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IN THE MARKET | EURO REPORT Techno Spirit textileinsight.com For S/S 19 Fashion & Functionality Take on a Higher Level of Creativity. By Louisa Smith or Spring/Summer 2019, the good news for the sports and outdoors sector is that the consumer continues to pursue health and wellbeing, on both a physical and spiritual direction. One mega trend that has been identi- fied is "The Experience." In today's highly connected global community, the selfie and social media obsessed consumer is set to shift their allegiance from possessing to experiencing. In our consumerist society it is clear we have reached "peak stuff," and accumulating possessions is no longer prominent. Instead the concept of experiencing new activities – whether from travel or just maintaining an active lifestyle – is what gets posted on Instagram and Facebook. It is the millennials who are pushing this work/lifestyle balance, coming of age with their purchasing power. The kudos of posting the purchase of a new smart phone or car doesn't get anywhere near the esteem as posting the weekend's latest city break, the involvement in a new sport or reaching a particular goal. The need for new experiences in turn is allowing brands to pursue enhanced collections, which is where the textile industry comes into play, delivering multi-functional fabrics to deliver active lifestyle and specific sport collections. Nourishing and energizing fabrics, including FIR (far infrared yarns) and micro encapsulated minerals, are gaining ground. The FIR yarns and fabrics in particular give the wearer a sense of wellbeing, as the body's heat is released to the fabric and redirected back to the body, increasing circulation and enhancing the experience. This trend also pushes towards a softer touch to fabrics, much more delicate than previous textile offerings, giving enhanced tactility and wearability. There is a growing tendency toward hybrid blends as we look to cotton, wool and Tencel teaming with performance synthetics in a synergetic approach. These new natural technical blends, brings the inherent perfor- mance of the natural fibers together with the performance of synthetic yarns. Today's consumer is conscious of the impact on the environment brought on through their lifestyles and is keen to embrace those brands that go that extra mile in delivering cleaner products. For the textile industry we are looking to cleaner processes, recycled polyester and nylon through to the reduction of water and energy use. Chip dyed polyester and recycled denim yarns deliver yarns that don't require a dyeing process, thus saving water. This also translates into garment production. There is an increase in seamless and also strategically positioned performance fibers in woven and warp knits that eliminates the need for seaming, thus reducing the production time, resulting in a cleaner, more efficient process. In addition, F 18 • Textile Insight ~ September / October 2017 Anti-stink odor-control technology is essential for the running market, while mountain biking and extreme terrain sports require moisture management performance and UV protection.