Nike has introduced a new material, called Forward. The sportswear giant believes the new Forward material will do for its apparel line what Flyknit did a decade ago for footwear, and that creating an all-new fabric offers a sustainably minded approach to the future of product.
Nike describes the material as not being a traditional knit or a weave, and it apparently does not even use yarn. Instead, the manufacturing process creates fibres from recycled plastic flakes and attaches them together using needle-punching machines mostly found in the automotive and medical industries. Multiple thin layers are mechanically entangled, crafting a new material.
The fabric made its debut in a grey sweatshirt, featuring no embellishments or dyes to highlight what Nike calls an ability to offer a 75 percent reduction in carbon footprint during the manufacturing process compared to a traditional fleece.
The drastic reduction is made by eliminating steps and focusing on turning fibre directly to textile. Taking machines from outside the apparel space, Nike Forward’s patented method of creation overlaps thin layers of fibres and mech
Nike plans to turn Nike Forward into a platform used across the entire brand, much like its Flyknit material which started in 2012 with two shoes and now runs across the company’s entire footwear line.
The new Forward material took five years to develop and included a focus on sustainability. The completely raw feel of the debut product highlights the recycled content.
