Textile Insight

IN THE MARKET | ECO UPDATE Responsible Technology Takes Shape textileinsight.com The Development of Future Smart Garments Starts with Sustainability. ew sustainable textile tech is emerging on the university front. Pratt Institute's Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator (BF+DA) recently launched TEK-TILES, a two-year project to investigate and create a library of 100 activated swatches that are a "how to" for the design and manufacture of "smart garments." In so doing, a new term has been coined: Responsible Technology. The BF+DA has always embraced technol- ogy, with 3D printing and software, yet sustainability is pulse of the organization. The new program encourages designers to think about sustainability from the very beginning of the creative pro- cess and bring the ethos of environmental-responsibility to smart garment development. The TEK-TILES project is aligned with a $486K grant that is expanding the BF+DA into a research center for creative technologists that houses design and manu- facturing services needed to get "smart garments" and functional textiles from concept to market. The goal is to create a collaborative space that connects research institutions, industry innovation and indie technolo- gists – pioneering the way for new products that can do everything from capture biometric data and deploy information through sensors, to textiles that react to changes in the environment. Deb Johnson, founder of the BF+DA and previous chairperson of the Industrial Design program at Pratt Institute says that the industry has entered a new age in material technology. "Until recent breakthroughs in fiber materials and manufacturing processes our expectation of fabrics has remained essentially the same. New tech- nologies will create textiles that allow us to see, hear, sense, communicate, store energy, regulate temperature, monitor health and change color. These advances will change the function of fabrics and garments as we cur- rently know them." Johnson adds that smart garments are predicted to be a $38 billion industry by 2022. "It's important to con- sider the environmental and social consequences of this emerging industry - before rather than after systems and processes have been put in place. There will always be trade-offs when creating new products. Does a product that makes life better for an elder, a child with autism, a biker riding on a crowded street, a person with diabetes, someone in hospice warrant the use of less sustainable materials? It is important to understand the impact of the materials in use - conductive yarns for example and balance it with the purpose of the garment and the design for disassembly at the end of the product's useful life." As part of New York Textile Month, the BF+DA will host "This is Not a Sweater: Manufacturing Smart Garments & Functional Fabrics," on September 19, 2017. O 14 • Textile Insight ~ September / October 2017 "It's important to consider the environmental and social consequences of this emerging industry - before rather than after systems and processes have been put in place." Deb Johnson, BF+DA

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