“If the fabrics can change their pattern, shape or structure, we get a variety of expressions from the same material. From an environmental perspective, this is of great importance as most of us feel the need to replace and change clothes and other textiles often. Smart textiles can have multiple lives, which is advantageous in view of resource use and waste issues.”
Sustainability - A Fashion Issue, Advantage Environment Blog
E-textile is short for electronic- or electro- textile. E-textiles are essentially fabrics with electronics and other components that are embedded in, or intrinsic to, the fabric such that the fabric maintains its key properties, like draping.
Smart fabrics are generally defined as, well, smart. This means a fabric can not only sense the environment, but also react to it. Scenarios include a fabric that warms you when you’re cold, cleans itself when it’s dirty (hooray!), lights up to ensure you’re visible when it’s dark, and automatically stiffens to protect you when you’re falling. Smart clothes could monitor your fitness parameters as you train and give you advice to modify your workout, during your workout. And of course smart clothes would recharge your mobile device while it was tucked in your pocket.
The potential of e-textiles and smart clothes is best demonstrated by applications in two key areas: health/medical and sports/professional performance and safety. These niches tend to be where cutting-edge development occurs and thus are good indicators of products and technology that may move mainstream.
Self-Tracking Meets Ready-to-Wear, Kinetics Blog by Carol Torgan
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