Sustainable Fashion and Digital Innovation Trends in the Textile Industry
Trend

Sustainable Fashion and Digital Innovation Trends in the Textile Industry

The digitalization of the textile industry, which is highly connected with the consumer market, is the general trend. In particular, the digitalization of the supply chain such as 3D simulation technology can greatly simplify and speed up the product development and production process, and at the same time achieve the reduction of manpower, which promotes fashion and textiles. Industry players are all vigorously promoting digital transformation, and the recent digital development of the textile industry has mostly focused on issues such as sustainable fashion, circular economy, and digital innovation.
Published: Jan 16, 2023
Sustainable Fashion and Digital Innovation Trends in the Textile Industry

The Trend of Sustainable Fashion in The Textile Industry

Sustainable fashion and circular economy have become important issues that major companies need to pay attention to in recent years. Faced with the continuous expansion of this issue, the textile industry has also begun to pay more attention to this item in the process of digitization. Whether it is reducing waste pollution or maintaining material recycling, you can see the participation of digital technology, which will help the fashion industry enter a circular economy model with a faster process.

  1. CircularID project
  2. The research and development of blockchain, RFID tags, and digital production certificates are all helpful for the follow-up tracking of clothing, and can also provide a large amount of available information such as product location through the introduction of smart devices. Most of the clothes sold in the market are based on traditional clothing labels, and then add details such as brand, price, dyeing process, and recycling instructions to communicate with consumers. Traditional labels seem to have complete information at first glance, but it is difficult to track and verify products. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, it is difficult to trace its raw material, hampering the recycling process. In order to solve the limitations of traditional labels, the CircularID project came into being. Using Eon software to create unique digital identities for each product in the supply chain, in addition to improving the tracking visibility of products after they are sold, dealers and recycling organizations can also use this to obtain product value and data, and develop new business models.

  3. Fully automatic textile sorting plant
  4. The ReHubs agreement of the European Clothing and Textile Industry Federation (Euratex) aims to establish collection, sorting, reuse, recycling facilities for textile and clothing waste throughout Europe to gather waste from various textile and clothing industries.

    The world's first fully automatic textile sorting plant demonstrated by Norwegian resource sorting and recycling solution provider Tomra and Swiss construction company Stadler uses near-infrared light and visible light smart scanning technology to scan and identify fiber types, colors and materials. Sorting, and then the sorted clothes are sorted to the appropriate production line by the automated compressed air system; finally, the waste clothes are processed, sorted and recycled with industry 4.0 technology.

The Development of Digital Innovation

Under the catalysis of the epidemic, the digital development trend of the textile industry has become clearer, prompting the industry to focus on digital innovation in the field of innovation in the textile industry.

  1. Karl Mayer
  2. After German textile equipment manufacturer Karl Mayer acquired Stoll, a major textile equipment manufacturer, in 2020, it integrated Stoll's smart knitting technology solution Knitelligence®, and cooperated with shoemaking machinery manufacturer DESMA to further optimize the production process of knitted shoes. Karl Mayer's equipment can use fibers with different functions in different areas of the upper, such as using polyester fibers on the outside of the shoe and wool on the inside to improve wearing comfort; or provide stability around the ankle through knitting. These customized requirements can be completed through a one-time process.

    In addition, Stoll and Karl Mayer focus on software and digital solutions for the textile industry, and cooperate with KM.ON, a service provider, to innovate for knitwear production. Digitalization of design and development accelerates the workflow from product design to marketization. CREATE can customize the shape of knitwear, assist in digital stitch development and digital yarn creation to evaluate yarns of different types and colors, and can also conduct technical inspections to reduce back-and-forth confirmations with suppliers.

  3. Cifra
  4. Cifra, a manufacturer of seamless warp-knitwear in northern Italy, has launched an innovative and sustainable women's clothing range that includes beachwear, athleisure bodysuits and underwear. Among them, the new beachwear is made of Cifra's patented warp-knitting seamless WKS technology and 3D body fitting technology, which can form diverse and rich clothing patterns. Greater or lesser fit to ensure extra breathability and flexibility in certain areas of the body and visually accentuate feminine features.

  5. Liyang Knitting
  6. Liyang Knitting digitizes the supply chain with the goal of eliminating the waste caused by manufacturing samples, such as virtual sample technology, which digitally presents the yarn style and actual size, and presents the design on a real model through color rendering technology, supporting real-time modification, in order to greatly shorten the development time, and help customers to evaluate the style and fit at a lower cost; the Knitcloud platform of the New Industrial Order in the Netherlands is a similar innovation.

  7. AWI
  8. Digital innovation in the textile industry is not only reflected in the design and manufacture of product development, but also covers the procurement of raw materials. The Australian Wool Initiative (AWI), a not-for-profit organization funded by wool growers, is promoting a number of innovative projects, including modular sheep transport units, in response to Australia's wool production being reduced by multi-year drought and the impact of Covid-19 and issues such as logistics and sales shocks. AWI encourages Australian manufacturers to use 3D printing technology to produce fabrics made of merino wool, which can be 3D printed directly on the base material of merino wool. While improving the visual effect, it can still retain the comfort and durability, wear resistance, and functionality of the fiber.

  9. adidas
  10. The 4D technology developed by adidas, a major sporting goods manufacturer, adopts Digital Light Synthesis, a digital light synthesis technology exclusively developed by Carbon. It uses programmable liquid resin to irradiate light sources and solidify, and injects oxygen into the shape to make midsoles and high-performance footwear. By combining this midsole manufacturing process with sports science data for product design, highly customized midsoles can be made, and because of the integrated molding method, it is beneficial to shorten the time and cost required for the manufacturing process, making traditional prototype design (prototyping) are no longer necessary.

    adidas has also developed the Strung upper manufacturing technology, using adidas previously accumulated a large number of different types of runner data to ensure the precise configuration of each seam, thereby improving the performance of the upper. adidas launched the Futurecraft.Strung brand new concept running shoes, which combines Strung and adidas 4D technologies, and is also the first pair of running shoes developed by importing athlete data in the industry.

  11. Yuima Nakazato
  12. Biosmocking, a new generation of 3D clothing technology developed by Japanese haute couture brand Nakazato Weima, uses digital printing and Brewed Protein, an artificial protein material developed by Spiber, a new biological startup company, to create a new creation. Since the Brewed Protein fiber has the characteristic of shrinking when wet, the Biosmocking technology is based on the tailor-made calculated results. After printing with a digital printing machine, place the fabric in water for 30 seconds, and gradually form a 3D pattern and shape during the drying process. By precisely controlling the degree of shrinkage of the fabric, you can make perfectly fitting clothes without needles and threads, and do not waste any textiles.

Conclusion

Digital transformation has become the only way for the textile industry to pursue sustainable management. It is no longer an insignificant option. Just like computers 30 years ago, it is an expensive investment now, but it is indispensable in the future. Especially when digital transformation has become a common demand in the industry, introducing it as soon as possible is to grasp the competitive advantage in advance. If you want to succeed, you need to incorporate digital transformation into the core of your business growth strategy. It is an investment in the future. Of course, there is a risk of failure. But without this determination, no matter how advanced the technology is, it will be in vain.

In the future, digital transformation will no longer be an optional option. How to redefine service value centered on customers, find new marketing models and operating procedures for brands, avoid risks, and at the same time find new business models to provide value and create revenue have become the top priorities for the textile industry.

Published by Jan 16, 2023 Source :DOIT

Further reading

You might also be interested in ...

Headline
Trend
Can 3D Printing be Utilized in the Die and Mold Industry?
As adoption of 3D printing spreads throughout the larger sector of industrial manufacturing, the value of the technology as more than just a rapid prototyping tool is becoming increasingly evident. In this article, we gave an overview of how 3D printing is used to fabricate molds and dies for injection molding and die casting.
Headline
Trend
Motion Control Plays A Key Role in Industrial Automation Developments
In the trend of industrial automation, motion control is a key part of it. Automating operations through machines can avoid a lot of human error, and can also speed up production efficiency and efficiency. How to make the machine act according to the command is the application category of machine motion control.
Headline
Trend
Global Market of Electric Bicycle
Global environmental awareness is rising, and bicycles have gradually changed from sports and leisure functions to commuting means. Among them, electric bicycles have been fueled by an aging population, which has led to a substantial increase in the global output of electric bicycles in recent years.
Headline
Trend
Integration of IT and OT Technologies Accelerates the Development of Smart Manufacturing
The US-China trade war has triggered a major reshuffle of the supply chain. The global manufacturing industry is facing unprecedented challenges. In the process of transforming smart manufacturing, the biggest problem is the integration of operating technology (OT) and information technology (IT). Only by working with the smart manufacturing ecosystem can we have a chance to survive in the changes and seize future business opportunities.
Headline
Trend
Intelligent Plastic and Rubber Machinery
With the rise of global environmental protection awareness, the improvement of process efficiency and pollution reduction of plastic products have become important issues for the rubber and plastic industry. In response to the shortage of workers and the reduction of personnel contact, mechanical automation and cloud services have become the new normal in the industry.
Headline
Trend
Development of the Wireless Power Industry and Future Electrification
The wireless power industry is expected to grow exponentially. Wireless power has a major impact on almost all fields because it enables the Internet of Things to achieve and develop faster.
Headline
Trend
Status and Trends of the Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Industry
The growth of the overall global biotech pharmaceutical market is slowing down. Europe and the United States have entered a mature period, and global development in the overall biotech pharmaceutical industry market has slowed down in recent years.
Headline
Trend
Time to Start Digital Reinvention for Enterprises
New technologies bring forth the new. AI and the cloud are irreversible trends that are strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises. Enterprises should consider how to implement AI and the cloud in each application of the enterprises.
Headline
Trend
Low-Carbon Production and Global Climate Change
Countries are actively developing heavy industries, manufacturing, and infrastructure to drive market growth, but they often pay environmental costs accordingly. Approximately 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from infrastructure construction and operations, such as power plants, buildings, and transportation. What will be the effect of promoting society's emphasis on low-carbon manufacturing?
Headline
Trend
How Does AI Integrate with Manufacturing Industry?
Improving production efficiency is the foundation for the manufacturing industry to gain a firm foothold. The manufacturing industry achieves smart operations by introducing AI applications, automatically identifying abnormalities, or making adjustment suggestions, and assisting companies in achieving more accurate adjustments to machines and upgrading equipment. During the process, the traditional manufacturers are transformed into the smart manufacturers.
Headline
Trend
Growing Factors of the Global Cloud Server Market
The cloud server market is a cloud infrastructure service that allows service providers and end-users to use virtual networks to build architectures.
Headline
Trend
Face Recognition Technology Has Improved in Digital Age
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Big Data are topics that have been frequently discussed recently. These technologies are used in many fields, including the financial industry, logistics industry, business analysis, unmanned vehicles, computer vision, natural language processing, etc., and have spread in every corner of life.
Agree