The Textile Nerd Podcast

Some people have a knack for building industry connections, and in textiles, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone working harder to bring the community together more than Devin Steele. On this edition of the Textile Nerd Podcast, Lori and Dan talk with Devin, whose eTextileCommunications.com publication is billed as “The Voice of the U.S. Textile Industry.”

Fabric is all around us in both the physical sense and in pop culture and the entertainment we consume. This edition of the Textile Nerd Podcast will go off the beaten path and cover a few of Lori and Dan's favorite moments in TV and movies (Seinfeld, anyone?) where fabric is the focus. Did we miss any of your favorites?

The cutting-edge combination of modern medicine and modern textiles includes technology like bioscaffolds, which require researchers with an almost unheard of medical, medicinal, and technical knowledge base. On this edition of the Textile Nerd Podcast, Lori and Dan will introduce you to Dr. Holly Morris, a pediatric hand surgeon who possesses a textile and engineering background shared by few, if anyone else.

There's more at stake for textile designers, makers, and manufacturers to execute the right fit than meets the eye. So much is on the line, an experienced and innovative pattern maven, Julia Watts of PatternRoom.com, has developed an entire business around perfecting the fit and helping others nail it the first time. Lori and Dan discuss the often overlooked world of pattern making on this edition of the Textile Nerd Podcast.

The spectre of so-called "forever chemicals," or PFAS, looms over a significant portion of the textile industry. Lori and Dan will take a closer look with our colleague, TVF Global Trade & Logistics Manager Laura Martin, who joins us for an overview of some challenges and considerations for everyone from mills to manufacturers.

Rachal McCarthy is a new-age leader in an old-school industry. On this edition of the Textile Nerd Podcast, the second-generation president of NTI Global in New York talks with Lori and Dan about the key place communications play in leadership in a world where the lines between on-site vs. off-site, high-tech vs. low-tech, and confidence vs. training are increasingly blurry.

Let's face it, the textile printing process can be pretty bland. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, the cofounder of an innovative print studio believes more creativity could be injected into every facet of textile printing. Lori and Dan welcome back Western Sensibility CEO Kathryn Sanders to explore why and how creativity can be baked in every step of the way to elevate projects.

Access is everything for print media professionals. Third-generation textile printer Kathryn Sanders, founder and CEO of print studio Western Sensibility, hips us to a philosophy she calls the "Democratization of Design." This concept, as Lori and Dan find out, involves access by creatives to printers and technology to move thier designs from drawing board to substrate.

Does polyester get a bad wrap in the fashion, apparel, and movie world? If you ask longtime textile print maven and Hollywood costume printer Steven Moreno of MY Prints, the answer is an emphatic "yes." Lori, and Dan explore a concept Steven raised during our behind-the-scenes in Tinseltown episode that we'll call Polyester Prejudice, deepening a discussion on the need for additional education on the polyester options of today.

Bringing any fabric to market takes a dizzying number of people along the way... especially for a newly-developed material. From fiber-to-fruition, textiles will be put through the paces until they're ready to find their end use. On this episode of The Textile Nerd Podcast, Lori, and Dan travel along the production chain and bring in TVF Senior Sales Consultant Chris Russo to illuminate and salute the many hands behind every yard.

As new textiles evolve faster than we can measure, modeling, testing, and quality control are increasingly going 3D to keep pace. One of the great minds on the forefront of this technology is GORE-TEX Fabrics Digital Business Process Specialist Christina Rapa. Lori and Dan explore how this technology - very different from 3D printing - is already changing the game for several key facets of the textile industry.