Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1073715
TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER t's January so you know what that means – resolving to get through trade show season without getting the flu, missing a flight connection, or forgetting to pack your phone charger. 2019 kicks off with business gatherings on a weekly basis, a tough schedule for keeping New Year resolutions of maintaining physical and mental health. A calendar jam-packed with trade events translates to an awful lot of industry togetherness focused on the world of performance textiles. The good news: Based on stories reported in this issue of Textile Insight, conversation should be lively and steady throughout show season. Top of mind for many are concerns about ocean polluting micro-plastics, and microfiber shedding. Our tech story, written by Debra Cobb, shines a light on the latest developments – as well as what still needs to get done. Also on the radar is the viability of Graphene, a material increasingly viewed as having game-changing applications in technical apparel and footwear. Research on graphene taking place in the UK is the subject of Kathy Swantko's education article. Findings from our Trend Insight Survey on consumer preferences in cold-weather wear are certain to stimulate chatter, and feedback to our questions on greenwashing and animal-cruelty are likely to raise a few eyebrows. I look forward to talking with you about all these and other buzzy textile trends and news items in the coming months. The role textiles are playing outside of our industry is increasing every day. For all the years I've been writing about functional fabrics, I don't recall textiles having a direct line to global hot-button issues to the extent that is happening now. Yes, trade and tariff talk has long been newsy, so too labor and wages, but now links to textiles – whether it has to do with supply chain transparency or social and eco responsibility – occur on big picture subjects like waste, packaging, climate change, retail, art and politics. Consider these recent headlines: • English Town Fights 210 Feet of Grease and Wet Wipes • BYOB in Brooklyn: Bring Your Own Bag • Buying a Diamond, With More Clarity on Where It's From • Bottled Water Confronts It's Plastic • (Food) Cause of the Year: How a restaurant or food company cares for its employees. • "Women Empowered: Fashions From the Frontline," an exhibition that looks at the political role of clothes. • A Green New Deal Revisited These articles may seem outside our sphere. However, I believe expanding our scope will bring innovation to our industry. The pace of "newness" is getting faster and crossing categories. For instance, it was easy for me to make the leap to thinking how our clothes will communicate with us after reading a recent article on Artificial Intelligence. I propose that for our 2019 New Year resolutions we add: "Broaden Horizons." And make a habit of looking beyond the world of performance fabrics to be curious and open-minded in our approach to business. Lmk if that works for you. And I'll do the same. Cheers, Emily P.S. For the record I'm a dutiful resolution maker; Last year I made an ambitious list of "18 in 2018," that filled three index cards. For 2019, I have returned to my standard resolutions: "drink more water" and "moisturize." Resolving to See the Big Picture to Spark Industry Innovation The role textiles are playing outside of our industry is increasing every day. I 4 • Textile Insight ~ January/February 2019 textileinsight.com 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 THE TEXTILES YOU'VE BEEN SEEKING, FOUND IN ONE PLACE. Concept III scours the globe for world-class textiles, so you don't have to. For four decades, we've proudly collaborated with the world's leading mills and tech innovators to source, engineer, and produce the fabrics of the future. From utilizing materials science all the way to developing must-have performance textiles, we'll do it all for you. www.conceptiii.com