Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/847384
TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER ere's a snapshot of three close friends of mine: CJ hikes, bikes and loves Snapchat; Anne texts (constantly!) and plays tennis year-round; and Emily starts her days with a SUP workout and is a podcast aficionado. Emily tweets; Anne has a home delivery weekend subscription to the New York Times; CJ relies on Siri for information. Clearly gone are the days when one size fits all when it comes to how we communicate and recreate. Lynn Boorady, chair and associate professor at Buffalo State University's Fit Lab, speaking during a recent product development conference, described how she and her college roommate back in the day could fit into the same size jeans. However, her roommate needed to lie on the floor and squeeze herself into the pants, whereas Boorady slipped on the jeans with ease. Boorady's point: Fit is not one-dimensional. That concept is taking shape increasingly as the 3D world evolves beyond printing and making little figurines to generating a whole new category of 3D scanning, product development and body shape technology. (See story on page 28 for details.) Textile companies are also measuring new means of success. When we asked more than a dozen high-level execs to define their focus for 2017 responses were far from uniform. As the industry deals with major market shifts including a shrinking retail scene, an expanding use of digital tech and a brute called Amazon, execs are looking to sharpen their competitive edge with strategies custom-fit to their specific corporate mission. (See page 40 for the Q&A.) This is no small task, especially as a rapid pace of change is projected to continue. Consider that by 2020: • 10 billion apparel and footwear products will be "born" digital • Up to 20% of ALL apparel will be electronically enabled • U.S. M-commerce will account for half of ALL e-commerce sales ("M" stands for Mobile) Here's another nugget to chew on: 91 percent of Gen-Z shoppers say that if they're looking to make a purchase online, they typically go to Amazon first. Performance textiles are a constant in this age of disruption. When queried, 76 percent of sports enthusiasts' surveyed reported that when purchasing active wear the performance material used in the garment is very important. But when it comes to researching fabrics before making an active wear purchase, going online edges out brick-and-mortar retail. Our Trend Insight Consumer survey drills down on these and other purchasing habits shoppers' views on performance fabrics. (See page 44 for more results.) As for me, I've swapped a swim for my usual walk/run exercise routine, and added a weekly yoga class. But I'm holding tight to my flip phone — no matter how much grief I get — because you know what, it fits my needs just fine. Cheers, Emily Measure by Measure: Finding the Right Fit 4 • Textile Insight ~ July/August 2017 Working with our distinguished global partners, we'll SOURCE, DEVELOP, and PRODUCE new textile-based solutions that can keep your brand one step ahead of the competition. TEXTILE INNOVATIONS. WE HAVE 'EM. info@conceptiii.com • www.conceptiii.com