W.L.Gore & Associates, the Gore-Tex Pro, a leading provider of performance fabric, has launched a trifold technology fabric with enhanced functionality.

The novelty is an enhanced version of its single fabric technology with three unique features of 20 percent more stretch, improved breathability and durability.

The product will made available starting fall 2020.

While all the three technologies are very important and exciting, stretch in the fabric is the most novel.

Mark McKinnie, product specialist with the Gore-Tex Pro line, mentions that the users thought it was impossible to achieve stretch in a waterproof membrane. Gore worked on the challenge by compressing a laminate, which allowed 20 percent stretch without affecting the waterproof protection.

For elasticity, the elastane filaments are now used as a thin layer between face textile and membrane, thereby protecting the stretch component from outside damage using durable woven face textile.

The membrane used is same as that of the rugged version with similar durability and waterproof-breathable characteristics.

For enhanced breathability, Gore is offering a 30-denier fabric – the lightest it has ever offered. While for durability, it believes that rugged version is the most durable made of three-layer system with a new membrane technology.

The successful implementation of the project was done in the company’s comfort lab in Delaware. The lab created an environment to test how a particular material would work in each condition.

For the testing of the final product, the company used live test subjects along with the labs in United States, Germany and Asia for further investigation.

Moreover, the company also rolled out new textile backer to the fabric that brings colour into the polymer state when the nylon is a chip, a process that reduces water and energy use during manufacturing.