Abstract

Drape, which has been little studied, is an important property, which adds aesthetic appeal to fashion as well as functional apparel. In this study, parameters such as drape coefficient and number of nodes of cow nappa apparel leathers were measured and correlated with related mechanical properties such as softness, weight, thickness, flexural rigidity, initial tensile stiffness and formability. It is observed that the mean drape coefficient varies between 80.5 and 89.9% for individual cow nappa leathers from two different firms. The softness, flexural rigidity and initial tensile stiffness showed good correlation with the drape coefficient. The thickness and weight of cow nappa leathers also exhibited an inverse correlation with the drape coefficient. The results of this study will not only facilitate the basic understanding of the drape behavior of cow nappa leathers but also be useful for leather selection, apparel design and construction.