Comfort & Ease:
Garments Become an Extension of Human Comfort

Consumers are increasingly looking for garments that offer more than style and fashion. They want clothing that look and feel great whilst providing a sense of well-being for the wearer.

There are many textile companies engaged in technological research for such adding comfort and ease to textiles as well as apparel. Innovations are being constantly done in fiber, fabric and garment stage to enhance the comfort of user, i.e. garments that are not a hindrance to movement, allow air to pass through, are easy care, easy iron and give better hand feel, drape and flexibility, etc.

The following examples (3.1 to 3.4) show such advances made by some companies

3.1
Wellness of user, not an afterthought anymore

As well - being becomes important to consumers, textile companies such as Invista, the parent company of Lycra have introduced fabrics that not only increase comfort to the wearer but also have properties to release scents for general wellness of user.

“Lycra spaFX” fabric uses microencapsulation to either deliver well-being benefits such as aloe vera to the skin, or to release aromatherapy scents. Similarly, Lycra freshFX fabrics, designed to offer cooling and breathability effects for garments such as sleepwear, release aloe vera and scents while another product offered in this range features fabrics with quick-drying benefits.

Merino Innovation, an initiative of Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) offers “moisturizing Merino garments” that contain moisturizers and other natural products that release during wear to enhance comfort.

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3.2
Easy to Wear, Easy to Care

With pressing time constraints, consumers are increasingly looking for easy care options for apparel, and companies are looking at options to create this for consumers.

Under this, one of the latest and most popular product is the ‘One-of-a-Kind Shower Clean Suit” which was launched by Konaka stores, Japan, in spring/summer 2008 in collaboration with AWI. This is the world’s first wool based non-iron suit that can be rinsed under a normal shower stream. The suit can be washed in the evening and ready to wear the following morning, with no ironing required.

Dirt, smoke, smog, smells, stains can be washed off without using detergent within a few minutes of washing under a 40 degree shower. With a hollow fabric structure, the suit allows air to pass through easily and is a blend of wool and polyester.

Water repellent additives are added to the suits and machine washable interlinings, while eco-super 3D processing is used to maintain shape. The final finish uses the natural amino acid L-cysteine - a type of amino acid contained in hair, nails and skin, to maintain the Shower Clean Suit’s clean shape.

Another example is of “Easy Iron Merino” introduced by AWI. uses technology for smoother drying properties so that the amount of creasing is minimized during washing and subsequent drying. It is applied to finer gauge knitted products where ironing tends to be more difficult and time consuming.

3.3
Comfort no longer a luxury, but a necessity

Comfort is one of the most important aspects for garments that can affect the wearability of a garment. Comfort is seen in a new perspective with increasing use of lightweight fabrics and use of yarns for ease of use

.Invista has introduced XFIT LYCRA® fabric that allows one to move in 360 degrees. This 360-degrees movement and good recovery can accommodate different body shapes, postures and movements. In 2007, this was launched by retailers like Barney’s and True Religion.

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Invista also launched FreeFit Lycra at New York Fashion Week 2007 that is designed to provide softness, breathability, comfort and shape retention in shirting as well as women’s wear garments.

Another note worthy product is ‘The Su Su suit’ launched by Australian Merino wool in 2007 which is a new summer wool suit that breathes like a T-shirt. The fabric specially developed for the Su-Su-Suit provides air permeability – allowing six times as much air to pass through than a normal dress shirt would. When combined with its superior breathability, the fabric enjoys doubled cooling effect equal to around a 4ºC degree reduction in temperature compared with that of conventional mid-summer suiting fabrics.

A total of 30,000 units were produced for the summer 2007 launch. The product was well received by Japanese businessmen who have to wear jacket and tie even in the “Cool Biz” conforming company offices (with air conditioning set at 28 degrees to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emission

3.4
Fibers to add luxury

Consumers seek not only comfort and ease from apparel, but also added luxury to stand apart as a fashion statement. There are a few innovations that have been classified and listed in this category below

The Optim™ process developed by The Woolmark Company maintains many of wool’s natural attributes and adds enhanced properties. The fiber can be used as a blend component with cashmere. The luxury Optim™ development is intended to provide a completely new fiber: wool that is 3 microns finer than the original wool. Garments offer excellent drape, handle and luster. This is already being used to make apparel.

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Similarly, Arcana™ is a new generation ultra-fine woolen fibre for creating garments with a natural luxurious softness. Arcana™ is unique since it provides surface lustre and softness and can be dyed into full, bright shades. It is now being used for menswear and women’s wear, in knitwear and woven’s, in both worsted and woolen (and even short staple). It is specially recommended for knitwear since it is lightweight with luxurious next-to-skin softness quality.

As can be seen from above examples, there is immense technology that is going into creating comfortable apparel and there are many companies dedicated to this research and development. Companies need to create awareness among consumers to increase the demand for such innovative products since consumer demand can only make such products a commercial success.
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