The market for functional clothing and textiles is growing at a moderate clip, much faster than the pre-COVID era, but what cannot be overlooked is the buzz in research and development. The third edition of the International Conference on Functional Clothing and Textiles that gets under way on 10 February in New Delhi proves just that.
More than 100 technical papers, 30+ posters and 10 keynote papers will be presented by noted academicians on topics ranging from: ‘Creation of a green textile environment protection-oriented supply chain through intelligent digital platform’, ‘Investigation of impact behavior of fabrics by the use of sensor yarns’, ‘Dynamic scaling capabilities of circular economy business models in Indian PPE sector during COVID-19’, ‘Design & development of functional clothing for the visually challenged’, to ‘Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks functionalized cotton fabrics for the removal of air pollutants’, ‘Developing functionality in geriatric wear through designing’.
Some of the entries for the poster contest will be on the following subjects: ‘The influence of weft density and raw material composition on the abrasion resistance of protective fabrics for dual-use’, ‘Sustainability of seamless garment in manufacturing and supply chain’, ‘Designing protective and functional clothing for a special needs condition 'Spasticity', ‘Biodegradability of nonwoven fabrics produced by polymers from renewable sources exposed to the field conditions’, ‘Bio-polishing : environment friendly sustainable approach in textile processing industry’, among many others.
The Textile Product Innovation & Fashion Product Innovation contest being held simultaneously is to encourage design, innovation and product development activities among the youth.
The visiting professors include Prof Erik Sandberg from Linkoping University, Sweden, Prof Xianyi Zeng, Director, GEMTEX Laboratory; Professor, ENSAIT, France; Prof Guowen Song, Professor [AESHM], Iowa State University, USA, Prof Francois Boussu, ENSAIT & GEMTEX Laboratory, France, Prof Rudrajeet Pal, Professor, University of Borås, Sweden, and several others.
Talking about how the conference began in 2018, Prof Sanjay Gupta, Co-Chair of the conference and Vice-Chancellor of the World University of Design (WUD), Sonepat (Haryana), said: “When FTC was conceived, the field of functional clothing was still in in its infancy. Some work had been initiated in limited pockets around the world. It is with a pleasant sense of surprise that one finds that the field is growing, and many more institutions are now involved in this field of research. In India, in particular, several departments are now doing serious research in this field.
“The market for functional clothing is predicted to reach $US 244.6 billion by 2025. FTC aims to bring together government agencies, national and international researchers and students as well as companies on a common platform. In the last two editions—in 2018 and 2020—we saw people from these backgrounds connect with each other and find synergy. Industries put up stalls during FTC where they get an opportunity to interact directly with researchers”.
