Invista's Cordura brand has teamed with fashion and textile design students from North Carolina State University's College of Textiles Fashion and Textile Design Program to create visionary designs of menswear for the modern millennial male.

The collaboration nods to Cordura brand's 50th anniversary theme of "heritage meets innovation," taking inspiration from traditional professional wear of the past and adding functionality and durability for the future.

Students were challenged to create business wear designed to adapt to various seasonal conditions, combining long lasting performance with stylish versatility. With access to all fourteen of the latest Cordura fabric technologies, the students sketched, designed and created prototypes of business wear garments ranging from commuter to tactical and workwear-inspired designs.

Clothing of the future

"The opportunity to incorporate the latest innovative fabrics from Cordura brand to design clothing for the future truly inspired the students, and gave them an opportunity to explore their own modern interpretation of traditional menswear," said Dr Katherine Annett-Hitchcock, NC State's associate professor in textile and apparel technology and management.

"The students were extremely involved in the fabric selection process, and were able to learn about each fabric technology available in the portfolio and engineer high-quality durable garments. For many, the fabrics also inspired the direction they took their designs."

Performance-based capabilities

In addition to their built-in durability, the Cordura and NC State collaborative fabric collection incorporated specific performance-based capabilities, such as cooling and warming properties. The suppliers were authorized Cordura fabric mills: Artistic Milliners, Chia Her, Hua Mao, Nishat, One Chang, Tiong Liong, and Yoonia.

"Artistic Milliners believes in working with the next generation of designers to create fashion of the future, and we are honoured to be associated with NC State and this project," said Neil Bell, director of global R&D and innovation at Artistic Milliners.

"The ownership of our company has a long legacy with NC State University and its College of Textiles, and we are excited to inspire their creativity in producing these cutting-edge garments."

Education

Through recent design school collaborations with NC State and ESMOD, and participation in events like the UK Project 20/20 Awards, the Cordura brand believes it is able to teach students about the importance and benefits of long-lasting, durable, performance fabrics while discovering new, innovative ways to use the fabrics in futuristic applications.

"The Cordura brand continuously works to push the boundaries of durable fabric innovation," said Cindy McNaull, global Cordura brand and marketing director. "We are proud to kick off our 50th anniversary year collaborating with such innovative, forward-thinking designers to help propel classic menswear heritage into the future."

Final designs were presented last month at NC State's iLab. Students presented the garments on a model, along with their inspiration board, storyboard and technical sketches. Select garments will also be on display at global tradeshows throughout 2017, including Outdoor Retailer, Techtextil and A+A.

www.cordura.com