It’s hard to imagine what a windbreaker, a designer lamp, a medical sterile package for surgical instruments, a protective membrane for a house and a personal protective item that can help keep you safe from a hazard such as Covid-19 all have in common, but there is actually an aspect that they share: they are all made with DuPont™ Tyvek®, which was created and patented by DuPont in 1965.
From industry to consumer market, Tyvek® is a material with 1,000 uses
It’s been widely used in a variety of industries and applications – building envelope, protective apparel, medical packaging. Now Tyvek® is becoming a trendy material for design in various categories, such as home & deco, fashion and accessories, novelties, sustainable packaging, etc.
DuPont™ Tyvek® is a family of tough, durable sheet products made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Continuous, fine, HDPE fibers are spun into a sheet, then bonded with heat and pressure to interconnect the fibers. Depending on the bonding process, Tyvek® is paper-like (hard structure) or fabric-like (soft structure). After half a century of use in a variety of industrial sectors such as construction, medical packaging and personal protective equipment, Tyvek® is now an increasingly popular choice among designers in the consumer sector, from home & deco to trendy clothing, fine packaging, fashion accessories, etc.
Earrings, designed by Paper Zhang
Combining the characteristics of paper, film and fabric, Tyvek® can withstand repeated folding and flexing without tearing, and can be glued, laminated, sewn, stapled and fixed. DuPont™ Tyvek® also provides an excellent substrate for printing and is suitable for most conventional and digital printing methods. This is why it is often chosen by designers working in graphics, fashion and lifestyle sectors to help lend form to their innovative ideas.
The balance of features, a unique look-and-feel, and recyclability make Tyvek® an adaptable material for the needs of contemporary design. It’s being chosen by many of the largest brands in global retailing to differentiate their product offerings and keep creating lovely surprises for their consumers.
In March 2018 in China, a famous multinational coffee brand launched a line in Tyvek® called Loving the Earth, which played a major role in its wide-ranging sustainability project. The product line included a bag, backpack, umbrella, and lunch bag as well as a teddy bear for children to draw on, all made of Tyvek®. Again in 2018, the South Korean department store chain Hyundai produced 70,000 reusable shopping bags made of Tyvek® responding to the national Zero Waste call. In addition, another international brand specified Tyvek® in ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories.
An ever-increasing number of designers are choosing Tyvek® as a material for their products. And DuPont is also continuing the innovation on Tyvek® with its partners to enable infinite possibilities of color, shape and structure.
“It has been interesting to see how Tyvek® has evolved in a variety of applications over the years,” concludes Mr. Gunawan. “It was originally used in construction and medical applications, where aesthetics is not a priority. Now, little by little, designers are discovering the unique beauty of this material and its potential to help enhance the aesthetics of an object,” said Max Gunawan of Lumio.
Material: Tyvek®
Company: DuPont
Website: www.dupont.com/tyvekdesign
Instagram: @tyvekdesign
Email: tyvek.design@dupont.com
Download Tyvek® Design Book: www.tyvek.com/designbook