Textile Insight

TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER nybody else feeling a little off-kilter these days? I know I am. Fall is routinely focused on preparing our Annual Trendsetters edition of the magazine. As the leaves start their seasonal shift from green to gold to crimson, I begin brainstorming with friends and associates in the textile community about industry innovators to consider for Trendsetter participation. Once a list of potential candidates takes shape, I get a kick out creating a questionnaire that I hope will prompt professional insights as well as personal passions. Some the best answers I ever received over the years came from the question, "What is your favorite condiment?" I'm happy to report that our 7th Annual Trendsetter feature appears, as per usual, in this edition of Textile Insight. And, again, like always, it's a fun read, full of personality but also revealing in terms of market direction. Turn to page 26 to meet our 2018 Trendsetters! This Fall for the very first time, however, we needed to develop editorial coverage appropriate for a "show issue." (Normally that's in our January issue!) Chatting about materials gurus and whiz-bang product designers for Trendsetters now bumped up against reporting on trade show announcements and investigating industry mega-trends. This being an inaugural November-timed OR Winter Market, and the third Outdoor Retailer show of the year, sparked a sense of deja vu. Didn't we just do this? When asked about his upcoming plans for Denver, a textile exec responded wearily, "Mentally it feels like we were just here." Exactly! Wasn't it just summer time? It sure feels like it here in the Northeast. Fall has been a string of weirdly warm humid days and significant rainfall. The Monarch butterflies that cluster around my front yard butterfly bush in August, actually returned mid-October. Talk about being off-kilter. Crazy weather patterns made headlines this year, as have politics. Our inquiring minds wanted to know if these, and other trending cultural issues, influenced consumers shopping behavior. To find out take a look at the charts and verbatim respondents in our Trend Insight Consumer Survey starting on page 44. Consumers' stance on brands' political advocacy, as well as thoughts on tariffs and the topic of plastics pollution make for great reading. Lastly, I think it's important to highlight how much ground we cover in this edition of Textile Insight as it reflects the ever-expanding role of functional fabrics currently and into the future. We go from writing about material innovation for travel to Mars to textile technologies developed to clean the ocean depths. Not so long ago, advanced textiles engineered for climbing Everest was a game-changer. Now we're truly talking about the outer limits of performance. l Cheers, Emily New for Fall: A Winter OR and Summertime Butterflies Chatting about whiz- bang product designers for Trendsetters now bumped up against reporting on trade show news and investigating industry mega-trends. CELEBRATING ANNIVERSARY T e x t i l e - B a s e d P r o d u c t S o l u t i o n s GREAT TEXTILES. FOR THE GOOD OF THE PLANET. At Concept III, responsible production is always on our minds. As microplastics become a growing concern, especially to our oceans, we're proudly partnering with renowned global mills, distinguished universities, and iconic consumer brands to establish new, eco-friendly initiatives and solutions for fabrics. Simply put, we'll source and develop those advanced, sustainable textiles you've been looking for. www.conceptiii.com info@conceptiii.com CIII_TI_NOVDEC18_ad.pdf 1 10/23/18 10:37 AM 4 • Textile Insight ~ November/December 2018 textileinsight.com

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