Textile and apparel is one of the oldest industries in the world and has come a long way since the days when manufacturing used to primarily occurred in consumption centers of US, Europe and Japan. Trade eventually shifted to newly industrialize Asian countries with low labor cost and abundant raw material. The next important stage emerged when quota restrictions were removed on 01 Januaray 2005 changing sourcing patterns as well as buyer-supplier relationships. Global textile and apparel trade stood at US$ 550 Billion in 2007 and is expected to grow to US$ 805 Billion by 2015 as per Technopak estimates. Apparel is expected to grow at a faster pace than textiles.

The changes expected in the next 6-8 years will be far more than those witnessed in the last 2 decades. These are consolidation, collaboration and relocation, redefining of traditional roles, emergence of large conglomerates, shifting of consumption patterns to countries like China & India, new technologies emerging to enhance the usage and advantages of apparel/textile etc. As the market matures, retailers are now looking to add value to their apparel/textile offer to consumers to suit their needs and act as an extension of their lives.
The above changes in trade and consumer requirements have meant that textile technology, once considered a handicraft, has become a highly sophisticated and scientific activity. The field uses all areas of engineering arena such as mechanical, electrical, computer, chemical, instrumentation and structural engineering. This report puts together some of the recent technological trends and developments being witnessed by the global textile and apparel industry. The trends are woven around 4 themes namely:

1. Wearable Textiles: Textiles that are able to sense stimuli from the environment, to react and adapt to them by integration of functionalities embedded in the textile structure.

2. Environment Sustainability: Textiles and apparel which do not take away from the physical environment in their entire value chain.

3. Technologies to add Comfort and Ease: Textiles that enhance usage by added properties.

4. Functional Fabrics: Textiles that enhance the performance objectives.

This report is by no means but only an indicator of global trends. It is a compilation of technological breakthroughs from around the world in the textile sector. We hope it will inspire executives, technologists, researchers, entrepreneurs in India to make best use of this knowledge.

Examples have been used where ever possible to showcase what is happening globally in these technologies. Additionally, the innovations and the advancements discussed may be at a different stage of their life cycle than as mentioned in this report.