Breathable textile producers must innovate
11/12/2007
The waterproof breathable textile industry is still enjoying growth, but could hit serious trouble in the next five years unless the companies producing the material innovate more.
This is the main finding of a recent report from analyst company Frost and Sullivan, which set out to establish if there was still life in the industry globally.
The report’s author, Dr Elizabeth Duplock, told the Smart and Intelligent Textiles conference in Prague today that the market was growing globally at a rate of 7.6% a year. She explained, however, that this was revenue growth, driven largely by increasing demand for waterproof breathable textile products in developing markets, principally in Asia.
“This growth in revenue will not last for ever,” she said. “In fact, we believe the rate of growth will start to slow next year. The only way for companies to keep growing revenues is if they introduce new products or enter new markets, so the need for innovation is clear. There has been very little innovation in this sector since the introduction of Gore-Tex in 1976.”
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