Lycra Sport Energy fabrics make an inroad
Since its creation in 1958 the Lycra® fibre has successfully delivered enhancements in the sports wear industry and the brand owner INVISTA (one of the world’s largest integrated producers of polymers and fibres, primarily for nylon, spandex and polyester applications) has continued its commitment to innovation investing millions of USD annually by developing patentable intellectual property and by launching breakthrough products such as Lycra® Sport fabric specifically created to improve athletic performance and comfort
Sportswear characteristics including compression, freedom of movement and comfort are essential for athletes of all levels and in most sports from the fastest sprinters and cyclists in the world to swimmers, gymnasts or rugby players.
To meet these requirements, INVISTA developed a three tiered, end-use performance standard for athletes, namely Lycra® SPORT fabric for Active performance, LYRA ®SPORT BEAUTY fabric, combining performance with beauty and style, assisting “looking in shape while getting in shape™, as well as Lycra® SPORT ENERGY fabric, innovated for compression fabrics used in high intensity and high energy sports. The brand owner works closely with leading sportswear manufacturers to create apparel for world record breaking athletes from the USA, China, Great Britain, Jamaica and many other countries.
The secret behind these developments is the science. The Lycra® SPORT fabric platform enhances high performance garments through engineered fabrics with enough recovery force to deliver desired levels of compression while minimizing the loss of force between fabric stretch and recovery for a more steady compression at any given stretch and decreasing the sagging and bagging during exercise, all in all providing high wear comfort.
Even after 50 years of continuing development and performance in the textile industry, the Lycra® fibre is continuing to evolve and to create new possibilities for designers as well as for consumers worldwide.
In-house and independent research studies (Progressive Sports Technologies) in 2011 confirm that Lycra® SPORT fabrics 0erform better than those containing generic spandex on the key parameters of recovery power, shape retention and comfortable fit and 95 % of the 23 amateur athletes taking part in the surveys preferred the fabric’s compression performance.
INVISTA owns – apart of Lycra® – a portfolio of global trademarks such as COOLMAX® , CORDURA® fabric, freshFX®, SUPPLEX® fabric, TACTEL® fibre and THERMOLITE®.