Freudenberg Performance Materials opened its first Shirt Technology Center in China at the Nantong facility. The world’s leading specialist in woven, knitted and nonwoven interlinings is thus expanding its service and support for shirt manufacturers in the country.

As introduced, the support offered by the center covers the fit, processing and uses of interlinings and collars. Together with their customers, the Freudenberg specialists develop perfect collars and interlinings meticulously designed down to the last detail. The center provides shirt manufacturers with complete sample collars, thus enabling them to speed up start of production.

According to Freudenberg, the Shirt Technology Center has a philosophy that is both simple and challenging: to deliver the very best quality. A perfect collar can only be created if design, pattern construction and interlinings are perfectly matched.

The Freudenberg specialists advise manufacturers on all aspects of collar making – from the latest market trends through design, pattern construction and interlining combinations right down to processing – always focusing on the interaction between design, outer fabric and interlining.

Freudenberg also offers customers seasonal trend collections of fashionable collar styles coupled with the best interlining combinations. As a result, customers can choose from a broad range of sewn collars.

Additionally, Freudenberg provides customized technological analysis of collars and neckbands with a view to optimizing fit and look. This forms the basis for the joint development of CAD-engineered pattern construction for the outer fabric and interlinings.

State-of-the-art equipment including cutting, fusing and sewing machines as well as special equipment such as collar turning machines and various pressing machines are used to manufacture the perfect sample collar. The collar interlinings not only perfectly match the design and the outer fabric; they are also precisely engineered to minimize errors when attaching and to make sewing much easier.

“Our Freudenberg Shirt Technology Center offers our customers quantifiable added value: a good collar is often a critical factor in the consumer’s purchase decision,” explains Jonathan Oh, Head of Regional Business Unit Apparel Asia at Freudenberg Performance Materials.

The support and development services for collars offered by the center also include individual training on interlinings and their processing, thus increasing customer benefits still further.

The Shirt Technology Center in Nantong collaborates closely with Freudenberg’s Global Shirt Competence Center in Zug, Switzerland, where activities include tracking the latest fashion trends, using the most advanced fabrics, and designing up-to-the-minute collar collections for customers to use. In total, over 5,000 collar styles are available.