This report has been updated. Click here to view latest edition.

If you have previously purchased the archived report below then please use the download links on the right to download the files.

E-Textiles & Smart Clothing 2021-2031: Technologies, Markets and Players

The most comprehensive review of materials, processes, components, products, companies and the global market


Show All Description Contents, Table & Figures List Pricing Related Content
Electronic textiles (e-textiles) involves the combination of electronics and textiles to form "smart" textile products. With research compiled over 8 years, a database of 224 companies in the sector, primary research on activities over 100 companies, coverage of each major product type, market and application that has been discussed and deployed, historic data back to 2010 and forecasts from 2021 to 2031, this is the most comprehensive study compiled on this technology area.
 
We are in contact with textiles for 98% of our lives, and they are starting to become intelligent. Part of this revolution includes the integration of electronics and textiles. Such is the core mantra and drive behind those developing and commercialising products which rely on fundamental e-textile technologies. This report aims to contextualise this narrative; the concept and core features of the e-textiles technology movement has been around for decades, with increasing commercial focus in the last 30 years. Some e-textile products such as heated blankets and heated clothing have developed throughout this time to become significant commercial markets selling millions of products each year. However, the variety of products is extremely broad; from clothing to bandages, bed linen to industrial fabrics, new products are appearing throughout a variety of verticals as this technology area is increasingly explored.
 
 
Image source: E-Textiles & Smart Clothing 2021-2031 (IDTechEx Research)
 
This report covers the entire e-textiles value chain, covering the wide range of materials (including metals, polymers, fibres, yarns, textiles (knitted, woven, embroidered, non-woven) and emerging materials) and components (sensors, connectors and the interface to traditional electronics, etc.) used today. It also presents a roadmap for the future, summarising academic and early prototyping work in areas such as new conductive fibres, stretchable electronics, energy harvesting, energy storage, logic and memory, into a set of 30 examples in order to suggest future potential.
 
However, there remains a significant gulf in commercial maturity for different products within e-textiles. For example, heated clothing has a mature value chain with established manufacturing practices and products being sold around the world under hundreds of different brands. Other areas such as the integration of power and data lines into textiles for light-weighting (e.g. in PPE or for soldiers), textile lighting and biometric monitoring have all seen a developing maturity in the value chain over the last decade. Challenges around reliability, cross-compatibility & standards, equipment suitability, materials availability and overheads costs have previously been prohibitive to commercial development of many different product types. However, thanks to significant investments and partnerships, some of these barriers are being lowered, with more players able to make more advanced e-textile products at less prohibitive prices. These developments improve the chances that emerging e-textile products have against incumbent options in each of the markets they target.
 
Across the whole spectrum of e-textile products, the number of proposed application areas and market sectors is extremely broad, albeit with hugely varied commercial maturity. The field of e-textiles is primarily a technology discipline, so translating these new technologies being developed through to successful commercial products requires targeted development which focuses on the specific and often varied needs in the different target markets. The report describes efforts across a series of key market sectors (including medical & healthcare, sports & fitness, military & space, enterprise, PPE & other workwear, fashion, heated clothing, home e-textiles, etc.), as well as other specific product types or groups that span different potential application areas (such as animal wearables, automotive interiors, motion capture, haptic suits and assistive clothing).
 
The big picture for e-textiles is extremely promising. There is an unquestionable potential when combining the comfort, feel and look of textiles with the functionality, connectivity and intelligence of electronics, and these broad-brush industry sectors give only part of the picture. E-textile products are being explored in many exciting niches, from body motion capture, to prevention of multi-billion dollar diseases and side effects, to improving road safety, and many more. Many such areas are discussed in the report, including the latest activities from the most relevant players. The overarching challenge that remains throughout is matching the technology development to specific market needs.
 
With continuous parallel research across the emerging technology ecosystem (including reports on conductive inks, stretchable electronics, wearable technology, printed electronics, printed and flexible sensors, the Internet of Things, emerging energy storage, advanced wound care, healthcare & life sciences, and many more) IDTechEx has leveraged a broad network and experience across the team of expert analysts for this research. On top of this, IDTechEx has hosted many prominent industry events covering e-textile technology, and the analyst team travels, interviews, and meets companies globally each year. The result of these efforts enables this report to be the most comprehensive characterisation of the e-textiles industry today, and an excellent resource for any player involved or actively investigating this space.
Analyst access from IDTechEx
All report purchases include up to 30 minutes telephone time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.
Further information
If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact our report team at research@IDTechEx.com or call one of our sales managers:

AMERICAS (USA): +1 617 577 7890
ASIA (Japan): +81 3 3216 7209
EUROPE (UK) +44 1223 812300
Table of Contents
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1.Executive introduction
1.2.Timeline: Historic context for e-textiles
1.3.Timeline: Commercial beginnings and early growth
1.4.Timeline: A boom in interest, funding and activity
1.5.Timeline: Challenges emerge from the optimism
1.6.Heated clothing is the dominant sector
1.7.Addressing industry challenges
1.8.From technology advances to successful products
1.9.Timeline: Present day and outlook
1.10.Commercial progress with e-textile projects
1.11.E-textile product types
1.12.4 key product types, and their different target markets
1.13.Commercial progress: Heating
1.14.Commercial progress: Biometric monitoring
1.15.Commercial progress: Lighting
1.16.Commercial progress: Others
1.17.Types of revenue
1.18.Market data and forecast methodology
1.19.Revenue in e-textiles, by market sector
1.20.Summary: Revenue from e-textiles products, by type
1.21.Summary: Market data and forecasts (2)
1.22.Materials usage in e-textiles
1.23.Key report conclusions (1)
1.24.Key report conclusions (2)
2.INTRODUCTION
2.1.Definitions
2.2.E-Textiles: Where textiles meet electronics
2.3.The intersection of electronics and textiles industries
2.4.Examples of e-textile products
2.5.Context within the broader subject: Wearable Technology
2.6.Key trends in wearable technology
2.7.Modern developments in context: Woven Electronics®
2.8.Prominent related areas to e-textiles
2.9.Electromagnetic Shielding
2.10.Antistatic protective clothing
2.11.Antimicrobial textiles
2.12.Thermal regulation in textiles
2.13.Protective clothing for impact resistance
2.14.Colour changes in textiles
2.15.Strategies for creating textile-integrated electronics
2.16.Challenges when moving into the e-textiles space
2.17.Historic patentholders in e-textiles
3.MATERIALS & COMPONENTS
3.1.Chapter contents
3.2.E-textile material use over time
3.3.E-textile material use today
3.4.Example suppliers for each material type
3.5.Fibres & yarns
3.6.Hybrid yarns can be conductive, elastic and comfortable
3.7.Electronic components integrated into yarns
3.8.Example: Primo1D
3.9.Example: Nottingham Trent University
3.10.Commercial example: Siren
3.11.New conductive fibres from industry and academia
3.12.Drexel University: Conductive yarns from Natural Fibre Welding
3.13.UT, Dallas: SEBS / NTS stretchable wires
3.14.Sungkyunkwan University: PU & Ag nanoflowers
3.15.MIT: Stretch sensors using CNTs on polybutyrate
3.16.Cabling and wiring
3.17.Introduction: cabling and wiring
3.18.Traditional cabling in e-textile products
3.19.Textile Cabling
3.20.Metal wiring integrated into textiles
3.21.Textiles and Fabrics
3.22.Woven e-textiles
3.23.Example: Project Jacquard
3.24.Example: Project Jacquard
3.25.Knitted e-textiles
3.26.3D knitting manufacturing techniques
3.27.Example: Knitted e-textile wound care
3.28.Example: Knitted conductors by Gunze, Japan
3.29.Embroidered e-textiles
3.30.Entirely metallic fabrics
3.31.Metal-plated fabrics
3.32.Selective etching of metal-plated textiles
3.33.Novel approaches to conductive textiles: CNT & graphene
3.34.Conductive inks
3.35.Inks and Encapsulation
3.36.An explosion in ink suppliers for e-textiles
3.37.E-textile products with conductive inks
3.38.DuPont
3.39.Toyobo
3.40.Examples and data from conductive ink suppliers
3.41.Challenges with conductive inks in e-textiles
3.42.Conductive polymers
3.43.Carbon rubbers as electrodes in compression garments
3.44.PEDOT as a conductive e-textile material
3.45.E-textile components
3.46.Components: Textile vs conventional
3.47.Working alongside conventional electronics
3.48.Connectors for e-textiles
3.49.Find the box!
3.50.Connectors for e-textiles
3.51.Connector options today
3.52.Snap fasteners
3.53.Thermoplastic adhesive bonding: Fraunhofer IZM
3.54.Soldering
3.55.Conductive adhesives
3.56.Metallic contacts: conventional and bespoke
3.57.Embroidery
3.58.Example company: SMK Electronics
3.59.Textile sensors
3.60.Textile electrodes
3.61.Examples of e-textiles electrodes
3.62.Examples of e-textiles electrodes
3.63.Force / pressure / deformation sensing
3.64.Example: Vista Medical
3.65.Example: Advanpro - Softceptor®
3.66.Example: Sensing Tex
3.67.Moisture sensors
3.68.Textile heaters
3.69.Textile heating
3.70.Resistive heating: Joule's 1st law
3.71.Material choices for heating elements
3.72.Material choices for wearable heaters
3.73.Technology comparison
3.74.Manual assembly and integration of heating systems
3.75.Printing as an automated, high throughput alternative
3.76.Example: Flexwarm
3.77.Example: Exo2 - FabRoc™
3.78.Example: Volt Resistance
3.79.Example: Clim8
3.80.Example: Loomia
3.81.Battery integration examples: Blaze Wear
3.82.Battery integration examples: Mainstream apparel brands
3.83.Textile lighting
3.84.Textile lighting - LEDs
3.85.Textile lighting - Electroluminescence
3.86.Optical fibres as sensors in e-textile products
4.ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUTURE OF E-TEXTILES
4.1.Energy harvesting techniques in textiles
4.2.Piezoelectric fibres: Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
4.3.Piezoelectric fibres: University of Bolton, UK
4.4.Piezoelectric Fabric
4.5.Piezoelectric Fabric: University of Bolton, UK
4.6.Concordia University XS Labs, Canada
4.7.Cornell University, USA
4.8.Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
4.9.Southampton University, UK
4.10.University of California Berkeley, USA
4.11.Energy-Scavenging Nanofibers: UC Berkeley, USA
4.12.Photovoltaic Fibres
4.13.Illuminex, USA
4.14.Penn State University, USA
4.15.University of Southampton, UK
4.16.Multi-mode energy harvesting in textiles
4.17.Energy storage
4.18.Textile Supercapacitors
4.19.Drexel University, USA
4.20.Imperial College London, UK
4.21.Stanford University, USA
4.22.University of Delaware, USA
4.23.University of Wollongong, Australia
4.24.Flexible Woven Batteries
4.25.Polytechnic School of Montreal, Canada
4.26.Logic and Memory
5.E-TEXTILES AND SMART CLOTHING: PRODUCTS AND MARKETS
5.1.Chapter contents
5.2.Types of revenue
5.3.Forecast methodology within this report
5.4.E-textile product types
5.5.4 Key product types, and their different target markets
5.6.Summary: Revenue from e-textiles products, by type
5.7.Revenue in e-textiles, by market sector
5.8.Discussion by market sector
5.9.Heated clothing
5.10.Main product types
5.11.Heated blankets
5.12.Applications are defined by the power source
5.13.Motorcycle clothing
5.14.General cold weather gear
5.15.Specific sports equipment
5.16.Athletic warm up gear
5.17.Workwear
5.18.Health and wellness apparel and accessories
5.19.Company examples
5.20.Heated clothing companies
5.21.Heated clothing value chain
5.22.Case study: The US market for heated clothing
5.23.Milwaukee Tool
5.24.ORORO
5.25.Fieldsheer Apparel Technology
5.26.Action Heat
5.27.Gobi Heat
5.28.FNDN Heat
5.29.Venture Heat
5.30.Heated clothing: Global market size and forecast
5.31.Heated clothing: Players and revenue
5.32.Case study: Biometric monitoring in apparel
5.33.Case study: Biometric monitoring in apparel
5.34.Related products: HRM Chest Straps
5.35.Integrating HRM into clothing
5.36.Sensors used in smart clothing for biometrics
5.37.Other common components found in similar products
5.38.Companies with biometric monitoring apparel products
5.39.Example: ChronoLife
5.40.Example: Hexoskin
5.41.Example: Myant
5.42.Example: Mitsufuji Corporation
5.43.Example: QUS Sports
5.44.Example: Sensoria
5.45.Example: Sunstar Taiwan ENT, 2πr
5.46.Example: Xenoma
5.47.Example: @-Health
5.48.Companies no longer operating
5.49.Details of 58 companies with biometric apparel products
5.50.Medical and healthcare
5.51.Medical & Healthcare
5.52.Patient monitoring using e-textiles
5.53.Biometric monitoring in apparel
5.54.Example: Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI)
5.55.Bedsore / pressure ulcer prevention
5.56.Example: Vista Medical
5.57.Example: Sensing Tex
5.58.Side-effect management for diabetes
5.59.Example: Sensoria & Optima Molliter
5.60.Example: Siren Care Denmark IVS
5.61.Urinary incontinence
5.62.Example: LifeSense Group
5.63.Measuring gait
5.64.Wound care and compression therapies
5.65.Sports & Fitness
5.66.Sports & Fitness: Overview
5.67.Sports & Fitness: Key product characteristics
5.68.Sports & Fitness: The impact of VC funding
5.69.Efforts from the largest apparel brands
5.70.Efforts in biometric apparel from dedicated brands
5.71.Military and space
5.72.Introduction: Military and Space
5.73.Example: Intelligent Textiles Ltd.
5.74.Example: BAE Systems, Broadsword® Spine®
5.75.Example: Infoscitex, DCS, U.S. Army R&D groups
5.76.Example: Propel LLC, Nautilus Defense, for the U.S. Navy
5.77.Examples: Ohmatex & ESA, Hexoskin & CSA, etc.
5.78.Enterprise, PPE and other workwear
5.79.Introduction: E-textiles in PPE
5.80.Safety lighting using e-textiles
5.81.E-textiles in firefighting apparel
5.82.Example: Ohmatex and VIKING
5.83.Example: Propel LLC & Globe Manufacturing LLC
5.84.Example: UUP Safety
5.85.Example: ProeTEX project (EC)
5.86.Fashion
5.87.Bespoke e-textile projects in high fashion
5.88.Premium high street apparel with e-textiles
5.89.Mass market fashion with e-textiles: Lighting
5.90.Smart home products
5.91.Smart home products: Beds, blankets, etc.
5.92.Example: Eight Sleep
5.93.Examples: Texible and Aura
5.94.Example: Advanpro
5.95.Hospitality markets
5.96.Automotive interiors
5.97.Vehicular interiors
5.98.Motivation for smart textiles in automotive applications
5.99.Smart textile opportunities in automotive interiors
5.100.Technological/commercial readiness level of smart textiles in vehicle interiors
5.101.Printed car seat heaters
5.102.Graphene inks are a potential substitute?
5.103.Transparent circuits as car interior heaters
5.104.Transparent circuits as car interior heaters (continued)
5.105.Integrating lighting and e-textiles
5.106.Printed LED lighting (NthDegree) (I)
5.107.Example: Place-IT project
5.108.Biometric monitoring in vehicle interiors
5.109.Example: Biosense
5.110.Piezoresistive sensors in car seats
5.111.Example: Soongsil University
5.112.Wearable technology for animals
5.113.Example: Myant Animal Science
5.114.Example: Bioelectronics for animals using e-textiles
5.115.Example: Biometric monitoring for racehorses
5.116.Motion capture
5.117.Example: AiQ Synertial
5.118.Example: Xenoma
5.119.Haptic suits
5.120.Haptic suits using e-textiles
5.121.Example: Teslasuit
5.122.Assistive clothing - towards soft, powered exoskeletons
5.123.Assistive clothing
5.124.Examples of other assistive exoskeletons and clothing
5.125.Example: Seismic
6.MARKET FORECASTS
6.1.Market data and forecast methodology
6.2.E-textiles historic revenue data, 2010-2020
6.3.E-textiles revenue forecast data, 2021-2031
6.4.E-textiles historic product volume data, 2010-2020
6.5.E-textiles product volume forecast, 2021-2031
7.PRIMARY RESEARCH AND INTERVIEWS FROM MAJOR EVENTS
7.1.List of event reports
7.2.IDTechEx Show, USA 2016
7.3.The IDTechEx Show! - Santa Clara, CA (November 2016)
7.4.Bando Chemical
7.5.Fisk Alloy
7.6.Hitachi Chemical
7.7.Holst Centre
7.8.KIMS & KIMM: conductive textiles
7.9.MAS Holdings / Flex
7.10.Myant
7.11.Panasonic
7.12.Parker Hannifin
7.13.Polymatech
7.14.Sensing Tex
7.15.Stretchsense
7.16.Toyobo
7.17.Vista Medical
7.18.CES 2017
7.19.CES 2017 - Las Vegas, NV (January 2017)
7.20.Clim8
7.21.CloudTot
7.22.Evalu
7.23.King Abdullah University, Saudi Arabia
7.24.Under Armour
7.25.Vitali
7.26.Textile International Forum and Exhibition 2017
7.27.Overview
7.28.Are Standards Fit for Purpose?
7.29.Medical-Grade Signals
7.30.Circular Economy
7.31.Taiwan Textile Research Institute Exhibition
7.32.Patient Monitoring
7.33.Patient Monitoring: live trial in a Taipei hospital
7.34.Lighting
7.35.Sports
7.36.Other Functional Fabrics
7.37.A report from "Preview in Seoul 2017"
7.38.Contents
7.39.Event summary: "Preview in Seoul 2017"
7.40.Incorporation of decorative LEDs
7.41.Decorative LEDs in apparel and accessories
7.42.Pairing decorative LEDs with additional sensors
7.43.E-textile sports apparel
7.44.Sports apparel: Muscle intensity
7.45.Outdoor apparel: solar cell jacket
7.46.Integrated PPE systems
7.47.Integrating sensors into gloves
7.48.Resistive heating in blankets
7.49.Smart insoles for gait analysis
7.50.E-textile keyboard
7.51.E-textiles for automotive interiors
7.52.E-textiles for automotive interiors (cont.)
7.53.KITECH
7.54.KTDI - Voice interfaces via a jacket
7.55.Industry 4.0 for the textile industry
7.56.Conclusions
7.57.E-textiles at CES 2018
7.58.CES 2018: E-textiles remain strong as other wearable sectors decline
7.59.@-Health - CardioNexion®
7.60.Advanpro - Softceptor®
7.61.Advanpro - apparel products
7.62.Advanpro - home products
7.63.Biosense
7.64.Mitsufuji Corporation
7.65.Mitsufuji - hamon®
7.66.Mitsufuji
7.67.Mitsufuji & Kaji Group
7.68.Myant - new products, new partnerships
7.69.QUS - sanSiro, Fussenegger & Grabher, V-Trion, etc.
7.70.QUS - product
7.71.Texible and Aura (partner products)
7.72.QUS (handout)
7.73.Rest Devices
7.74.Sensoria
7.75.Sensoria - products update
7.76.Sensoria & Optima Molliter: diabetic footwear
7.77.Siren Care Denmark IVS
7.78.Thread In Motion
7.79.Thread In Motion (additional material)
7.80.Xenoma
7.81.E-textiles at CES 2019
7.82.Comparing CES 2019 with previous years
7.83.Impressions by company
7.84.AiQ Synertial
7.85.AMSU (Shenzhen) New Technology Co. Ltd.
7.86.Bloomer Tech
7.87.ChronoLife
7.88.Codoon / Runtopia
7.89.Codoon / Runtopia: Additional photos
7.90.KAIST (ADVNANO)
7.91.Myant
7.92.Sinopulsar
7.93.Teslasuit
7.94.UUP Safety
7.95.Xenoma
7.96.Xenoma: Motion capture suit
7.97.Xenoma: Heated mats or bedding
7.98.E-textile products and companies at the IDTechEx Show, Berlin 2019
7.99.Covestro
7.100.EPTATech
7.101.EPTATech: Infant monitoring with ComfTech
7.102.EPTATech: User interfaces
7.103.NTT (New Textile Technologies)
7.104.ZSK
7.105.ZSK: Reflecting on competitors (Forster Rohner)
7.106.Other e-textile examples at the IDTechEx show
7.107.E-textiles at CES 2020
7.108.MAS Holdings
7.109.IcosaMed
7.110.Owlet
7.111.SWMedical
7.112.SWMedical - CardiNova
7.113.Smardii
7.114.Feel The Same - HiFlex
7.115.Organic Robotics Corporation
7.116.Teslasuit
7.117.Skin patches & e-textiles at CES 2021
7.118.Wearable technology products at CES 2021
7.119.Skin patches
7.120.Philips
7.121.BioIntelliSense
7.122.Tatch
7.123.Mezoo
7.124.S'UIMIN
7.125.Omron
7.126.E-textiles
7.127.SMK Electronics
7.128.MAS Holdings - Moderncraft
8.DETAILS OF 224 E-TEXTILE COMPANIES
9.COMPANY PROFILES
9.1.30 Full Profile Interviews
9.2.21 Background Profiles
9.3.23 Update Interviews
 

Report Statistics

Slides 554
Forecasts to 2031
ISBN 9781913899615
 
 
 
 

Subscription Enquiry