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Textiles & Apparel · Recorded milestone

Engineered 3D knitting

Recorded year2012

Nike Flyknit knits shoe uppers in one computer-controlled piece.

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Built on

Numerical-control machiningRecorded · 1952enables
SpandexRecorded · 1958enables
MicroprocessorRecorded · 1971requires

Led to

Home clothes makerRecorded · 2019enables
Robot-made clothes on demandForecast · ~2031enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.