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use to adventures in the outdoor elements. It's a minimalist approach to products that have longevity both in quality and fashion. "By creating garments meant to last, consumers lower the emissions and waste byproducts of their clothing while using premier items," commented Bornling. A Functional Future This is how form and function come together in layers of comfort and protection for the season ahead: Baselayers are loaded with performance based on the latest ingredient technology with natural fibers as well synthetics playing a role for moisture management; Midlayers introduce advanced knitting constructions for lightweight warmth with minimal shedding; Loft is a key feature; Outer layers highlight sherpa looks with added performance features such as water-repellency, while 2-layer outerwear makes gains with functional, recycled, biodegradable materials. A big takeaway is that functionality these days is not one dimensional. Fabrics are soft, durable and made to move. Thermoregulation is moving up the performance ranks as today's consumers increasingly desire clothing to be "adaptive," "trans-seasonal" and "versatile." Artilect relies on NuYarn for thermoregulation across its apparel collection and the material is front and center in the brand's presentation. NuYarn is an engineered merino that excels in dry time and durability and is breathable with more stretch with less elastane. On the eco side, NuYarn uses 30 percent less raw materials with less energy consumed in spinning. Consumers can tap their mobile over a "TAP" sticker on a hangtag to find more information. Hyosung also calls out thermoregulation in its new Autumn/Winter '22/'23 textile trends. The company's Fashion Design Center (FDC) identifies "Maximal Techniques" as a mega- trend for the season ahead explaining, "With high functional fabric developments and need of basic better items fast tracked due to the global pandemic, demand for high-performing essentials is growing." The forecasting team adds that thermoregulation plays a key role. "As activities shift between different environments and needs, consumers seek core items that adapt to changing temperatures. Cooling and warming techniques will play a key role." Ingredient suppliers brrr, 37.5 and NexTex TurboDry continue to advance new and different ways to achieve thermoregulation. For example, brrr's latest innovation is brrr Pro that uses micro mineral technology to enhance each individual fiber to intensify the "Triple Chill Effect" of natural cooling materials, active wicking and rapid drying. Turbo-Dry relies on physics, based on biomimicry, rather than chemistry to move moisture away from the skin and improve comfort. 37.5 is based on active participle technologies designed to help users manage and maintain optimal core temperature and relative humidity levels. A Sustainable Future The textile industry is laser focused on environmental responsibility. This has ushered in a myriad of product developments and technology breakthroughs in recent years upgrading the functional fabrics landscape to a much deeper shade of green. This time of change, driven by climate concerns and the ability to achieve lofty eco goals for businesses, continues in 2022, with sustainability shifting to circularity and a textile community keen to create a modern closed loop system that not only encourages consumer participation but requires individual action as part of the next- generation supply chain. "This is not only a technical problem, it's behavioral economics," says Thekla Wilkening, business consultant, Cool Circles UG, Rostock, Germany, who explains that established modes of decision-making need to be addressed in order to move circularity forward. "We suffer from three biases: Status Quo, that everything is fine the way it is; Self Control, that I want it now, and fast is better than slow; and Confirmation, that staying with this bias is right. We need to break these mindsets and create new habits, among consumers, users, and suppliers." Wilkening points out that today's younger generation is less concerned with owning and more open to sharing. "This is a good sign," comments Wilkening who believes that the growing trend of renting apparel and upcycling and recycling clothing will help promote circularity. Re-learning consumption habits goes hand in hand with industry re-thinking design habits. "It all starts with the design process, that's where 80 percent of the product impact is manifested," says Wilkening. "Circularity should be at the forefront of any design action brands are taking," states HeiQ CEO Carlo Centonze. "This way consumers will get the message to bring goods back to recycle. You need to bring consumers into the loop for circularity to be possible." He adds to this message, saying, "Brands stand in the leadership to design for recycling and we in industry stand in leadership to provide the brands with the materials and knowledge and the technology to make this possible." Accelerating circularity as a design principle is key to changing the course of textile production in a more planet-positive direction, especially considering the mountain of textiles currently produced annually; it's estimated that every person goes through 14 kilograms of textiles every year, and the global population is expected to be 8 billion by 2034. Approximately just one percent of textiles are recycled worldwide. The majority of textiles produced for active/ outdoor end use are synthetics, dominated by polyester. Most fabrications are blends, making recycling even more difficult, and until recently, biodegradability for synthetics was not on the table for discussion. According to a recent report from Statista, synthetic filament yarns constitute over 60 percent of global annual textile output of 108 million metric tons. Centonze believes his firm's recent innovation offers a high-performing eco solution. HeiQ AeoniQ is a cellulose yarn based on a new fiber derived from carbon negative materials. Specifically, cellulosic biopolymers that during Houdini Men's Outright Houdi Artilect Women's Baselayer FUTURE FABRICS sportstyle • sportstylemag.com 40 • March/April 2022

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