlands, the team in Shanghai, our key studio partners in Europe as well our clients located globally, how can we co-create innovative ideas via remote working? Happily, we had already some experience with remote working, and, with the right tools and mindset within the team, we have experienced great development successes in the last year. For 2021, we would like to take this to the next level.

We believe materials can only be created via co-production. In the most advanced setup, this would be a consumer-producer one. However, being in an intermediate position between brands and manufacturing also allows more: a digital space where yarns, materials, products, and information can be freely shared and built on. We expect to launch our new platform towards the end of this year.

4.    We understand the system from the yarn and machine upwards is your strength. Can you please give us more information on what this system/concept is and how this can support and accelerate the development of the knitwear industry?

Eva : Rather than making a design sketch leading to the development process, we take a reversed approach.
With the concept in mind, we explore different ideas starting with machine selection and research in yarns.
Of course, yarns must be suitable for the end-use and that will benefit the wearer/user.

We have a large yarn library in-house and an even larger database library.
Our team constantly reaches new, functional, and sustainable solutions
and we work in close collaboration with our yarn partners to source or develop suitable yarns for specific projects.

We feel with this way of working we can generate personalized bulk production on a stitch by stitch level, along with enhancing and incorporating the individual needs and end-use of the wearer or user. By doing this, products of higher value and longevity will come. This is the opposite of the current wasteful take-and-make industry.

5. Can you share with us some of your plans, collaborations, or partnerships for this year?

Eva: We just launched a beautiful tailored and highly innovative collection initiated by Woolmark and in partnership with Studio Eva x Carola, Suedwolle Group, and MacPi. A cycling collection especially tailored to the needs and uses of female riders.

Also, we recently participated in the What a Mess Podcast (partnering with Fashion Revolution), powered by Mess Magazine and hosted by Forbes Under 30 Domi Perek.

As Mess Magazine has been continuously raising awareness around the fashion industry's needs, the objective is for fashion insiders and creatives of this sustainable fashion era, to share their thoughts and activities.

----
ABOUT MEC
SANTONI, leader in knitting machinery production, collaborated with Designer Studio, Eva x Carola, to officially open MEC (the Material Experience Center) in Jinshan, Shanghai in 2020.The main objectives of MEC are to inspire, conceive, implement, and share knowledge. Creating a more digitalized and intelligent model for the textile industry and its practitioners is what this project strives for. MEC values and encourages collaboration, providing a dedicated space to meet key industry participants. Committed to developing high-performance knitwear, MEC aims to become a commercial and innovative hub of the industry, covering brands, manufacturers, yarn suppliers and more.

Address: No.111, East Shanfu Road, Shanyang Town, Jinshan District, Shanghai, China

ABOUT SANTONI
Founded in 2005, Santoni Shanghai is a leader in the seamless knitting industry. In 2007, the company delivered its groundbreaking "sinkerless" technology, traversing new frontiers. Today, Santoni Shanghai has expanded its advanced technology and experience to the production of large diameter and socks machines. With R&D at its heart, the company combines the most renowned leaders in the industry with the broadest coverage of machines for the production of knitted fabric in several diversified segments, where functional garments represent the ultimate trend, covering brands, manufacturers, and yarn suppliers.

Media Contact

Yanie D, POMPOM CREATIVE AGENCY, +1 5148623151, [email protected]

SOURCE Material Experience Center