Last week we featured Elijah Bryant and his Free Point Sports Apparel line that capitalizes on “smart textiles”. Smart textiles are transforming the fashion industry, and creating innovative fashion lines. What are these fabrics and do they hold potential for start-up fashion brands?

In today's world, the demand for intelligent materials like smart textiles is on the rise. These textiles are equipped with electronic components that offer a wide range of applications. They have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry. 

Smart fabrics can add unique functionality and benefits to a new fashion line. They can give apparel the competitive edge to become a successful new brand. Understanding the capabilities of smart textiles could inspire your breakthrough fashion start-up idea. 

In this blog, we will explore smart textiles, and discuss some of the various types, applications, and notable products currently available in the market. 

What are Smart Textiles?

Smart textiles, also known as electronic textiles or e-textiles, are technical fabrics that incorporate electrical components. They are capable of sensing, processing, and interacting with the wearer's status and environmental factors. These textiles utilize different types of inputs and outputs that include electrical, thermal, mechanical, chemical, and magnetic elements. 

Smart textiles can be classified into several subcategories based on their aesthetic and performance purposes:

1.  Intelligent Aesthetic Fabrics: These fabrics have the ability to light up and change color. This makes them ideal for fashion and style applications. Light-emitting clothing and color changing, vibrant gowns are just a few examples of how stylish intelligent materials can affect the fashion industry.

2. Performance-Enhancing Smart Fabrics: Based on their performance, smart textiles can be further divided into passive, active, and ultra-smart categories.

Passive fabrics: These textiles act as sensors. They can perceive environmental conditions such as UV protection or anti-microbial properties. While they provide additional functionality, they do not actively adapt to changing surroundings.

Some footwear companies have incorporated anti-microbial technology to reduce odor in their workboots and other shoes. This technology is built into the textiles and do not actively respond or change. They constantly kill bacteria and as a result, control odors.

Active fabrics: These fabrics respond and adapt to external stimuli or human input. They can change shape; regulate, release, and store heat; and incorporate sensors to detect touch and temperature.

Ultra-smart textiles: This category represents the pinnacle of smart textiles. They possess cognitive capabilities, almost like a brain. Ultra-smart textiles can detect, watch, and monitor a wide range of environmental conditions. Then they can respond and adapt to enhance the wearer’s performance, health, or comfort. 

How can smart textiles be applied:

Smart textiles have numerous applications in the fashion industry. They can offer improved aesthetic enhancements, enhanced functionality, and the ability to communicate with external devices and technologies. Here are some examples:

Aesthetic enhancements: Intelligent fabrics can glow, change color, and adapt to the environment. This enables fashion designers to create collections that embrace technology and react to different stimuli like daylight, darkness, or temperature. They can  incorporate photochromic, thermochromic, electrochromic, and other properties. 

Performance Enhancement: Smart textiles can enhance performance by regulating body temperature, reducing wind and water resistance, and monitoring vital signs like heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure. 

These textiles can incorporate passive elements like UV absorbers to protect against sun damage. 

Additionally, companies like ReTiSense and WearableX have developed active elements like smart accessories and clothing that can track an athlete’s movements. This aids in technique improvement  and injury prevention.

Smart Fabrics can also interact with wearable technology. The integration of smart textiles and wearable technology has led to exciting interaction possibilities. For example, Google's Jacquard technology can be woven into fabrics and allow users to control external devices through touch gestures. You can customize gestures to access online services, apps, and information without reaching for your phone. For example, with a simple brush of your cuff, you can get your next direction, skip to the next track on your playlist, or hear upcoming appointments. . 

This technology has been implemented in a collaboration between Google and Levi's to create a smart jacket with features like answering calls, playing music, and getting directions.

The technology for smart textiles is evolving every day. Smart textiles have the potential to transform the fashion industry. They offer enhanced style and glamor, improved functionality, reactive capabilities, and even interactive applications. 

From aesthetic enhancements through performance improvements, the possibilities with smart textiles are unlimited. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see more integration of intelligent materials into our daily lives. 

This can redefine the way we perceive and interact with fashion. It may also offer many breakthrough ideas and concepts for new fashion brands and fashion start-ups. High-tech smart fabrics just may be the intelligent component that launches your innovative fashion line. 

What’s your breakthrough fashion concept? If you feel you have an idea that may have some promise, schedule a free strategy call and let's talk about it. You may have discovered a niche and a fashion product that could become a successful start-up and the fashion business of your dreams.

Stuck on product Production? At V.Mora we can help you through the entire production process from designing, to sourcing and so on through our Production Development services. If you are in need of the following Development and Production services: 

• Sourcing 

• Technical sketches   

• Pattern Making

• Prototype making 

• Sample Making

• Fittings 

• Digitizing and Grading

• Marker Making

• Manufacturing

Please contact us at: vmorainquiry@vmora.com

About the Author

Fashion expert, Allison Howmann, graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology where she majored in Fashion Design and Minored in International Trade and Marketing. She has spent over 6 years in the NYC Fashion Industry utilizing her Design and Marketing skills. Allison has worked with several successful brands to help create their winning fashion development, small business operations, and sales and marketing strategies. You can find her creating original content on the V.Mora blog and the V.Mora Instagram.