When smart clothes will be in fashion

Brown is the new grey that was the new black. Denim is out, no sorry, denim is in.
Predicting the fickle nature of fashion is difficult and largely based on the whims of couture designers in Paris or influences from films or popular music.
While designs will come and go, the biggest advances are likely to be made in the fabric itself. Dr Marcy Koontz assistant professor at the University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Sciences predicts a future of "clever clothes". "New fabrics will take the lead, and fashion designers will embrace the decorative and functional potential of revolutionary materials. Fashion fabrics with integral anti-perspiring or scent-releasing features will become ordinary." she says.
Clothing designed around functionality has been around for a few years now: crumple free shirts that needs no ironing and teflon coated fabrics that resist greasy stains are a couple.
Scientists, not normally known for their fashion sense could be the leaders in tomorrow's fashion stakes. Right at the forefront of the textile industry intelligent clothing is being developed that revolutionises our perception of clothes.
Smart clothing, or I-Wear may not look radically different but incorporates an array of conducting strands interwoven with textile yarn which enable it to become sensory and provide information that assists the wearer.
The British based switching and sensing company Electrotextiles are behind a range of smart clothing called Elektex™ that includes a soft fabric keyboard sewn into a pair of trousers. If you're wondering what effect a rapid spin cycle would do to its components; the answers nothing - the trousers can be washed and even ironed. They are also planning a necktie that works like a computer mouse.
One of the first applications that uses the advanced Elektex™ fabric is an ergonomic seat developed for the Kion concept car at the Paris Motor Show 2000. The sensitive fabric monitors the movement of the occupants of the vehicle at their backs and legs and communicates with the seat's motors to adjust the seat for optimum comfort.
This technology has the potential to have a big impact on our daily lives from work, leisure and health. In work, phones could be integrated into the lapels of our jackets and the pockets could record meetings. In health and sport clothing could be produced that senses if the wearer becomes too cold and then warms their body with the aid of battery or stored solar power. It could also keep a check on the user's health with the aid of a heart monitor and if problems occur let a hospital know by transmitting information to the nearest hospital.
But these developments could be just a part of the overall scheme of making clothing as efficient and functional as possible.
The mail order business hasn't quite caught on as well as it could have for the simple fact, that unlike retail stores, consumers cannot try clothes on before they buy to see if they fit OK. This could soon all change.
To avoid the danger of buying clothes that are too big or too small a 3D Measuring System is being developed that scans precise measurements of the body and records them onto a disk. Consumers can then view a selection of clothes on the Internet and see how clothes look on their body by 'trying them on' in a virtual kind of way.
But what about the problem of deciding what to wear? Yes, there's a company out there that's thought about that too. Researchers at a technology consultancy are developing an online wardrobe that suggests which clothes would be appropriate to wear according to the day's weather or your schedule. In a future of smart clothing what else would you expect than a smart wardrobe?
by Simon Jones