Makalot Taiwan textile maker bags order from Italian brand FILA

Taiwan-based textile maker Makalot Industrial makers of jerseys using innovative fabrics, specializing in producing functional sportswear that carries a relatively high price tag and commands a higher gross margin, has received orders from Italian brand FILA to make such jerseys.

Makalot is not the only Taiwanese textile maker which has been riding the waves of rising demand for innovative jerseys due to the World Cup. Other Taiwanese firms, including Far Eastern New Century and Eclat Textile, have also benefited from a boost in customer demand resulting from the World Cup.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is expected to generate no less than NT$10 million (US$334,448) in sales to Taiwan-based textile maker Makalot Industrial As the World Cup provides a stage to showcase innovations in Taiwan’s textile industry, which recycles plastic bottles, made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and turns them into fabric for sportswear.

With several teams wearing jerseys made of Taiwan’s innovative fabric in the 2014 World Cup, the country’s 23 million residents have already won their World Cup.

Johnny Shih, vice chairman of Far Eastern New Century, said that his company has provided PET fabric since the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. In the 2014 event, Shih said that Far Eastern New Century produces the recycled PET fabric to make jerseys for five of the 32 teams sponsored by Nike — Brazil, the United States, England, Portugal and Croatia.

Far Eastern New Century’s PET fabric, called dri-fit, is about 30% more elastic and able to absorb more moisture, and can be made into jerseys that are not only functional but also fashionable.

At present, Taiwanese textile suppliers hold 70% share of the world’s bottle-based fiber market.