A rapid adoption of smart textile technology in the apparel and fashion industries is set to give a US$ 130 billion boost to the apparel market by 2025, leading global apparel technology experts said.
Smart textiles, or smart fabrics, are fabrics that enable digital components, such as battery and light (including small computers), and electronic elements to be embedded in them.
Experts said this at a session of ‘Fashion tech and sustainable innovation’ under the Bangladesh ‘Fashionology Summit’ organised by the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE). The meet was held at the International Convention Centre, Bashundhara, in the capital yesterday.
A number of manufacturers were now producing garments with sensor capabilities embedded in fabrics for sectors related to health and fitness, sports, medical monitoring and entertainment, said the founder and editor-in-chief of Fashnerd, Muchaneta Kapfunde.
In the same session, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE), Mostafiz Uddin said: “By organising the Bangladesh Fashionology Summit, we’re endeavouring to bridge the gap between the present and future of Bangladesh’s apparel and textile industry through technology, innovation and knowledge sharing. We have brought together under one roof the most inspiring and innovative thinkers from across the globe to initiate the much-needed conversation on technology, digitisation and innovation in the apparel and fashion industry.”
A fashion show displayed some of the most creative and innovative fashion designs with digital and tech twists brought from around the world.
The summit is aimed at presenting the latest technology used in the clothing industry to familiarise Bangladeshi manufacturers with them and to encourage them to use it.
A total of 16 renowned speakers from 10 countries participated in the first-ever fashion and tech summit and discussed the latest apparel products, technology, and innovation that will shape the future of the industry.
In four seminars — Factory of the Future, Virtual Reality and Digitalisation of Supply Chain, Fashion Tech and Sustainable Innovation and Mass Customisation and Demand Manufacturing — the speakers shared their experience and knowledge to inform Bangladesh manufacturers.
The experts and thinkers present were Jonathan Zornow, who invented Sewbo or the garment-sewing robot, Pradeep David, general manager of Universal Robots South Asia, David Birnbaum, strategic advisor to the World Bank, Sunil Shewakramani, executive vice president of Li and Fung India Pvt Ltd, Muchaneta Kapfunde, founder and editor-in-chief of Fashnerd, Michael T. Fralix, president and CEO of (TC2), and Sonia Bashir Kabir, managing director of Microsoft Bangladesh.
