Black Swan Textiles is proud to announce the addition of new business partners, Frank Henderson and Magnus Kanholt. Aside from decades of apparel industry experience, these additions bolster Black Swan’s vision of developing and implementing the Digital Twin model in the apparel industry to connect brands and suppliers. “Fabric is the vehicle through which a garment provides comfort, durability, and beauty. To date, that vehicle has been a pack mule burdened with lethargy and bad process. With the addition of Magnus and Frank, Black Swan Textiles will transform fabric into a digital asset driving improvements to every sector of our industry.” – Keith Hoover, Black Swan Textiles

Frank Henderson serves as CEO of Henderson Sewing Machine Company, a third-generation global supplier of machines, parts, and supplies for the sewn products industry. The company does business in more than 34 countries, supplying the machines that stitch together the world. Henderson has been a pioneer in developing technologies that bring automated sewing into the garment factory. He is a strong advocate of automation and robotics and sees the creation of a digital fabric model as a prerequisite to unlock robotic handling of flexible material. Henderson’s vision is to accelerate the time from the production line to the distributor to a matter of days thereby changing the model of the entire apparel and sewn products industry. “Only through the implementation of digitalization will we provide the opportunity for the apparel manufacturing sector to move closer to where the products are sold.”

Magnus Kanholt leads the development of tools and processes that provide brands, retailers, and manufacturers with increased process insights, cycle time reduction, and profitability. As a founder, he has helped to grow start-ups into multi-million dollar industrial leaders. Though coming from the software development industry, his passion for the textile industry has continuously grown for twenty years. In various roles, from founder and CEO to technical lead, Kanholt has been on factory floors and in board rooms, listening to and guiding organizations toward increased digital awareness. More than 50 brands and retailers and 1000+ suppliers today achieve significant savings and reduced waste using solutions for which Kanholt led development. He has contributed to paradigm shifts that moved the apparel and textiles industries forward. “Black Swan is positioned to drive real end-to-end digitalization in a fragmented and analog industry. BlackOPS changes everything and I am excited to lead the development efforts.”

The BlackOPSTM model for flexible materials is built to support digitalization across the apparel industry. Two unique applications in development. BlackOPSTM M2KTM digitizes key attributes to comprehensively model fabric and transform inspiration into a manufacturing-ready specification. BlackOPSTM ArsenalTM organizes digital fabric libraries on a searchable platform enabling brands and suppliers to locate existing fabrics that meet predefined needs.

The next Black Swan event has begun.