Brian Blum
August 9, 2022

The Delaware-based Lycra Company, maker of springy fabrics for apparel and personal care, is partnering with Israel’s Browzwear in a move that Lycra CEO Julien Born quipped will offer his company the ability to “stretch our approach to innovation.”

Puns aside, the new deal moves Lycra into a more sustainable development space, saving time and reducing waste.

Browzwear does this by allowing its customers to simulate on a computer screen how fabrics will work in garments, “with the physics and movement that reflect the durability and unique functionality of these fibers,” explained Avihay Feld, Browzwear’s cofounder and CEO.

The digital simulation reduces the need for traditional processes such as sampling that are slow and wasteful.

Designing a new garment takes on average 50 weeks, Feld noted in a presentation at the 2022 CTech Cloud and Data conference.

“That means the fashion industry needs to predict at least one year, sometimes two years ahead, what’s going to be the trend. What happens when they miss? They send those garments to the storefront where they’re either sold or thrown away.”

An astounding 85% of garments are buried in landfills every year, Feld laments. Moreover, 2,700 liters of water is required to create just one sample t-shirt.

“It’s absurd,” Feld said. “That’s enough for one human being to live for two and a half years.”

The Lycra Company will use Browzwear’s software to develop products containing its Lycra, Lycra T400 and CoolMax fibers.

“Our Fabric Analyzer [one of Browzwear’s key products] ensures the 3D versions of fabrics made with fibers from the Lycra Brand Materials Library result in true-to-life simulations of the garments,” Feld adds.

Browzwear was established in 1999 to create 3D digital solutions for the fashion industry. Clients include some 650 brands and manufacturers including Columbia Sportswear, Lululemon, New Balance, Nike, PVH Group, Target and Walmart.

Browzwear has offices in Israel, the United States, The Netherlands, China and Singapore.

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