Textile Firm Launches New Knit Category with Patented Technique
Apparel brands and retailers seeking to distinguish their offerings with unique products will benefit from a new category of knit products being launched by Alandale Knitting. The strataTek collection of knit fabrics is based on a proprietary and patented knitting technique for which Alandale Knitting has the exclusive rights to manufacture in the United States.
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Troy, North Carolina — Apparel brands and retailers seeking to distinguish their offerings with unique products will benefit from a new category of knit products being launched by Alandale Knitting. The strataTek collection of knit fabrics is based on a proprietary and patented knitting technique for which Alandale Knitting has the exclusive rights to manufacture in the United States.
Alandale’s patented knitting technique creates for the first time a truly two-layer, double-sided knit construction without grin-through from side to side. The major advantage of this construction is that each side of the fabric maintains its own character and integrity and allows an apparel designer to customize differences between
the outward and next-to-skin layers. This technology also allows for numerous raw-material combinations in front-to-back arrangements that creates a new generation of reversible and two-color applications.
The construction also represents a breakthrough as a medium for prints where each side may be different prints or a print on one side may be combined with a solid on the other. Fabric weights range from base layer to outerwear.
Current fabric styles boast a number of performance features including antimicrobial for odor-control, deniergradient combinations and specially-engineered cross-sections for moisture management and stretch for garment comfort. Some styles, in addition to performance features, also offer fashion features through the use of
heathers, slub and vintage yarns and soft materials including pima/modal, natural-hand synthetics, Microfibers and washable wool.
Alan Gutschmit opened Alandale Knitting in 1966 with two double knit machines in an old gas station on Troy’s main street. Today, Alandale Knitting comprises 150,000 square feet. Each of Alandale’s machines is housed in its own compartment, which makes its plant one of the cleanest and most efficient knitting companies
around and improves the quality of the fabric by preventing machine-to-machine contamination. Alandale Knitting’s sister company, Alandale Industries, Inc., manufactures a full line of knitting machine accessories include creels, vacuum systems, machine fans and Isolator rooms. Alandale holds more than 20 patents in the knitting industry.
