Warp knitted whole garment products are made on a four-bar or six-bar fully computerized double needle bed double jacquard raschel warp knitting machine with no side seams and multiple tubes with variable structures. With its rich structure, good formability, high production efficiency and good breathability, it has significant advantages in sportswear. Meanwhile, warp knitted whole garments provide an effective solution to the friction discomfort and destructive appearance caused by the thickness of the seams and seam marks of the cut pieces of traditional cut-to-size garments, and the short production process greatly saves labour and energy costs.
Warp knitting whole garment equipment
The key foreign manufacturer of warp knitting whole garment equipment is Karl Mayer, which has sold a total of more than 120 fully computerized double-needle single jacquard raschel warp knitting machines, mainly distributed in China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries and regions. Domestic manufacturers of warp knitting whole garment equipment mainly include Fujian Jilong Machinery Technology Co., Ltd., Wuyang Textile Machinery Co., Ltd., Changzhou Runfengyuan Textile Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and Huicheng Knitting Machinery Co., Ltd. etc. The total number of domestically produced fully computerized double-needle-bar double-jacquard Raschel warp knitting machines is about 150, mainly distributed in China, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries and regions. Among them, China’s total number of warp knitting whole garment machines account for about 70% of the total.
The advantages of domestic warp knitting whole garment equipment are mainly reflected in their cost, but there are still gaps in the manufacturing accuracy of core loop forming parts and machine speed with foreign equipment. The domestic machines are mainly used to produce conventional mesh clothing and clothing accessories. In the weaving of high-end sports and fashion clothing, the fabric flatness and weaving density are also significantly different from the quality of fabrics made with imported equipment.
Application of warp knitting whole garment technology in sportswear
Warp knitting whole garment sportswear developed earlier in foreign countries and there are many different types and brands. Although the new products of each season are mainly single items, the use of clothing is subdivided according to specific application scenarios, such as indoor fitness clothing, yoga clothing, cycling clothing, golf sportswear, outdoor sports tights, swimwear and casual sportswear. It also covers underwear for indoor home sports or daily leisure sports, such as Adidas’ sports bras and leggings of Nike and Lululemon.
In recent years, with the rise of new designer brands at home and abroad, and the technological progress of typical domestic warp knitting whole garment manufacturers, the development and application of warp knitting 3D technology in fashion women’s clothing has gradually increased, and it has shown a trend of serial development. The warp knitting arbitrary hollow elements are cleverly combined with clothing design styles. The developed fashion clothing categories include dresses, suits, tops, pants and bodysuits etc. The domestic representative brand is the RUI brand by original designer ZHOU Rui, and the foreign representative brands are Japanese ISSEY MIYAKE, Austrian WOLFORD, Italian Fendi, and the British Poster Girl.
Factors restricting the development of warp knitting whole garment technology
At present, warp knitting whole garment technology has not been widely used in sportswear. The main factor restricting its development is that the product seamless feature has little premium space. It is only a product feature and has not become the core competitiveness of the product. The investment spent on product design and production is not proportional to its premium. In addition, the equipment requires high precision and cost, and the enthusiasm of equipment and fabric manufacturers has not been fully mobilized. Warp knitting whole garment product is mainly made of chemical fiber filaments. It is difficult to make breakthroughs in raw materials, and has high requirements for the strength and quality of raw materials. The needle length of warp knitting whole garment equipment is generally 28 needles, which is slightly lower than the weft knitting. The pattern advantage of warp knitting is mainly reflected in the mesh, but the demand for mesh patterns in sports products is limited. In terms of current domestic aesthetics, the mesh design is still limited to small-scale decorations. In addition, although warp knitting whole garment can achieve the design of pants without sewing, it is difficult to achieve three-dimensional pattern design because its crotch can only connect the front and back pieces. For close-fitting sports products that require a high degree of fit, cutting and sewing operations are often required, which has no obvious advantages compared with weft knitting.
Source: Official WeChat Account of China Textile Leader |
