**2. Wearable technologies**

*Fashion Industry - An Itinerary Between Feelings and Technology*

**78**

**Figure 6.** *S8-vela.*

**Figure 5.**

*S8-SIL, Scatol8 Short Interactive Lamp.*

Wearable applications are possible thanks to the development of smart textiles, also known as electronic textiles, and thanks to the miniaturization of electronics that has allowed to integrate small circuits into the textile products [2]. This kind of textiles, introduced in the early 1990s, strongly influenced by military research and wearable technology in general [14], enables electronic components to be embedded in the fabric itself. The research behind these fabrics involves different topics like materials science, chemistry, design, and others. The multidisciplinary approach is also relevant because of the coexistence of design and usability of requirements. Another significant aspect in wearable technologies (also called wearable devices or wearables) is the optimization of power consumption in electronics that allowed to project smart applications whose batteries last enough for the specific usage. For example, the battery on a sport band must (at minimum) last the time of an average running session. New wireless technologies with low power consumption allow smart textile products to eventually communicate with other devices such as computer or mobile phones. In the case using these devices, the wearable application communicates on the Internet; we can say this product is also an IOT<sup>2</sup> application.

Wearable technologies can include many features. The smart textiles can be connected to sensors and react to external changes called stimuli. In response to these stimuli, the material can change some properties like its shape, color stiffness, etc. The wearable technologies can also include some actuators as some LEDs, displays, or speakers [3].

Virtually, in all the human cultures, people use garments not just for protecting themselves but also for distinguishing their sex, their social status, or their belonging to a specific subculture. Smart garments now extend their social function

<sup>2</sup> We can say that an object is IOT if it can be used without Internet connection, but within the net it extends its capabilities. For example, a server is not an IOT device because it is useless without a working net. On the other hand, a car can exist also without the use of the Internet to extend its capabilities, but the Internet would impact its nature or behavior, for example, giving real-time traffic information.

working as transmitters, sensors, actuator, or energy-harvesting entities. If these garments include a microcontroller, they can implement some logic like interacting with the cloud or with other devices [4].

Wearable technologies have been the subject of scientific studies since the mid-1990s [3]. The impulse, in terms of funding for research and product development, has been initially given by warfare applications. Immediately afterward, the potential of products in the biomedical sector and, subsequently, in sportswear area was understood. Lastly, with less resources, proposals have appeared in the fashion industry. The connections between these four sectors feed an increasingly rapid introduction of new products.

Presently, in the military sector, wearable technologies are identified as electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can comfortably be worn on the body. These wearable devices can perform many of the computing tasks as mobile phones and laptop computers; however, in some cases, wearable technology can outperform these handheld devices. Wearable technology tends to be more sophisticated than handheld technology available in the market today because it can provide sensory and scanning features not typically seen in mobile and laptop devices, such as biofeedback and tracking of physiological function [5].

Wearable technologies are now an important part in the process of developing military uniforms. New features can be monitoring the health of the soldiers as well as providing overall battlefield insights [6]. The military uses the data collected during engagement to improve the planning phase of future missions reducing causalities. One of the most important consequences using this kind of smart clothing is the reduction of injuries and consequentially the reduction of lifetime treatment borne by the whole country. The data collected from many soldiers and processed can help to dynamically change tactic as well as to improve the communication in the group [6].

Wearable military objects share many needs and requirements with some civilian applications. For example, in some sport or medical contexts, it would be useful to monitor some biometric parameter directly on the clothes. Devices like smart bands are already available on the market at cheap prices. New features are currently under development like monitoring athletes' oxygen saturation and heart rate and sending those data on a server where the coach and medics can analyze them [7]. Zhou et al. [8] explain a textile application where a matrix of sensors measures the muscle activities during the sport activities. In this way, it's possible not just to measure if there is a muscle contraction but also if the movement is done correctly. Another example in the sport context is a wearable system composed of a GPS connected with a breath sensor and an electrocardiogram to trace athletes' body performances [9]. Wearable sensors can be used not only for athletes; Mascia and others show an application where inertial sensors are used to evaluate people's movement, and in particular it is possible to check if a child can run properly [10]. Medicine can also take advantage from wearable technologies. Tuba and others explain how it is possible to detect vital signs with a sort of watch [11]. Dehydration can also be detected to evaluate the health status of elderly, diabetic, and sporting people in real time throughout the day [12]. Another interesting example of wearable medical application is a spine posture monitoring system based on inertial sensor. The data collected are elaborated with a mathematical and geometrical model; in this way it is possible to monitor rehabilitation sessions as well as to help patients to correct bad postures [13]. The sector of fashion has been the last one, in order of time and compared to the sectors cited before, to be involved in the IoT diffusion.

Lena Berlin, from the Swedish School of Textiles [14], did an in-depth analysis about smart textile in fashion. One first interesting point is that if medical and workwear application researches are mainly developed in public projects (e.g., EU projects) or universities, on the other hand sport applications and fashion textile

**81**

*How to Make Fabrics Talk Environment: The Scatol8 per la Sostenibilità Way*

projects are developed by universities and companies. After the literature analysis, the author said: An overall impression of the analysis and speculations is the strong belief that the potential of using smart textiles lies in application such as medical, workwear, and other technical applications rather than fashion. This can be true if we consider the potential of the research development, which is the main focus of scientific articles, but it is not so obvious if we consider the potential economic revenue in a huge market like the fashion one is. It's difficult to analyze that impact now because there are not still a lot of big companies working in fashion that have invested significantly in wearable. An example of a big company investigating in wearable fashion devices is Adidas that bought Textronics in 2008 [15]. There are also some technical barriers that are limiting the diffusion of smart textile applications. Sensors and radio can be quite expensive; for this reason many applications are just LEDs integrated in clothing. There is not a standard for interconnections between textiles and electronics, and it is difficult to make all the components robust enough. Because of the typical high costs and small production, we can say that wearable fashion products are not yet a mass product and mainly concern the luxury. The wearable technology sector is, peculiarly, multidisciplinary. Considering innovations in tissues, research is a priority of materials engineering or bioengineering, with regard to hardware and software, electronic engineering, information technology, and telecommunications and with regard to shapes, architecture, design, etc. (see other references in the bibliography). If, then, it comes to assessing demand and defining production and commercialization strategies, we can see the involvement of product engineering, logistics, business economics, strategic marketing, etc. The growth prospects of the wearable technology sector appear to be very promising, although there are substantial differences between sources. Recently, the "wearable technology market—global for 2022" report has predicted a growth rate of 15.51% between 2016 and 2022, moving from 15.74\$ billion in 2015 to 51.60\$ billion in 2022. However, it is a very wide sector, which includes also, but not only, textile products. Products that could have the highest growth rate are augmented reality glasses or virtual reality glasses. Hanuska and others show that the smart textile market for military uses is expected to significantly grow becoming a 500 M\$ market in 2018 because this

is now a common need shared among almost all the countries in the world.

1. "My Heart," 16 million/allocated from 2003 to 2009

2. "Dephotex," funding of 3.131.482 Euros

3. "Stella Project," funding of 7 million Euros

program. The main projects are [16]:

The EU has supported research in the wearable sector since 2002, allocating 3.984 million with the FP6 program. Subsequently founding continued with FP7

The biomedical sector was the most funded one by the EU. Despite an extensive research effort in several projects for over 10 years, there are only few smart textile clothing products on the market, and the volume of business, if declared, seems to be modest in the context of fashion and clothing. However, there are some newly established companies focused on the development and commercialization of smart textile clothing. An interesting aspect in these efforts to commercialize smart textiles is the interdisciplinary collaboration between companies in fashion and electronics, respectively. Besides pure fashion companies, there are some companies established that sell know-how on how to integrate electronics into textiles and clothing. A number of EU projects in smart textiles have been supported over the last decades. Most of the supported projects are within the health monitoring area. Another type

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88120*

### *How to Make Fabrics Talk Environment: The Scatol8 per la Sostenibilità Way DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88120*

projects are developed by universities and companies. After the literature analysis, the author said: An overall impression of the analysis and speculations is the strong belief that the potential of using smart textiles lies in application such as medical, workwear, and other technical applications rather than fashion. This can be true if we consider the potential of the research development, which is the main focus of scientific articles, but it is not so obvious if we consider the potential economic revenue in a huge market like the fashion one is. It's difficult to analyze that impact now because there are not still a lot of big companies working in fashion that have invested significantly in wearable. An example of a big company investigating in wearable fashion devices is Adidas that bought Textronics in 2008 [15]. There are also some technical barriers that are limiting the diffusion of smart textile applications. Sensors and radio can be quite expensive; for this reason many applications are just LEDs integrated in clothing. There is not a standard for interconnections between textiles and electronics, and it is difficult to make all the components robust enough. Because of the typical high costs and small production, we can say that wearable fashion products are not yet a mass product and mainly concern the luxury.

The wearable technology sector is, peculiarly, multidisciplinary. Considering innovations in tissues, research is a priority of materials engineering or bioengineering, with regard to hardware and software, electronic engineering, information technology, and telecommunications and with regard to shapes, architecture, design, etc. (see other references in the bibliography). If, then, it comes to assessing demand and defining production and commercialization strategies, we can see the involvement of product engineering, logistics, business economics, strategic marketing, etc.

The growth prospects of the wearable technology sector appear to be very promising, although there are substantial differences between sources. Recently, the "wearable technology market—global for 2022" report has predicted a growth rate of 15.51% between 2016 and 2022, moving from 15.74\$ billion in 2015 to 51.60\$ billion in 2022. However, it is a very wide sector, which includes also, but not only, textile products. Products that could have the highest growth rate are augmented reality glasses or virtual reality glasses. Hanuska and others show that the smart textile market for military uses is expected to significantly grow becoming a 500 M\$ market in 2018 because this is now a common need shared among almost all the countries in the world.

The EU has supported research in the wearable sector since 2002, allocating 3.984 million with the FP6 program. Subsequently founding continued with FP7 program. The main projects are [16]:


The biomedical sector was the most funded one by the EU. Despite an extensive research effort in several projects for over 10 years, there are only few smart textile clothing products on the market, and the volume of business, if declared, seems to be modest in the context of fashion and clothing. However, there are some newly established companies focused on the development and commercialization of smart textile clothing. An interesting aspect in these efforts to commercialize smart textiles is the interdisciplinary collaboration between companies in fashion and electronics, respectively. Besides pure fashion companies, there are some companies established that sell know-how on how to integrate electronics into textiles and clothing. A number of EU projects in smart textiles have been supported over the last decades. Most of the supported projects are within the health monitoring area. Another type

*Fashion Industry - An Itinerary Between Feelings and Technology*

with the cloud or with other devices [4].

tracking of physiological function [5].

working as transmitters, sensors, actuator, or energy-harvesting entities. If these garments include a microcontroller, they can implement some logic like interacting

Wearable technologies have been the subject of scientific studies since the mid-1990s [3]. The impulse, in terms of funding for research and product development, has been initially given by warfare applications. Immediately afterward, the potential of products in the biomedical sector and, subsequently, in sportswear area was understood. Lastly, with less resources, proposals have appeared in the fashion industry. The connections between these four sectors feed an increasingly rapid introduction of new products. Presently, in the military sector, wearable technologies are identified as electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can comfortably be worn on the body. These wearable devices can perform many of the computing tasks as mobile phones and laptop computers; however, in some cases, wearable technology can outperform these handheld devices. Wearable technology tends to be more sophisticated than handheld technology available in the market today because it can provide sensory and scanning features not typically seen in mobile and laptop devices, such as biofeedback and

Wearable technologies are now an important part in the process of developing military uniforms. New features can be monitoring the health of the soldiers as well as providing overall battlefield insights [6]. The military uses the data collected during engagement to improve the planning phase of future missions reducing causalities. One of the most important consequences using this kind of smart clothing is the reduction of injuries and consequentially the reduction of lifetime treatment borne by the whole country. The data collected from many soldiers and processed can help to dynamically change tactic as well as to improve the communication in the group [6]. Wearable military objects share many needs and requirements with some civilian applications. For example, in some sport or medical contexts, it would be useful to monitor some biometric parameter directly on the clothes. Devices like smart bands are already available on the market at cheap prices. New features are currently under development like monitoring athletes' oxygen saturation and heart rate and sending those data on a server where the coach and medics can analyze them [7]. Zhou et al. [8] explain a textile application where a matrix of sensors measures the muscle activities during the sport activities. In this way, it's possible not just to measure if there is a muscle contraction but also if the movement is done correctly. Another example in the sport context is a wearable system composed of a GPS connected with a breath sensor and an electrocardiogram to trace athletes' body performances [9]. Wearable sensors can be used not only for athletes; Mascia and others show an application where inertial sensors are used to evaluate people's movement, and in particular it is possible to check if a child can run properly [10]. Medicine can also take advantage from wearable technologies. Tuba and others explain how it is possible to detect vital signs with a sort of watch [11]. Dehydration can also be detected to evaluate the health status of elderly, diabetic, and sporting people in real time throughout the day [12]. Another interesting example of wearable medical application is a spine posture monitoring system based on inertial sensor. The data collected are elaborated with a mathematical and geometrical model; in this way it is possible to monitor rehabilitation sessions as well as to help patients to correct bad postures [13]. The sector of fashion has been the last one, in order of time and compared to the sectors cited before, to be involved in the IoT diffusion. Lena Berlin, from the Swedish School of Textiles [14], did an in-depth analysis about smart textile in fashion. One first interesting point is that if medical and workwear application researches are mainly developed in public projects (e.g., EU projects) or universities, on the other hand sport applications and fashion textile

**80**

of projects at the EU level is developed enabling technologies for smart textiles, for example, stretchable electronics, integration of electronics in textiles, technologies that are necessary for the development of smart textile applications, health monitoring for medical assistance, health monitoring integrated in work wear, projects developing enabling technologies, fashion, and clothing companies.

Consultancy partners specialized in textile and electronics. The combination of textiles and electronics in smart textiles has opened up for a new type of consultancies who are specialized in the combination of textiles and electronics. These consultancies concentrate their business in supporting other companies in their manufacturing of smart textiles and clothing rather than manufacturing and selling their own collections. However, some of them combine their consultancy with the manufacturing and marketing of their own technologies or materials [14].

### **2.1 Wearable technologies and fashion**

The Swedish school of textile has thoroughly investigated the field of wearable technologies. The report on smart textiles and wearable technologies [6] presents an overview as a basis of further discussion of how smart textiles could be introduced in fashion. As shown there are already some commercial initiatives around Europe who specifically target fashion. What is also obvious is that there has been an extensive research activity both at the European and national levels in the area of smart textiles and clothing. The total funding of the presented EU projects, for example, is around 70 million Euros, which could be seen as a high financial contribution. It should though be noted that the money is shared between researchers in different areas such as textiles, electronics, wireless technology, battery research, and system engineering. These research efforts are therefore not only a concern in smart textiles since the results also contribute to developments in other areas. Despite a rather extensive research effort, the industrial and commercial activities are still in its infancy.3

The report "a roadmap on smart textile" [17] focuses on the potential of the smart textile; it divides the market into three areas: healthcare, workwear, and sports. The fashion industry is not studied and neither considered as a field of interest for the future. In another market survey, carried out by Ohmatex [18], fashion is considered as one of the areas but assessed as irrelevant initiatives, because of the size of the impact. The analysis reveals the barriers between the research and the commercial outlets which have been overtaken by several emerging designers, among which, for the originality of the proposals, Cutecircuit [19, 20], Pankaj and Nidhi [21], Anouk Wipprecht [22], Becca McCharen [23], Pauline van Dongen [24], and Akll Giysiler [25]. Some products result in an effective connection between healthcare and workwear, mediated by innovative stylistic elements: Clothing+, HVDING [26], MOON Berlin [27], Myontec, No-contact [28], Philips Lightning Lumialive [29], Stealth Wear anti-drone garments [30], Textronics [31], Utope [32], and WARMx [33].

The difference between implementations for healthcare and workwear, and implementations in the fashion field, is that in the first case, they are oriented to health monitoring or facilitating the wearer's communication, whereas in fashion applications, they are more oriented to a visual or a tactile feedback.

Looking at the latest high-fashion brand collections, which include smart clothing or accessories, we can find encouraging signals about the business perspectives. Ralph Lauren, Opening Ceremony, Rebecca Minkoff [34, 35], Karl Lagerfeld, and Hussein Chalayan [36] are just some of the great brands that have integrated various types of wearable technologies into their products. Chanel [37] launched a line of LED-powered handbags in the Spring-Summer 2017 collection, and it appears to be

**83**

*How to Make Fabrics Talk Environment: The Scatol8 per la Sostenibilità Way*

determined to integrate new technologies into its brand. Chanel has been trying to sort out its relationship with technology, looking for the ways in which technology tucked into clothes can improve our lives or at least make fashion become more interesting. The contemporary presence of emerging designers and "approaches to wearable technologies," made by big brand, Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute's chief curator, states that "Technology is eroding the difference between haute couture

The most common market entry barriers are current technology limits and the lack of standardization. Encumbrance, energy consumption, interconnection between textile materials and electronics, lack of standardization and quality systems, and training are examples of technical barriers. Low production rates and costs are barriers which are additional aspects related to the constraints imposed by safety and health. These factors affect both emerging designers, oriented to design and produce exclusive outfit and prototypes, and high fashion, oriented to realize one-of-a-kind outfit (**Figure 7**). It is likely that collaborations between these worlds, distant from economic capacity but convergent on technologies and the scale of production, can be considered. The adoption of wearable technologies by the industry, as well as it is for the society, is just at its first steps. Mesut [39] lists some of the possible applications: ease the life for the people with impairments; enable companies to interact with theater business people easier, to conduct market research more effectively and to apply sales and service strategies more efficiently; enable policemen, firemen, and military members to provide public and personal safety; enhance the virtual reality in games; and enable the doctors to monitor health indicators for the people continuously. These examples demonstrate how wearable technologies will make life easier and safer and

how they can help to improve the entertainment market with new features.

*Scatol8 srl* has a branch in the textile industry, called *Indigo Laboratories*. The emphasis on laboratory activity refers to the performance of the garment creation; in particular they are carefully designed to achieve both esthetic and functional performances. In the textile field, new technologies allow to extend the functions of garment. Indigo Laboratories, with its products, operates on the integration between electronics and textiles. The business is the *creation of prototypes* that incorporate the Scatol8 guidelines (accessibility, modularity, eco-compatibility, dissemination of knowledge) and their application to the production of *garments integrated with* 

**3. The Scatol8 srl in the computational clothing**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88120*

and ready-to-wear" [38].

*One "ready to wear" kimono.*

**Figure 7.**

<sup>3</sup> Lena Berglin, op. cit.

*How to Make Fabrics Talk Environment: The Scatol8 per la Sostenibilità Way DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88120*

**Figure 7.** *One "ready to wear" kimono.*

*Fashion Industry - An Itinerary Between Feelings and Technology*

**2.1 Wearable technologies and fashion**

of projects at the EU level is developed enabling technologies for smart textiles, for example, stretchable electronics, integration of electronics in textiles, technologies that are necessary for the development of smart textile applications, health monitoring for medical assistance, health monitoring integrated in work wear, projects

Consultancy partners specialized in textile and electronics. The combination of textiles and electronics in smart textiles has opened up for a new type of consultancies who are specialized in the combination of textiles and electronics. These consultancies concentrate their business in supporting other companies in their manufacturing of smart textiles and clothing rather than manufacturing and selling their own collections. However, some of them combine their consultancy with the

The Swedish school of textile has thoroughly investigated the field of wearable technologies. The report on smart textiles and wearable technologies [6] presents an overview as a basis of further discussion of how smart textiles could be introduced in fashion. As shown there are already some commercial initiatives around Europe who specifically target fashion. What is also obvious is that there has been an extensive research activity both at the European and national levels in the area of smart textiles and clothing. The total funding of the presented EU projects, for example, is around 70 million Euros, which could be seen as a high financial contribution. It should though be noted that the money is shared between researchers in different areas such as textiles, electronics, wireless technology, battery research, and system engineering. These research efforts are therefore not only a concern in smart textiles since the results also contribute to developments in other areas. Despite a rather extensive research effort, the industrial and commercial activities are still in its infancy.3

The report "a roadmap on smart textile" [17] focuses on the potential of the smart textile; it divides the market into three areas: healthcare, workwear, and sports. The fashion industry is not studied and neither considered as a field of interest for the future. In another market survey, carried out by Ohmatex [18], fashion is considered as one of the areas but assessed as irrelevant initiatives, because of the size of the impact. The analysis reveals the barriers between the research and the commercial outlets which have been overtaken by several emerging designers, among which, for the originality of the proposals, Cutecircuit [19, 20], Pankaj and Nidhi [21], Anouk Wipprecht [22], Becca McCharen [23], Pauline van Dongen [24], and Akll Giysiler [25]. Some products result in an effective connection between healthcare and workwear, mediated by innovative stylistic elements: Clothing+, HVDING [26], MOON Berlin [27], Myontec, No-contact [28], Philips Lightning Lumialive [29], Stealth Wear anti-drone garments [30], Textronics [31], Utope [32], and WARMx [33]. The difference between implementations for healthcare and workwear, and implementations in the fashion field, is that in the first case, they are oriented to health monitoring or facilitating the wearer's communication, whereas in fashion

applications, they are more oriented to a visual or a tactile feedback.

Looking at the latest high-fashion brand collections, which include smart clothing or accessories, we can find encouraging signals about the business perspectives. Ralph Lauren, Opening Ceremony, Rebecca Minkoff [34, 35], Karl Lagerfeld, and Hussein Chalayan [36] are just some of the great brands that have integrated various types of wearable technologies into their products. Chanel [37] launched a line of LED-powered handbags in the Spring-Summer 2017 collection, and it appears to be

developing enabling technologies, fashion, and clothing companies.

manufacturing and marketing of their own technologies or materials [14].

**82**

<sup>3</sup> Lena Berglin, op. cit.

determined to integrate new technologies into its brand. Chanel has been trying to sort out its relationship with technology, looking for the ways in which technology tucked into clothes can improve our lives or at least make fashion become more interesting.

The contemporary presence of emerging designers and "approaches to wearable technologies," made by big brand, Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute's chief curator, states that "Technology is eroding the difference between haute couture and ready-to-wear" [38].

The most common market entry barriers are current technology limits and the lack of standardization. Encumbrance, energy consumption, interconnection between textile materials and electronics, lack of standardization and quality systems, and training are examples of technical barriers. Low production rates and costs are barriers which are additional aspects related to the constraints imposed by safety and health. These factors affect both emerging designers, oriented to design and produce exclusive outfit and prototypes, and high fashion, oriented to realize one-of-a-kind outfit (**Figure 7**). It is likely that collaborations between these worlds, distant from economic capacity but convergent on technologies and the scale of production, can be considered. The adoption of wearable technologies by the industry, as well as it is for the society, is just at its first steps. Mesut [39] lists some of the possible applications: ease the life for the people with impairments; enable companies to interact with theater business people easier, to conduct market research more effectively and to apply sales and service strategies more efficiently; enable policemen, firemen, and military members to provide public and personal safety; enhance the virtual reality in games; and enable the doctors to monitor health indicators for the people continuously. These examples demonstrate how wearable technologies will make life easier and safer and how they can help to improve the entertainment market with new features.
