Polyester chic

Polyester fabrics are chic in Japan. Much of the polyester that is being used in Japanese high fashion is a supple and elegant fabric called shingosen, a term that translates as new synthetic fiber. Shingosen typically uses microfiber polyester, a product that companies like Du Pont and Hoechst Cela...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forbes 1994-05, Vol.153 (10), p.64
Main Author: Eisenstodt, Gale
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Business conditions
Fashion
Fibers
Innovations
Polyesters
Product differentiation
Product introduction
Synthetic
Textile industry
Textile research
Trends
Weaving
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Summary:Polyester fabrics are chic in Japan. Much of the polyester that is being used in Japanese high fashion is a supple and elegant fabric called shingosen, a term that translates as new synthetic fiber. Shingosen typically uses microfiber polyester, a product that companies like Du Pont and Hoechst Celanese have been pushing in the US. However, in Japan it has a completely different aesthetic, in part because of effects achieved during the downstream finishing process. Anyone who doubts Japanese business' will to adjust to adversity has only to study the shingosen story to have those doubts quashed. Realizing they could no longer compete on commodity items with lower-cost Asian producers, Japanese textile makers decided to come up with something entirely different. The US textile industry has spent billions of dollars downsizing and modernizing, but it is still in the context of product differentiation around commodity materials. Shingosen is already being successfully exported to Europe. The Japanese are hoping that they will eventually win over US consumers as well.
ISSN:0015-6914
2609-1445