Health Is The Latest Theme In The Field Of Smart Clothing

We all see that consumers' behaviors and expectations have changed rapidly, and they want a new, higher level lifestyle built around new behaviors. These new behaviors often require new technologies to create new products. One of the new lifestyles is Modern Day Wellness - from the health and fitness craze in the 1990s to a healthy attitude, individuals use this attitude to create a happier, healthier and more balanced lifestyle. This meets the needs of consumers of all genders, races and ages, and is promoting new product innovation in many industries.

This kind of Modernist Day Wellness brings consumers a new mentality, which is integrated into the body and mind, and focuses on the whole life and the whole person in terms of physical, psychological, social and spiritual characteristics. Less and less attention is paid to excellent sports fitness, and more attention is paid to achieving (and feeling) the best state through personal best practices that are suitable for your personal lifestyle.

So, what does this new mentality have to do with fabrics? It creates a business opportunity for manufacturers to provide wearable technology, so that our clothing can not only play the role of wearing. Now, innovative technologies integrate fabrics with the performance of improving health, creating a new way for clothing to achieve health. This is not a smart watch or headset; Instead, we will combine health solutions more directly with our clothes, and let these clothes directly bring health to our skin.

What health solutions can or will wearable technology provide? For example:

Antibacterial effects that inhibit the growth of microorganisms (e.g. fungi)

Odor control

For comfortable, dry moisture absorption and sweat wicking

Temperature control

Sunscreen

Insect control

relieve pain

So where do these technologies come from?

Surprisingly, many technologies used for wearable smart clothing come from nature. They provide "high-tech" solutions, which are their inherent natural attributes and complement the existing physical attributes in our bodies. Modern chemistry is the driving force of textile technology innovation for natural products, including plant derivatives, plant extracts and many other natural elements, crystals, minerals and mineral compounds. Although the innovative use of these natural elements comes from modern technology, many of these uses were known to our ancestors centuries ago.

Although wearable technology mainly starts from the use of synthetic fibers (because it is relatively easy to integrate materials into the extrusion process of synthetic yarns), more and more innovators are creating "smart clothes" with cotton as the main element.

Synthetic fiber will bring about problems of sustainability and biodegradability, which is contrary to the "health" concept promoting the development of wearable technology. Cotton planted in the United States is at least a biodegradable and sustainable crop, which can provide a real natural basis for smart clothing technology. More and more innovators are turning to cotton (either pure cotton or combined with some synthetic fibers) to create new "healthy" smart clothes to meet consumers' demand for pure natural products.

The trend of Modern Day Wellness (driven by young consumers who have developed a healthier lifestyle) will continue to drive people's demand for clothes that not only provide fashion and protection, but also improve personal health. As innovation continues, new smart clothing will play an increasingly important role in the clothing industry, and cotton will become an important fiber raw material for these smart clothing.

About the author:

Courtney Okeefe is the founder of Courtney Okeefe Consulting. She is a senior person in the textile and clothing industry, providing professional support in product management global procurement and supply chain operation for global lifestyle brands. Her professional scope covers all clothing categories, and she comes from a procurement base composed of more than 45 countries. Courtney directly cooperates with more than 20 world-class brands, and now also cooperates with them through her own consulting company