Although many groups are developing power-generating “smart fabrics,” the technology is often too complex to be scaled up to commercial use. Now, however, scientists have devised a simple method of embroidering electrical generators onto regular fabric. It...
Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), have developed an acoustic fabric capable of interacting with its wearer. The discovery could potentially improve the daily lives of...
A restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, is asking staff to wear aprons that capture greenhouse gas from the air. The aprons were produced in a pilot scheme developed by H&M-backed researchers, as the fashion industry struggles to lower its climate impact. The Hong Kong...
For more than a decade now, a bright promise in apparel has loomed just over the horizon. Smart clothes with sensors and next-generation textiles could transform our wardrobes into health-tracking garments. These ideas haven't just come from startups. Even companies...
Wearable tech is extending far beyond Apple Watches and FitBits. Reimagining pants, T-shirts and jackets as having multiple purposes, scientists have invented an "acoustic fabric" that can detect and produce sound. Potentially, clothes made of this material could...
An international team of scientists led by the UK’s University of Cambridge have produced a fully woven smart textile display that integrates active electronic, sensing, energy and photonic functions. The functions are embedded directly into the fibres and yarns,...
NexTex Innovations and Optimer Brands have partnered to launch their new TurboDry drirelease wool fabric collection, part of their objective of developing the highest performing moisture management fabrics that relieve the apparel industry’s dependence on chemical...
Fibers and products converting company, Teijin, says that it has developed a self-adjusting fabric which responds to perspiration by changing its structure three-dimensionally, thereby increasing breathability and eliminating the feeling of stuffiness. Teijin Frontier...
Researchers in Belgium have unveiled the design for a fabric that could keep a person warm when worn one way, while cooling them down if worn inside out. Although large-scale manufacturing of the material is not yet feasible, the researchers hope their results will...
Burlington, a division of Elevate Textiles, is offering customers a new plant-based odor control solution as one of its many steps towards a more sustainable future. As part of their Odorblock™ offering, Burlington has introduced sustainable technology that uses the...
Imagine your car starting the moment you get in because it recognizes the jacket you’re wearing. Consider the value of a hospital gown that continuously measures and transmits a patient’s vital signs. These are just two applications made possible by a new “body area...
A new kind of fiber developed by researchers at MIT and in Sweden can be made into clothing that senses how much it is being stretched or compressed, and then provides immediate tactile feedback in the form of pressure, lateral stretch, or vibration. Such fabrics, the...
