AMSilk, an industrial supplier of synthetic silk biopolymers, has further expanded its Fiber Business Unit by appointing Martin Lankes as the Senior Product Manager Fiber Business to support the Biosteel fibre development team.

“We are delighted to have won with Martin Lankes an engineer with such extensive experience and competence that will help to shape and implement the ambitious goals of AMSilk in the future. With his know-how in the fields of international textile value chain, innovation and product management, as well as the development of product standards, he will further advance our high-quality performance products,” said Severin Bertsch, Head of Fiber Business at AMSilk.

The aim of AMSilk is to develop market-ready products together with selected leading brands and partners. This includes the continuous improvement of the Biosteel fibre, as well as the definition of product requirements and defined quality characteristics.

Martin Lankes

With over 20 years of professional experience, Martin Lankes is an experienced textile engineer and product manager. After his start in the development department at Patagonia, he subsequently worked for several years in trade marketing with Helly Hansen. Following, he was with W.L. Gore & Associates for over nine years as Product Specialist for Gore-Tex and Windstopper, before Lankes was appointed Senior Product Developer to the adidas Innovations team. Over the past four years, Lankes has rebuilt the GENTIC brand as a brand manager at Skylotec.

“AMSilk GmbH has a unique product and is the only biotech company in the world to produce the Biosteel fiber in large quantities. I am particularly fascinated by the many different Biosteel applications and I’m looking forward to helping to further develop and market the Biosteel high-performance fibre,” commented Martin Lankes.

Biosteel fibre

The Biosteel fibre a high-performance bionic fibre with environmental integrity. A next-generation silk biopolymer, it takes inspiration from biological spider silk, a material that is extremely tough and as flexible as rubber. According to the company, the material is produced at an industrial scale through a patented, animal-free process that relies on bacterial fermentation and is powered by renewable resources.

Compared to traditional fibres, Biosteel fibre is said to offer superior performance properties: it is extremely tough, lightweight (offering weight reductions of 30% compared to common fibres), anti-allergenic, highly breathable and moisture wicking. Biosteel material is already being used across the apparel industries, according to the manufacturer.

www.amsilk.com