International News Items - November 2004

Unifi Asia Increases Comfort And Economics In Career And Work Apparel

Hong Kong , October 18, 2004 (Company Release) - Employees that are required to wear company clothing are far less interested in donning uniforms than career and work apparel that looks, fits and feels like comfortable casual apparel. Value-added performance yarns from Unifi Asia, Ltd., which are available to the region from the company’s Asian production base, are designed to help employers balance employee needs with the need to control costs associated with company-supplied apparel.

“The end user of career and work apparel wants comfortable garments that look and feel good, while employers want the economics that come with increased durability and easy care fabrics," said Brian Moore, president of Unifi Asia. "Our specialty yarn portfolio is capable of delivering value-added benefits to the user while also providing considerable cost savings to the employer over the life of the garment." Unifi Asia, Ltd., is the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Unifi, Inc.

Augusta®, the company’s cotton replacement yarn, is a continuous filament polyester yarn that matches the look and hand of spun cotton, yet provides superior performance against the rigors of industrial laundering. The result is better-than-cotton comfort and durability that is a win for both the employer and the employee.

"Augusta® packs a lot of value into a garment that looks and feels like cotton casual apparel," said Moore . "And, since it is a continuous filament yarn, it is much easier for fabric and garment manufacturers to process than staple yarn, which creates even more value."

Reflexx® provides an economical alternative to PBT yarn, which can cost twice as much as PET-based Reflexx®. Stretch potential for fabrics made with Reflexx® PET range from 5 percent to 30 percent, which is more than adequate to achieve the stretch requirements for career and work apparel. The stretch and recovery properties of Reflexx® will last the life of the garment, providing an added level of value to career and work apparel.

“You should not pay for more stretch than you need," said Moore . "There is no reason to pay the premium for PBT yarn when Reflexx® will give you the stretch and recovery needed for comfort and performance stretch applications."

Unifi Asia offers Reflexx® across a wide range of yarn counts, all of which are readily available to customers in the region from the company’s Asian production base.

Unifi Inc. (NYSE: UFI) is one of the world’s largest producers and processors of textured yarns. The company’s primary business is the texturing, dyeing, twisting, covering, and beaming of multi-filament polyester and nylon yarns. Unifi’s textured yarns are found in home furnishings, apparel, and industrial fabrics, automotive, upholstery, hosiery, and sewing thread. For more information about Unifi, visit www.unifi-inc.com.

China Textile & Garment Enterprise Directory (English edition) Published

Montreal , QC, Canada , October 20, 2004 (Company Release) – Business Data International Inc., the business and professional information provider, announced that an English edition of China Textile & Garment Enterprise Directory has just been published.

New to market, the directory lists more than 4,000 textile and garment enterprises in China , including textile, garment manufactures, industrial textile (nonwovens), textile machinery, dyeing stuffs, importers and exporters. Each entry contains the company’s name, address, phone & fax numbers, email & URL if applicable, name of contact person, product lines, number of employees, etc. A review on China 's textile industry from 2001 to 2002 is included in the preface. Textile associations and institutes in China are also appended.

Dr. Yingshan Han, president of Business Data International Inc., believes the directory fulfils a need for the delivery of quality data on China textile professionals. As he explains, he also has high hopes for the future development of this directory.

“For marketers targeting China ’s markets, trying to find reliable, current data has always been a troublesome task, with very few information in English being available to them. What this directory aims to do is plug this gap, offering those looking for such information a real choice.”

Further information on ordering the 392-page directory is available from Business Data International Inc., P.O. Box 28547 , 5100 Verdun Ave., Montreal , QC H4G 3L7 , Canada , Fax: (514) 221-3281, info@businessdataint.com, www.businessdataint.com.

German Police to Drop “Ugliest Uniforms in Europe”

Berlin , October 22, 2004 (Reuters) - Fashion-conscious north German police are to ditch the mustard-colored shirts, green ties and tight beige flannel trousers they have been wearing since 1973 -- dubbed the ugliest uniforms in Europe .

“Beige trousers, black shoes and then the green -- first of all it is a question of taste," a spokesman for the police officers' trade union said on Thursday. "It is also a question of practicality. Light trousers get dirty very quickly."

Police have long complained their uniforms are uncomfortable in both summer and winter, the pockets are too small and the trousers too tight. They also clash with their bright green patrol cars. "The uniforms were unpractical from day one," the spokesman said.

Officers in the northern city state of Hamburg will be the first to sport the new navy outfits described by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily as a cross between those of the Prussian merchant navy and New York cops.

But not all police can look forward to stepping out in style as forces in southern states and hard-up cities have no plans to change.

Dressing Down Dead at Commbank

Australia , October 20, 2004 (The Daily Telegraph, as reported by Jennifer Melocco) - It was one of the pioneers of "Casual Friday" - now the Commonwealth Bank has declared dressing-down is dead.

In a bid to smarten up their staff's appearance, the bank yesterday announced it was bringing back uniforms.

The National Australia Bank also reported a shift away from casual clothes and back to the suit.

The change comes as industry figures claimed sloppy dress leads to sloppy work. "[Casual] dress on the outside affects what is happening on the inside - in their thoughts and their motivation," business image consultant Sally Marzola said.

The return to uniforms at the CBA follows criticism by CEO David Murray about falling dress standards. Earlier this year he said he "hated mufti". Mr. Murray also told bank staff they were not allowed to wear jeans for the Jeans for Genes charity fundraising day in August.

The NAB's Helen Henderson said there had been no order to smarten up but it had happened anyway. "We are starting to see a shift to more business attire," Ms Henderson said, including a return to ties and smart business shirts.

Previous CBA's attempts to encourage staff to adopt a more formal dress style have failed.

The bank succeeded this time by recruiting fashionista Lisa Ho. Yesterday she launched her new Commonwealth corporate look. wanted customers to think 'I wish I was as well presented as the staff'," Ms Ho said yesterday.

Previously, staff had the option of wearing uniforms but it was not compulsory. A CBA spokesman said the by Lisa Ho look was part of the bank's “Which New Bank” program aimed at delivering better service.

Ms Marzola said many companies were concerned about falling dress standards in the office.

Firms, Scholars Eye IT-based Uniform to Protect Firefighters

Japan, October, 12, 2004 (Kyodo News) - University researchers and Japanese firms are cooperating to develop new firefighter uniforms equipped with devices based on the latest information technology such as miniature cameras and devices to measure physical conditions to protect users' lives.

Led by Eiji Shimizu, a professor at the Takarazuka University of Art and Design in Osaka , the project is aimed at putting the uniforms into practical use in 2006 at the earliest.

The uniforms will have sensors to take the wearer's pulse and measure the amount of oxygen in the blood. They will also have microphones and devices to check the position of a firefighter. The devices will be connected to portable terminals embedded on the back of the uniforms, the developers said.

The terminals will transmit information to a command vehicle through wireless LANs and receive information such as instructions and maps sent from the vehicle. A firefighter will be able to see the maps on a small display attached to the face guard, the developers said.

Though the wiring of the devices was conspicuous in the prototype, it will likely be embedded in the uniform using metal fiber with the cooperation of such firms as firefighter uniform maker Teikoku Sen-I Co., they said.

There are some challenges prior to the practical application of the uniforms. One is improving the function of devices to figure out the positions of firefighters. The developers adopted a sensor that confirms the position of a firefighter by the person's movement rather than using a global positioning system because a GPS is incapable of transmitting within buildings or underground malls. Such a device is also used by U.S. troops when they engage in a battle inside a building, but it remains unclear how well the device can retain its accuracy at a confusing site.

The uniforms also need to be equipped with a high level of water and fire resistance. "The uniforms need to conquer heat and water that become sources of trouble for the IT," said an official at Osaka-based Yamamoto Kogaku Co., which is cooperating in the development of face guards. "Fire sites are dangerous and many people have been killed. I want to reduce the number of such people," said Takarazuka University's Shimizu .