New Fabric ‘Raeflex’ Challenging the Art of the Uniform

Tracey Greenstein

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Henry David Thoreau once said to beware of all enterprises that require new clothes — but in the case of uniforms, perhaps an exception can be made.

That brings us to the launch of Raeflex, a performance fabric engineered specifically for the uniform market by Raeford Uniform Fabrics, a division of Burlington Industries and part of Elevate Textiles. The company said Raeflex is “set to challenge preconceived notions about what a dress uniform can be.”

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The fabric is a performance wool blend that offers generous stretch potential and the ability to matrix durable technical finishes, which is a first for the dress uniform sector. Raeflex is designed “to keep up with the increasing demands of workers in both the public safety and career apparel markets,” they noted.

It combines enhanced stretch yarns with blended worsted spun Merino Wool yarns, which adds 200 to 400 percent more stretch than traditional uniform fabrics. Raeflex fabrics will be primarily produced at the company’s Casimires Plant in Mexico.

Its new fabric is a solution that enables maximum movement while maintaining the professional appearance that uniforms must intrinsically embody, in addition to Burlington Lab’s proprietary Moisture Control System, which allows for advanced wicking and moisture management. These uncommon qualities collectively create a fabric with “superior comfort that matches the rigorous demands of the uniform market,” the company said.

Allen Smith, president of Burlington, Safety Components & A&E Americas, said the product “was developed based on evaluating user experiences, assessing techniques and technologies from other industries and then bringing it to fruition for the hardest-working members of our communities.”

Smith added, “Being a part of an organization like Elevate Textiles allows us an unprecedented advantage to combine resources and leverage some of the best minds in the textile industry.”

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