Textile Insight

TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER he how, where and when we kick back from professional responsibilities is changing what we think of as leisure time experiences. To capture this cultural shift, we chart consumers' shopping behavior, highlight trends in swimwear and outline how sustainability is a lifestyle in 2019 in stories throughout this issue of the magazine. Footwear gets in on the action with material stories that explain our desire to wear running shoes straightaway from trail to tavern. The same phenomenon is true when it comes to our apparel and accessories. The moniker we use to identify this development, "sportstyle" says it all. Textiles are hip to this. Functional fabrics, as we all know, enhance leisure time activities — be it super fast wicking to keep pace with a super sweaty workout or insect repelling tech for apparel and accessories that allows for hours of peaceful backyard gardening on a muggy summer morning minus annoying bugs. So accustomed are we to our textiles doing a top-notch job of providing comfort and convenience, that when our activewear doesn't make the grade it's a head scratcher. In a recent phone call a childhood friend mentioned that her swimsuit remained drippy damp long after time in a pool during a July 4th party. "Shouldn't it dry faster?" she asked – noting that I was the only person she knew who could answer this textile-specific question! I rattled off something about the moisture absorbing nature of a high-spandex fabrication and suggested a couple options. "Our Speedos always seemed to dry in an instant," my friend quipped. As kids we competed on a neighborhood swim team and proudly wore our Windmill Club red Speedo suits with a white stripe down the side. Our conversation got me thinking how my experiences are foreign to today's trends. For instance, a surge in fun-in-the- sun year-round travel has given way to a season-less swim business. So dated is my pre-Memorial Day bathing suit shop outing, and a mid-July purchase off the bathing suit sales rack. Now I could have my pick of new styles any day of the year. (See page 42 for our swimwear Strategies article.) Shopping has become a mainstay leisure time activity far from what I experienced in my past – and to this day. Seared into my memory are shopping trips to Loehmann's in the Bronx with my Mom who would hunt the aisles for stylish clothes and browse the "Back Room" where designer fashions at lower prices could be found. I'd tag along, and often be seated in the communal dressing room surrounded by nearly nude women trying on piles of dresses, skirts and pretty blouses. Only familiar with my Mom's petite stature, I was wide-eyed at the various shapes and sizes of the ladies in front of me, and endlessly amused by their lively chatter and community spirit. Loehmann's is gone but it shaped how I like to shop. My local Arts Center hosts a trunk show of 50 designer clothing collections priced 75 percent off wholesale. It is staged a few times a year in a gallery space with one open changing room. I love working the event, especially helping women try on clothes – laughing at ill-fitting unsuitable looks, being part of this social scene. For me, it's the ideal leisure time shopping experience. To find out how others shop, and their purchase decision- making, check our story on Page 26 and the Trend Insight survey on Page 46. Cheers, Emily Perception of Leisure Pivots So accustomed are we to our textiles doing a top-notch job of providing comfort and convenience, that when our activewear doesn't make the grade it's a head scratcher. T 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 PERFORMANCE TEXTILES FOR THE GOOD OF THE PLANET For nearly 40 years, Concept III has been at the forefront of the performance textile industry. Working alongside our premier global partners, we not only source some of the most innovative textiles on the planet, we also help engineer some of the world's most eco-friendly fabrics. Conceptiii.com 4 • Textile Insight ~ July/August 2019 textileinsight.com

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