About

Andre West is a Professor and Director of The Zeis Textiles Extension at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University. He has over 40 years of experience in the apparel industry, encompassing fashion trend forecasting, fashion design, textile design, manufacturing, retailing, and academic research and teaching. His research primarily focuses on integrating technology into the textile and apparel industry, including consumer-oriented customization, 3-D virtual garment creation, AI-driven generative design, 3-D body scanning, and whole-garment knitwear. He has established a holistic approach to his work, exemplified by founding The Greater Good Textile Group, a student-led initiative dedicated to sustainability and ethical treatment of industry workers. His international collaborations include designing mosquito-resistant clothing without harmful chemicals, supported by grants from the Department of Defense and other agencies. His recent research emphasizes developing sustainable fabrications and a circular textile economy, exploring the use of hemp as an alternative fiber for military and commercial clothing to reduce environmental impact. His contributions extend to advancing textile technologies and promoting sustainability within the industry.

Research topics

• Composite material
• Materials science
• Biology
• Biomedical engineering
• Law
• Cell biology
• Ecology
• Anatomy
• Toxicology
• Medicine

Selected publications

• WholeGarment® Knitting of Insecticide-Free, Comfortable Clothing with Anti-Mosquito Protection

  Textiles · 2026-02-13

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Deployed armed forces and the public engaged in outdoor activities are at high risk for mosquito bites and the diseases they transmit. Current mosquito bite-resistant garments prevent blood-feeding with slow-release insecticide formulations. Many people today want to avoid contact with pesticides, especially in their clothing. Insecticide treated clothing also is costly and requires regulatory agency approvals. Using mosquito bite-resistant mathematical textile models and a WholeGarment® knitting technique, a seamless garment was constructed with military-compliant, no-melt, no-drip flame retardant yarns using an AiryPique knit architecture. The garment was 99.5% bite proof in walk-in cage bioassays with 200 Aedes aegypti host-seeking mosquitoes where the human subjects did not move for 20 min. A standard flame test and a PyroManTM flammability study validated the garment’s fire protection, a requirement for military uniforms. The thermal physiological comfort tests (air permeability, wetting time/radius, thermal resistance, evaporative resistance, and sweating thermal manikin test) were similar to current army combat uniforms and appropriate for use in everyday clothing. Bite prevention occurred by physically blocking the insect mouth parts from obtaining a blood meal. The knitting technique is well-suited for mass production of bite-resistant clothing through automation, significantly reducing labor, time, and cost by optimizing “fit on demand” for different body types compared to traditional manufacturing methods. This innovation provides a non-insecticidal, safe, scalable, and efficient solution for protecting individuals against mosquito bites.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Advancing Fit and Inclusivity: Utilizing BMI and Body Shape to Create 3D Avatars for Men’s Extended-Size Suits

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2025-01-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A Brief Review of Mechanical Recycling of Textile Waste

  Textiles · 2025-09-27 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The fast fashion industry has significantly increased global textile demand, driving a surge in fiber production. However, only a minimal portion of this fiber comes from recycled sources. In the United States alone, a vast amount of textile waste is generated annually, with over half ending up in landfills, contributing to environmental degradation and global warming. These developments underscore the urgent need for scalable and efficient textile recycling solutions to address both economic and ecological challenges in the fashion industry. Among recycling methods, mechanical recycling stands out for its low cost and simplicity, making it suitable for processing various types of textile waste. This article reviews current knowledge, identifies key research gaps, and provides direction for future studies in mechanical textile recycling. Despite progress, significant challenges remain in improving the quality and efficiency of recycled fiber. This study shows the importance of advancing pretreatment methods and sorting technologies, and highlights understanding regarding shredding, opening processes, and fabric structural properties.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An eco-friendly droplet-wet spinning technology for producing high-quality hemp/cotton blend yarn

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2024-09-16 · 14 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Enhancing Biosignal Quality in Electrocardiogram Monitoring Garments: Validation of a Simulation-Based Contact Pressure Model

  ACS Applied Engineering Materials · 2024-06-13 · 1 citations

  article

  Optimizing contact pressure in a biomonitoring garment system is crucial to improving signal quality by reducing skin impedance and motion artifacts. Building upon previous research, which introduced a strategic methodology for enhancing electrocardiogram (ECG) biosignal quality through material selection and pattern sizing guided by a developed simulation-based contact pressure prediction model (CP model), this study investigates the model’s efficacy across varied knits (plain, interlock, plaited single jersey, and plaited interlock) and yarn filament densities to design a more complex ECG chest band. In this study, our CP model demonstrated strong predictive capabilities with R-squared values exceeding 0.87, which are compatible with physical uniaxial tensile test-based prediction showing an R-squared value of 0.88. Our selected appropriate knit substrates (single jersey and interlock plaiting knit) for pattern reduction values of 20 and 5%, respectively, for designing ECG elastic chest bands result in enhanced biosignal quality with signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 42.85 (±0.08) and 40.92 (±0.06), respectively, comparable to the wet electrode with an SNR of 40.02 (±0.32). This study confirms that selected appropriate materials and patterns can significantly enhance ECG signal quality by optimizing contact pressure to the ideal range of at least 0.53 to 1.05 kPa under the chest area, as demonstrated with a female subject. These findings provide valuable insights into using textile-based electrodes in garment designs by strategically engineering contact pressure to mitigate motion artifacts with the CP model and simulation technique.

  PublisherDOI

• A regression waist level defined for 3D body scans

  Journal of the Textile Institute · 2024-07-01

  articleOpen access

  Finding waist levels on 3D scans is challenging because measurement programmes measure bodies non-invasively in a digital environment. However, most body measurement standards require interactions between measurers and subjects, such as bending and touching, to find accurate waist levels. Research shows that the accuracy of commonly used waist substitutes, such as the small of the back and the narrowest from the front view, depends on 3D scans’ body shape and size, making the waist substitutes not ideal as generic ways of locating 3D waist levels. This research aimed to study the relationship between 3D waist levels found by domain experts and digital landmark coordinates identified by commercial body measurement programmes to develop regression models that predict waist levels on 3D scans. The developed regression model was tested and found to perform better than the selected waist substitutes. It assists the standardization process of extracting waist-related body measurements from 3D scans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of a new artificial intelligence-based textile digitization using fabric drape

  Textile Research Journal · 2024-04-08 · 9 citations

  article

  Three-dimensional (3D) textile-based garment prototyping, widely adopted in the apparel and textile industry, enhances cost efficiency, work productivity, and seamless communication via visual prototyping. Neural network-based 3D textile digitization has the potential to streamline manufacturing processes by negating the need for traditional physical property (PT) measurements. However, a research gap exists concerning the accuracy of the technology and its applicability to advanced functional apparel manufacturing. The primary research question is to investigate how variations in digitized physical properties obtained from PT measurements and artificial intelligence (AI)-based textile digitization impact the accuracy of a fabric’s mechanical representation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate AI-based textile digitization accuracy using a drape test method. The drape coefficient (DC) analysis revealed that the PT-based simulated DC exhibited a normalized mean absolute error (NMAE) ranging from 2% to 11%, while the AI-based simulated DC showed a range of 3–51%. Notably, for the samples, except those with very limp or very stiff fabric samples, the AI-based simulation exhibited a NMAE within 3–15%.

  PublisherDOI

• Investigation of Hemp and Nylon Blended Long-Staple Yarns and Their Woven Fabrics

  Fibers and Polymers · 2023-04-05 · 6 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Efficient Poisson’s Ratio Evaluation of Weft-Knitted Auxetic Metamaterials

  Textiles · 2023-07-04 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Auxetic metamaterials expand transversely when stretched longitudinally or contract transversely when compressed, resulting in a negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). Auxetic fabrics are 3D textile metamaterials possessing a unique geometry that can generate an auxetic response with respect to tension. In weft-knitted auxetic fabrics, the NPR property is achieved due to the inherent curling effect of the face and back stitches of the knit loops; they contract in an organized knitting pattern. The traditional method used to evaluate NPR is to measure the lateral fabric deformation during axial tensile testing on a mechanical testing machine, which is time-consuming and inaccurate in measuring uneven deformations. In this study, an efficient method was developed to evaluate the NPR of weft-knitted fabric that can also estimate deformation directionality. The elasticity and extension properties of the weft-knitted fabric can be analyzed immediately following removal from the knitting bed. Five fabrics, all with the same stitch densities (including four auxetic patterns and one single jersey pattern), were designed and produced to validate the proposed method. The use of our estimation method to evaluate the Poisson’s ratio of such fabrics showed higher values compared with the traditional method. In conclusion, the deformation directionality, elasticity, and extensionality were examined. It is anticipated that the proposed method could assist in the innovative development and deployment of auxetic knitted metamaterials.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mosquito Blood Feeding Prevention Using an Extra-Low DC Voltage Charged Cloth

  Insects · 2023-04-23 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Mosquito vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue pose a major threat to human health. Personal protection from mosquito blood feeding is mostly by treating clothing with insecticides and the use of repellents on clothing and skin. Here, we developed a low-voltage, mosquito-resistant cloth (MRC) that blocked all blood feeding across the textile and was flexible and breathable. The design was based on mosquito head and proboscis morphometrics, the development of a novel 3-D textile with the outer conductive layers insulated from each other with an inner, non-conductive woven mesh, and the use of a DC (direct current; extra-low-voltage) resistor-capacitor. Blockage of blood feeding was measured using host-seeking Aedes aegypti adult female mosquitoes and whether they could blood feed across the MRC and an artificial membrane. Mosquito blood feeding decreased as voltage increased from 0 to 15 volts. Blood feeding inhibition was 97.8% at 10 volts and 100% inhibition at 15 volts, demonstrating proof of concept. Current flow is minimal since conductance only occurs when the mosquito proboscis simultaneously touches the outside layers of the MRC and is then quickly repelled. Our results demonstrated for the first time the use of a biomimetic, mosquito-repelling technology to prevent blood feeding using extra-low energy consumption.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kun Luan

  34 shared

• Marian McCord

  North Carolina State University

  18 shared

• Emiel DenHartog

  North Carolina State University

  17 shared

• Cynthia L. Istook

  Wilson College

  17 shared

• R. Michael Roe

  North Carolina State University

  12 shared

• Jiayin Li

  Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence

  12 shared

• Charles S. Apperson

  North Carolina State University

  10 shared

• Grayson Cave

  North Carolina State University

  10 shared

Labs

• Zeis Textiles ExtensionPI

Education

• Ed.D.

  Argosy University

  2032

• Master of Fine Arts, Visual Arts

  Miami International University of Art & Design

  2009

• Bachelor of Science, Textiles

  University of Huddersfield

  1982

Awards & honors

• Greater Good Textile Group