Manifattura Italiana Cucirini SpA (MIC), an Italian manufacturer of sewing threads for fashion, footwear and furniture for the last 40 years that has over 100 years of experience in the textile industry, is pushing the accelerator on sustainability and innovation.
Here, Tommaso Cumerlato, chief commercial officer at MIC, discusses its latest projects.
What are MIC’s main new goals?
We have decided to minimize waste to a greater extent, thus moving toward a more sustainable approach. After careful and in-depth analysis, we have created some new products and solutions designed to optimize time and waste, while maintaining high quality standards of the final product.
Could you describe any of these products?
From this corporate vision we have created the GRS line, a series of recycled polyester yarns, obtained from 100% post-consumer packaging materials such as PET bottles and caps. This range of products, which will be ready soon in stock service, has obtained the GRS 2019-210 Global Recycle Standard certification issued by ICEA, an organization that verifies the traceability of recycled raw materials and processes throughout the supply chain.
In this range we find Elan GRS, a voluminous and resistant textured yarn, soft in contact with the skin and suitable for cover seams or for knitting to make totally recycled fabrics, Kuma GRS, a universal core-yarn sewing thread, suitable for fashion, furnishings and footwear; Bravo GRS is a spun polyester suitable for large productions; Micro GRS, a thread in recycled microfiber, soft to the touch, breathable, resistant and voluminous that is used for high quality cover seams and in knitwear for high-end products such as made in Italy clothing. Also part of the selection is Cord GRS, made of high tenacity recycled polyester and particularly suitable for cover seams in footwear and interior decoration.
This new product line is in addition to the eco-friendly products already part of our offer for a long time, such as, for example, Bio-Cotton, GOTS certified organic cotton yarn, and Leaf: nylon with accelerated biodegradability, that for instance, degrades in five years instead of taking several decades like most traditional nylon yarns. 
MIC participated indirectly at Pitti Filati because it recently signed a partnership with Shima Seiki Italia (SSI), part of Shima Seiki MFG-Wakayama LTD, a Japanese company that is a world leader in the sale of straight knitting machines. During the last edition in June, Vittorio Branchizio, art director of SSI, presented his experimental capsule collection, developed also with the collaboration of spinning mills, something unconventional in the world of knitting yarns, including MIC.
Apart from sustainable products, are there any other innovative ones in your latest collections?
We have created Extè, a highly innovative polyamide 6.6 core-spun stretch yarn that is suitable for any textile processing that requires elasticity, compactness and color. This material gives elasticity and compactness to the finished garment, as well as comfort, wearability and a very pleasant hand.
At Pitti Filati, Branchizio's collection for SSI included a dress entirely made with Exté.
Unlike similar yarns produced abroad that exist only in black and white, we made it in 15 different colors, a minimal part of our color chart of 450 shades, but still a remarkable innovation when compared to the existing market offer.
Also made with MIC products was a coat made with a reflective yarn, Reflect-Mic, which gives the garment a unique luminous effect.
Is MIC willing to grow in new segments, like, for instance, the knitwear sector?
We are constantly exploring new possibilities: innovation and research have always been part of our DNA. The knitwear sector has always been interesting for us and there is certainly a desire to broaden our horizons in this area to offer an always wider range of products. The trends of the last seasons regarding fabrics for clothing and knitwear have proposed close-fitting garments in which comfort and performance of the garment are the primary values. Some of our collaborators are using our textured yarns and some very soft-touch microfibers to make collars, cuffs, ribbons and laces.
At the end of each production run, we collect feedback from companies that have used our products and we learn from them by improving our products’ performance and level of sustainability.
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Photo: MIC
Tommaso Cumerlato, chief commercial officer, MIC
The Materials
'Comfort and performance of the garment are the primary values'
Photo: Maria Cristina Pavarini
MIC at Pitti Filati
