After some 20 years of gestation, the technical challenge of integrating electronic components into clothing has been largely overcome by a growing base of manufacturers, who have developed the necessary expertise. Electro-textiles have yet to move beyond niche applications, but there is renewed focus on actual user needs.

Need to have, or nice to have? Avoiding the gimmicky to provide true value is one of the many issues developers of smart textiles have grappled with for years. Increasingly though, companies in the diverse, if not to say eclectic, world of wearables are taking a more pragmatic approach by addressing actual user needs. Developing smart clothing is nonetheless a costly process that lacks a broad consumer base to generate market momentum and the funds for further research, especially for the small businesses and start-ups that fill this space. In a move to encourage the development of a smart textile infrastructure in Europe and North America, state-led programmes have been set up to provide funding, mentoring and networking services for this sector. They seek specifically to back the best user cases and fill the gaps in the manufacturing supply chain.

The European Union is dedicating a portion of the funds it allots to the European textile industry to encouraging innovation and building infrastructure for smart textiles. In the US, a similar programme, the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), also directs funding and resources to this field. These initiatives suggest that smart textiles expertise is considered essential, and market research tends to confirm their potential to grow. The EU-funded and Euratex-led SmartX programme estimates that the market for smart textiles will reach €1.5 billion by 2025. This positive outlook is based on a 2018 report by Kamitis, a French business intelligence agency, which values the global market for smart textiles at nearly $1.5 billion in 2021, and on a 2021 smart fabrics industry report by Grand View Research in the US, which set the bar at nearly $3 billion for the European market alone in 2024.

If these numbers are to be believed, then who are the players that will bring smart textiles to the mainstream? Lutz Walter, coordinator of the European smart textiles accelerator SmartX and secretary general of the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP), is not convinced that big players will invest in the development of smart textiles, but sees promise in smaller players seeking to address niche demands. This, he says, “is where you find hell-bent enthusiasts hell bent on developing new solutions for very specific use cases.” 

SmartX is one of many EU-funded programmes launched to support SMEs specialising in electro-textiles. Currently in the second year of a three-year programme, it has a budget of €5 million to distribute to 25 collaborative projects every year. “SmartX funds late-stage projects that are based on a real manufacturing supply chain, have been tested in a real environment, have a solid business model, and, ideally, are textile-based. These are all necessary for the creation of a viable supply chain in Europe, which is the goal of this programme,” says Mr Walter. Footfalls & Heartbeats, a British company specialising in textile-based sensors, has received funding from SmartX to develop a motion tracking knee sleeve (KiTT).

SmartX is not the only EU-funded programme for SMEs specialising in smart textiles. French technology conglomerate CEA’s SmartEEs programme has a budget of €8 million to support innovation in flexible and wearable electronics. The European Light Industries Innovation and Technology (ELIIT) project backs innovation in smart textile, clothing, leather and footwear, offering €70,000 to each of the 25 projects selected every year of its three-year programme. Re-FREAM, part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grants €55,000 to ten companies every year. Galactica, another such programme, has a €5 million budget to promote innovation in smart textiles for aerospace applications.

These programmes all fundamentally seek to build a European supply chain for smart textiles by encouraging collaboration and co-development. “Funding greases the wheels, and it is not only about money, but also about providing assistance in finding investors, banks and manufacturing partners within Europe,” explains Mr Walter.

Collaboration is key

The smart textile start-ups, having developed commercial-ready or scale products, benefit for the most part from close collaboration with textile manufacturers. In 2020, French electro-textile heating specialist clim8 raised €2.75 million from several companies that include a traditional textile manufacturer. NMES Group, a company based in Sweden and Hong Kong, has developed a close partnership with Taiwanese manufacturer Far Eastern New Century (FENC) to develop its electromyostimulation products. Twinery, the e-textile division of Sri Lankan manufacturer MAS, collaborates with start-ups and brands to create smart clothing for fitness, gaming and other applications. Myant, in Canada, has recently joined forces with an electronics manufacturer, URtech, to launch its ‘textile computing’ platform.

At clim8, the new funds have gone into setting up an in-house laboratory equipped with a thermal room and machines to make and test prototypes. “It allows us to provide services that we would previously have outsourced,” Florian Miguet, CEO and founder, tells WSA. The shutdowns due to the coronavirus made this new structure all the more useful as its research and manufacturing partners closed and supply chains were disrupted. “There is a lot of fine-tuning involved in product development that is best dealt with by our own staff,” he says, mentioning the company’s latest product, a smart glove created for US company Mechanix Wear. “We can now validate our technology through lab and field testing of the product and the app,” he says. The company has also reinforced its team, which now includes three experienced PhDs, two of which specialise in human physiology. “We can develop the best user case with brands and work together to match user expectations,” he says.

The e-textiles platform of NMES Group is the result of a close collaboration with FENC and support from The Mills Fabrica, a Hong Kong-based textile innovation incubator. “FENC is a key partner that has the ability to scale up,” says Timothy Statham, NMES Group CFO. The company has recently launched a range of neuromuscular electrical stimulation garments and ancillaries that it is commercialising under its own brand, diPulse. The technology is also available to companies as a white-label platform, which Swedish fitness wear brand CLN Athletics has signed up for, with others in the pipeline. With FENC, NMES Group has developed a proprietary nanocarbon conductive film, which “serves as a common chassis for the development of all the products and markets we seek to address,” Mr Statham tells us. It plans to develop additional products and technologies for sports and fitness, the military, gaming, and medical applications.

After having developed a first series of tops, bottoms and ancillaries for electromyostimulation, the company is now working on an apparel range that will activate muscle groups during all intensity activities from gym training to walking. Military applications are another area that it is pursuing. “We can help soldiers improve their performance and recover faster after training,” says Mr Statham. Gaming is another area where the technology developed by NMES Group has a promising use case. Through muscle stimulation, the smart garment provides sensory feedback linked to the game play which he says can be very realistically rendered, with a video to prove it. “This adds sensory immersion to the gaming experience,” he says.

Myant has just released its Skiin smart clothing concept for beta-testing, made possible in part by its partnership with URTech, which has manufactured a first production run of 15,000 Skiin Pods. The two Toronto-based companies would like to make the capital of Ontario a hub for smart textiles.

“Now that we are ready to launch a consumer-grade product, we need to deliver a higher standard of robustness and reliability compared to the iterations developed for research purposes,” says Hannah Fung, the company’s spokesperson. “The product is at a stage where it can deliver fundamental value to a user.” Currently classified as a wellness device, Myant’s goal is to achieve a Class II medical device status for Skiin. “We have submitted an application with Health Canada and are in pre-submission with the FDA. With approvals from these bodies, we will be able to make ECG-related claims. Essentially, a switch is flipped on the backend, an update is pushed to the Skiin Connected Life app, and users will have access to ECG at home. We are hardware-ready, so all that needs to happen is a software update,” says Ms Fung. The company also hopes its public beta-stage process will attract companies sharing a similar vision.

While the sports and wellness markets draw much media attention and have fewer barriers to entry, medical applications are often the final goal to prove the reliability and utility of smart textiles. British e-textile company Infi-tex has developed a smart insole that can be used by athletes but can also address health-related needs. Currently in field tests, its Infi-sole smart sole monitors gait and is part of ongoing research with a university team in the UK to study the relationship between pain and fatigue through the soles, says Myra Waiman, Infi-tex managing director. “Among people aged 50+, 65% have musculoskeletal issues which the soles could detect. Existing devices are expensive and bulky, whereas ours is very thin and comfortable to wear.” She foresees a possible application in the early detection of diabetes ulcers. The company does not manufacture the product but intends to license the technology, which is derived from Soft Switch, an electrotextile initially developed and patented by Peratch, which Infi-tex acquired.

Ensuring reliability 

“There are a lot of issues with e-textiles at consumer level,” says Vladan Koncar, a professor at the French textile engineering school ENSAIT, based in Lille, and a member of the e-textiles programme at IPC. “Many smart textiles are designed to be used as underwear. These items of clothing need to be washed at least 50 times. But the functional components and conductive elements may not withstand so many laundering and drying cycles. This is why better testing methods, backed by globally recognised standards, are needed,” he says.

Having developed more than 300 standards covering the electronics supply chain, IPC is confident that its protocols can be applied to smart textiles. “A standard has already been approved for conductive yarns embedded in woven and knitted fabrics, and one for conductive yarns in braiding is under revision,” says Christopher Jorgensen, director of technology transfer at IPC. This will enable a company in the market for a conductive yarn to compare the performance features of yarns made by various suppliers using the same parameters, he adds.

The organisation has conducted industry surveys to identify the specifications required in the fashion, sportswear, PPE, military and medical sectors. “These allow us to develop standards that cover real industry needs,” says Mr Jorgensen. He points out that a light integrated into a handbag will not present the same safety risk as electronics worn next to the skin. It plans to have a working document for General Principles and a guidelines handbook for different classes of products ready by the end of 2021.

Power and privacy

Thanks to new thinking with regards to power usage and privacy, electro-textiles are safer and easier to use, says Marina Toeters, a Dutch Fashion tech designer who has worked with Philips and the Holst Centre, based in Eindhoven. “Some features require very low levels of energy, making it possible to do away with a battery altogether,” she says. This implies reducing some functions, but it can also offer privacy protection, by keeping biometric data in the item of clothing instead of transmitting it to a cloud.

“Making an LED blink faster than the human eye can see it, can lead to a 50% reduction in energy use,” says French fashion tech designer Florence Bost, who collaborated on the development of e-NF, a range of smart braiding manufactured by French ribbon specialist Satab, and who is also working with IPC.

These small but essential tweaks are part of a trend to streamline functions and make smart clothing more accessible. “The general outlook of companies has changed,” says Ms Bost. “They are now beginning to think of actual user scenarios, and they are more open to collaboration.” This is the result of the partnerships imposed by EU-funding programmes, but she says they may also be due to the pandemic. She concludes: “Collaboration that was impossible beforehand is now seen as essential.”

The Fitbits and Apple watches have made biomonitoring a seamless, and streamlined, feature for professional athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Transposing biometric data-capturing devices into clothing has proved to be challenging, but not impossible, as a specialised manufacturing base builds up. If companies continue to focus on applications that users need, as opposed to want, the development of a genuine, though niche, market for electro-textiles could become a reality.

Clim8’s smart thermoregulating textiles have been adopted by Swiss sportswear brand Odlo, French motorcycling brand Ixon as well as Burton Snowboards and The North Face. 

Credit: Peignée Verticale

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