Alcantara is the name given to a composite material used to cover surfaces and forms in a variety of situations and applications.
The material was developed in the 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto, a scientist working for the Japanese chemical company Toray [1]. In 1972, a joint venture between Italian chemical company ENI and Toray formed Alcantara SpA in order to manufacture and distribute the material.
Alcantara is created via the combination of an advanced spinning process (producing very low denier bi-component "islands in the sea" fibre) and chemical and textile production processes (needle punching, buffing, impregnation, extraction, finishing, dyeing, etc.) which interact with each other.
A versatile material, Alcantara is found in a variety of settings. The company outlines applications including furniture, clothing, jewellery, automotive, helmets and more.
The appearance and tactile feel of the material is similar to that of suede, and it may be incorrectly identified as such on occasion. It is finding application in seating as well as dash trimming.
It is unclear if all of Alcantara's Ultrasuede (tm) is fire proofed but at least some of it is in order to meet certain fire standards for both furnishings and automobile applications. It is especially well suited to automobile upolstery applications because it does not fade, does not fray (due to it not being a woven fiber - See "Toray Industies" or "Ultrasuede" for more info) and can be stretched around corners without as much deformation as other fabrics.
One unique property of this non-woven product that sets it apart from non-Toray Industries materials, is that it is virtually identical on both sides. Many of the other "micro suedes" and "micro fibres" are distinctly different on both sides and are often a woven fabric. One way to test for this "non-woven" characteristic is to cut very thin strips off the material...if it frays it is not Toray Industries' Ultrasuede or Alcantara.
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