DACRON®: 50 YEARS OF INNOVATION!
 

Frankfurt, 14 January 2010 – DACRON®, ADVANSA’s emblematic polyester fibre brand, is celebrating its 50th birthday as the first fibrefill product for the European home textiles market. At the Frankfurt Heimtextil trade show (13 to 16 January 2010), ADVANSA is paying tribute to a flagship brand that symbolizes the virtues of comfort, quality and staying power.
 

A bit of history, a bit of chemistry: a fabulous adventure!

Inspired by the research of Wallace Carother, who invented Neoprene and Nylon for DuPont, two British chemists, John Rex Winfield and James Tennant Dickinson, turned their attention to polyesters made from ethylene glycol and trephthalic acid. After several years of research and work, they invented and patented PET. DuPont launched production of DACRON®, the first washable synthetic textile fibre for clothing applications, in the USA in 1950, then followed through with Europe’s first fibrefill product for home textiles in 1960.
 

Polyester would revolutionize modern society and invigorate the chemicals industry. It would turn a new page in the history of sleep; polyester-fibrefill duvets would change the sleeping habits of generations to come by offering radically improved comfort properties (insulation, anti-bacteria, moisture-evacuation, heat-regulation, etc.) plus superb usability and low maintenance. Somewhere between 60% and 80% of duvets sold in Europe today are made using polyester fibres.

Working in partnership with manufacturers first of wadding then of pillows and duvets, DuPont started off European sales of DACRON® with the first pillow filled with solid fibre. Second-generation DACRON® fibres would feature a silicone-based finish, for enhanced softness to the touch. This, the first in a long list of groundbreaking innovations, would be associated first under the Adoration® brand, then under the name of Elégance® for duvets. These technical innovations went hand in hand with an avant-garde process, including a traceability system and licence arrangements with finished product manufacturers unique in Europe; TV advertising in France and press advertising in major European countries for the launch of DACRON® products; and targeted point-of-sale communications.

With comfort as the ultimate goal, innovation followed innovation, starting with the first hollow fibre in 1971. By studying the fur of the polar bear and the caribou living in extreme weather conditions, DuPont engineers discovered that the animals resisted the cold thanks to thousands of air pockets. And so the engineers set about applying the same principle to their polyester fibre products. The DACRON® production facility at Uentrop in Germany was opened in 1968, and is still running today.
 

ADVANSA polyester fibres for the home textiles market are today sold under the name of DACRON® Comfort Fibres, a name carried in under ADVANSA’s acquisition of DuPont’s polyester businesses. The DACRON® brand has a very strong corporate heritage and reflects ADVANSA’s commitment to offer speciality fibres at the forefront of technological innovation.

50 years of expertise and innovation for the home textiles industry

The polyester market has grown steadily right through to the present age, with polyester the most-used fibre in the world today. As mounting competition from Asia prompted European fibre manufacturers to pursue specialization, DuPont DACRON®, then ADVANSA, would invest steadily in research and development.
 

ADVANSA’s successful innovations on the European market, such as Thermo°Cool™ thermo-regulating fibres for apparel, and Climarelle™ for bedding, would generate substantial demand internationally. ADVANSA facilities in Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and India serve customers worldwide.
 

Industrial evolution in polyester manufacturing over the last few years has largely focused on the development of environmentally-friendly products. ADVANSA polyester fibres —Hollofil® Eco, Comforel® Eco and Suprelle® Fresh Eco & Tencel®— were the first to be awarded the European Eco label. 
 

Ever true to its innovative drive, in 2010 ADVANSA is launching Hollofil® Spring, an ultra-fluffy fibre for mattress pads, and Suprelle® Memory, the first memory pillow with viscoelastic-effect fibres.

Staying power, through constant anticipation of market trends

With half a century’s experience in fibrefill products for pillows and duvets, ADVANSA harnesses its extensive know-how to constantly improve its manufacturing processes and develop innovative solutions geared to full customer satisfaction.
 

In the words of Heinz Meierkord, VP for fibres and polyester polymer solutions, “in the public eye, the DACRON® brand means guaranteed quality and comfort. As well as being a long-standing symbol of excellence in the textile world, DACRON® also stands for five decades of epoch-marking innovation, ever at the forefront of technological progress, for the highest possible quality”.
 

ADVANSA’s capacity for R&D investment lends it a remarkable ability to keep ahead of market trends and remain at the forefront of innovation in home textiles. In Western Europe, ADVANSA spends 5% of its speciality products turnover on research, with a dedicated R&D team focused on developing high-added-value, top-end products.

Press contact:

Cohn&Wolfe
Marie-Amélie Roguet
Phone +33 (0)1 49 70 43 55
marie-amelie.roguet@cohnwolfe.com