How smart is smart fabric? Pretty darn smart… and getting
more intelligent every single day. Truth be told, we are surprised how clever
textiles and apparel has become. We are entering the realm of science
fiction.
There are quite a few notable designers and companies that
have jumped on the smart textile bandwagon who are doing some pretty amazing and
innovative things in this space. Here are only a few of the
examples:
Grado Zero Espace
is an Italian based company who is doing some amazing things with textile
technology and product design. Grado Zero Espace is able to perform
demonstration and prototyping activities in the field of technical fabrics
design, including the development of complex textile structures, as well as the
study of physical-mechanical behaviors. Thanks to the support of specific
geometric textile modelling software package in combination with software for
the analysis of thermal, mechanical and engineering properties, they are able to
improve the possibilities to produce and test several new textile
configurations, joining together their expertise the textile field and in the
engineering. GZE is able to provide the development of wearable technology
systems consisting in the integration of smart sensors for monitoring
vital-functions, conductive textile for data acquisition and transmission,
thermal regulating systems, electroluminescent devices and other new
functionalities. Thermo-active alloys or polymers and high performance fibres
or smart coating with innovative added properties. The experimental activity
includes the development of eco-friendly fabrics using natural fibres such as
cypress, peat, kapok, nettle, spider-web and processes following
eco-compatibility's parameters.
AIQ Smart Clothing: AiQ Smart
Clothing Inc. is where electronics merge with textiles to create fashionable,
functional, comfortable solutions to meet your everyday needs; whether it’s in
sports & fitness, outdoor & leisure, home & leisure, home care &
health care. They have the drive and capability to make Smart Clothing concepts
into reality. AiQ Smart Clothing Inc. plays a crucial role within the Smart
Clothing supply chain by offering a complete and vertical integration of
functional and fashionable technologies. They excel in the textile
incorporation of technology by combining and installing multiple key components
from King’s Metal Fiber Technologies, one
of Tex-Ray subsidiaries, and the specialize in developing wearable systems that
are fully compatible with their downstream manufacturer and parent company, Tex-Ray.
In 2009, the idea of joining textiles and electronics became a reality with the
beginning of the AiQ Smart Clothing project that was born as a department of
Tex-Ray. For years we have been setting the standards in the Smart Clothing
industry and, in 2012, AiQ Smart Clothing Inc. emerged as a subsidiary company.
Based in Taiwan and with years of industry know-how, AiQ Smart Clothing Inc. is
an ideal partner for wearable technology solutions.
Ying Gao, a fashion designer based in
Geneva is creating clothing that combines urban design, architecture and
multimedia, and uses sensory technologies to make garments more interactive.
Ying Gao is a university professor as well as a fashion designer. Her work
testifies to the profound mutation of the world in which we live and carries
with it a radical critical dimension that transcends technological
experimentation. Ying Gao has achieved personal distinction through her
numerous creative projects: five solo exhibitions in Switzerland and Canada
(Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Textile Museum of Canada…) and
participation in around fifty group exhibitions around the world (MAK Vienna,
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Design Museum Holon…). Her varied
creative work has enjoyed international media coverage: over 350 press articles
and media appearances (Time, METAL, Vogue, Dazed, Interni, Radio Canada, TV5… ).
She explores the construction of the garment, taking her. Recognized
worldwide, her designs are frequently shown in museums and galleries. Design is
the medium, situated in the technological rather than in the textile realm :
sensory technologies allow garments to become more playful and interactive. Ying
Gao explores both the status of the individual, whose physical contours are
transformed by external interferences, and the garment’s function as a fragile
protective space.
CuteCircuit, Internationally-known fashion
house, CuteCircuit, has been pushing the boundaries of wearable technology since
its launch in 2004. A global leader in interactive fashion, CuteCircuit has
introduced many ground-breaking ideas to the fashion world by integrating new
beauty and functionality through the use of smart textiles and
micro-electronics. CuteCircuit, a London based design duo is taking their smart
textiles and technology to the runway, as they showed a collection at New York
Fashion Week where the models controlled what their dresses looked like on the
runway through their mobile phones.
BioCouture who is focused on bringing living and bio-based
materials to fashion, sportswear and luxury brands. BioCouture is literally
growing clothes from microorganisms like cellulose, fungi and algae. Suzanne
Lee, Founder of Biocouture Ltd, is heading the world's first biodesign
consultancy firm.
Above is only a few of the many exciting developments in the
world of smart fabrics. Learn more about smart fabrics in our fashion industry terms section.
You may also find interest in readying about the Google
smart fabric project.
Read about Levi’s
project jacquard and Google project jacquard
on their websites.
Recent advances in technology have brought together the
apparel, technology, and textile industries to develop new capabilities in
fabrics with the potential to change how athletes, patients, soldiers, first
responders, and everyday consumers interact with their clothes and other textile
products. Combining garment manufacturing techniques with science and
technology, the industry has significantly expanded the realm of
possibilities.
Known as ‘smart fabrics’, new high-tech textiles, footwear,
and clothes have the capability accomplish many special applications. Some
products can interact with their user or environment, including by tracking and
communicating data about their wearer or environment to other devices through
embedded sensors and conductive yarns. The applications for these new
capabilities are broad with most smart fabric product development now seen in
the fields of defense, fitness, health, and public safety. But this is
obviously just the beginning. We are still in the infancy of the development
stage. As tech improves so will the textiles designed to utilize the benefits
of technological advancement.
Reaching the market’s full potential will require overcoming
not just technical challenges but also bridging differences in how these
distinct industries approach product development as well as addressing various
public policy issues. To foster greater collaboration between the U.S.
apparel, technology, and textile industries and to identify the public policies
that could accelerate the design and manufacture of smart fabrics products by
U.S. companies, the Department of Commerce in partnership with
the Industrial Fabrics
Association International hosted the Smart Fabrics Summit on Monday,
April 11, 2016. IFAI is a member-owned, member-driven trade association
representing the global industrial fabrics industry. They invest more than $8
million each year to advance the industry and support member
companies.
You should also learn more about the WEAR Conference regarding smart fabrics and wearable tech.
If you are looking for basic dumb fabric, you can find
plenty of textile mills here on Apparel Search.
Watch the TV series Continuum if you want to see
super smart clothing.
Are you already familiar with the concept of super smart fabric and even smarter clothing? If you know of any amazing innovations that we have not discussed above, please share your knowledge in the comments section of this article.
Thank you for taking the time to read our apparel industry blog post. We hope that you have found this news to be informative.
If you have comments or questions, please add your thoughts in the discussion area below.