Da Gama Textiles, based in the Eastern Cape has seen its sales of Jacquard products being affected in recent years by cheaper imported products. A study was required to enable its senior management to develop a branding strategy for its Jacquard products. In addition, senior managers required information about how to take advantage of the 2010 World Cup. Data collection was conducted in July to September 2009, using two population groups. The first one was bed and breakfast managers in KwaZulu-Natal, with the second one being top ten Jacquard customers by volume in South Africa. Results showed that awareness levels for Da Gama’s Jacquard products are low, although more than half of respondents would be willing to receive literature from Da Gama in the future relating to Jacquard products. Among the top ten customers, loyalty levels were found to be high, however customers were not satisfied with Da Gama’s price levels and felt that designs and delivery lead times could be improved. A suggested branding strategy was drafted, targeting both population groups. A strategy to build brand awareness and brand loyalty levels was suggested for bed and breakfast managers, while a strategy to improve brand loyalty levels was suggested for the top ten customers. / Business Administration / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

This thesis set out to address the ‘unsuccessful entrance’ experienced by the technique of tufting in the context of fashion design. The conventions of industrial tufting methods are challenged in the field of contemporary couture with a focus on three different aspects: backing, raw material and technique. This traditional carpet making technique, presented through the concept of couture, is aimed to be introduced as a potential novel technique among the other artisan ones inherent to the field. Robot tufting has until now been exclusively employed by the carpet manufacturing industry and only two robot manufacturing companies operate worldwide. It is a research subject with no previous academic or artistic publications. This thesis introduces for the very first time the concept and technique of robot tufting in the field of fashion design for the potential future garment creation. A more profound exploration of tufting in the context of fashion design requires a fusion of fashion and textile design into a one hybrid practice with a cross-disciplinary approach. Alongside challenging the conventions of tufting, the conventions of old disciplinary boundaries are aimed to be challenged.

Technological developments in digital Jacquard weaving, as well as material research, have a strong influence on today‘s possibilities of textile production. These advancements enable to shift the perspective of textile as a flat surface to textile as a three-dimensional form and push two-dimensional weaving into the third dimension. Utilizing recent technologies in the form of applying multi-layering weaving techniques and embedding heat-reactive shrinking material, the research of Woven Forms aims to explore the forming method of construction through weaving to create abstract forms transformed from flat and to investigate its textile-form properties of shape, texture, color, and scale. The developed method of Embedded Form Weaving is set within experimental design research and structures a systematical approach to generate three-dimensional forms activated from flat surfaces. The outcome in form of abstract, self-supporting textile-forms showcases the multitude of form expressions and variety of formal variables within two construction-form-thinking families. This research contributes to the field of 3D weaving, demonstrates the potential for further research and application possibilities in other disciplines and fields, and evaluates the potential of seeing the weaving loom as a forming tool. While the fundamental base is the interlacement of warp and weft, technology, material science, and textile engineering shift the perception of woven textiles: from a rectangular piece of cloth to the opportunity to construct textile-forms.

In a dialogue with Catherine Dormor’s book, A Philosophy of Textile (2020), this paper argues that knitting has a unique position in the sphere of textile. To understand the technique as both practice and theory is not only to acknowledge its potency as expression and reflection, but also to perceive textile in a broader perspective. Starting with the article Offset, Buch- und Werbekunst (Offset, Printing, and Commercial Art) written by one of the key figures of the Bauhaus weaving workshop, Gunta Stölzl in 1926, I outline the historical context, and justify the significance of my research. Employing the concept—championed by the artist/psychoanalyst Bracha L. Ettinger—, the Matrix, in particular together with (Inter)relationship, Techne as Dormor suggests, I navigate knitting in general as well as my own practice. By closely inspecting knitting as a mode of both making and thinking, this paper proves that knitting has a capacity to embody multiple layers of time and space, and by doing so, becomes a meaning-making device whose production questions, challenges and overturns hierarchical and binaristic modes of thinking.

No description available.

In order to advance consistent lightweight construction principles in automotive and mechanical engineering, support frame construction made from high-performance materials is becoming more commonplace. These consist of complexly structured nodular connection elements. The required connection elements have not yet been produced satisfactorily. The developed node element structures in this paper are produced on a shuttle weaving loom by flattening and weaving them as multi-surface woven fabrics. The development of the woven concept for the realization of node element structures is based on the fragmentation of the individual sub-elements. The goal of this research is development of a flexible technology for weaving fabrics and intended for the integral realization of woven nodular semi-finished products with complex geometries and connections, which are to be used to connect Fiber-reinforced Plastic components in support frame structures.

Asking the question: How can the waffle weave be reinterpreted through material, technical and colour research, the investigation of this MA thesis revolves around the weaving technique with the aim of presenting a collection of various woven textiles, where the waffle has been used in different ways. The weave, with its three- dimensional structure creates an interesting canvas to experiment upon as its structure creates both texture as well as depth to the textile. Furthermore, the research is conducted through a systematic exploration of the different aspects mentioned above, where theory and practise go hand in hand. Moreover, the practical experiments start as sketches on the computerised ARM looms and then are scaled up and revised on the industrial jacquard looms. The results showcase a variety of waffle weaves; from flat to three- dimensional, with various colour and surface effects as well as different compositions and overall forms. So, through this research, the degree project aims to explore and experiment the potential and possibilities of the waffle weave

No description available.

Le but du travail est de montrer la faisabilité du tissage de filament de très faible diamètre (de l'ordre de 10 à 25 -tm) et de matières différentes (cuivre, or, polyester...). Les essais du comportement mécanique (traction, fatigue) du micro filament de cuivre ont montré la possibilité du tissage de ce type du filament à cette échelle. A partir de ces résultats, il est possible d'entrevoir des solutions techniques de tissage pour réaliser des tissus à partir de ces filaments. Ce travail a permis donc de concevoir les différentes parties de la machine de micro tissage : système d'alimentation des fils de chame, système de formation de la foule, système d'insertion du fil de trame, système de mouvement du peigne, système d'appel et de stockage du tissu. Le système de formation de la foule de type Jacquard représente le cœur de la machine à tisser. Il lève un verrou technologique persistant depuis de très nombreuses années. Les résultats prometteurs des micros actionneurs fluidiques ont permis de montrer la faisabilité du micro tissage. Ils ont permis également de valider le procédé de la fabrication d'un bloc des plusieurs actionneurs capable de séparer les filaments de chaîne pour former la foule. Le logiciel de contrôle et de dessin conçu permet à la fois de réaliser des armures et de les compiler en format convenable pour pouvoir les transmettre à la carte de contrôle. Cette dernière permet de contrôler les différentes parties de la machine à tisser. / The aim of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility ofweaving filaments of very small diameter (about 10 to 25 -tm) made ofvarious materials (copper, gold, polyester, etc...). The possibility of weaving copper micro filaments at this scale has been proved via the fatigue and traction mechanical tests. According to these results, it was possible to foresee weaving technical solutions to produce fabrics from these micro filaments. This work has permitted the design of the different parts of the micro weaving machine: warp let-off system, warp shedding system, filling insertion system, beat-up system and take-up system. Warp shedding system of Jacquard type represents the heart of the weaving machine. It solved the complicated technical problem ofweaving materials that persists since many years. The positive results of micro fluidic actuators have demonstrated the feasibility of micro weaving. They have also validated the process of manufacturing a block of severa! actuators capable of separating the warp filament's to form the shed. The created software of control and design allows to make weaves and to compile them into a convenient format to be transmitted to the control card. This card controls the different parts of the weaving machine.

Three-dimensional (3D) profiled woven fabrics with varying cross-sections along the component parts are needed in a number of industrial applications. One of the main advantages of the ribbon loom weaving technique is the ability to produce highly diverse structures with open or closed edges. The realization of 3D profiled woven fabrics that satisfy the requirements is directly connected to the ability to process high-performance fibers in the weft direction. The processing of high-performance yarns in the weft direction with low fiber damage will open new application areas for shuttle weaving machines. By employing modified mechanical loom elements, the variety of producible structures can be increased significantly.