Where Smart Clothing Is Headed: Q&A

Wearable technologies are beginning their transition into the realm of fashion through innovative smart clothing technologies.

Kristopher Sturgis

OK, we've all heard how wearables are the future, how the market for them is set to explode, etc. But something is amiss in the wearables landscape if the plight of market leader Fitbit is any indication. The company's stock is now worth considerably less than it was when the company had its IPO last summer. In addition, the technology seems to still be relatively expensive considering the type of functionality offered by most fitness gadgets.

Still, boosters of wearables technology make some compelling arguments, which makes it hard to write of wearables entirely, and, in early 2016, a new kind of wearable is getting renewed attention--smart clothing. While smart clothing is now expensive, it holds the promise of possibly going mainstream when its price falls. Already, mainstream companies like Polo (see image above) are getting into the smart clothing niche. 

In an effort to learn more about this burgeoning technology, we sat down with Shane Walker and Roeen Roashan, two analysts from the consulting firm IHS, to discuss some of the trends of the smart clothing industry, and what sort of products we might actually expect to make it into our wardrobe.

Qmed: IHS expects the world market for smart clothing to exceed $600 million by 2020, up from just $15 million in 2015. What factors do you think will push smart clothing technologies to such heights in the next 5 years?

Roeen Roashan:Currently, smart clothing is a niche category within wearable technologies with few available applications for consumers to actually purchase. The spectrum in which IHS expects smart clothing to play a role in towards the end of the forecast is not the techy world of wearables, but in the general apparel business - where the features of smart clothing is simply embedded in everyday apparel. With that comes higher access to product and lower prices.

Shane Walker:Following are more specifics by application are:

Qmed: Do you think the market for smart clothing will be largely contained to the US, or do you see these technologies taking off globally?

Roashan:For sports and fitness applications, US will remain the largest market for smart clothing, following by Western Europe. Generally speaking, these two markets are dominant forces in this space. However, the long-term perspective of the smart clothing market include applications that go beyond sports and fitness, and that are simpler and cheaper in nature e.g. for security applications. The simpler applications of smart clothing are expected to penetrate the Chinese and APAC markets as well.

Qmed: What are some of the major challenges facing manufacturers of smart clothing technologies, and how do you expect those challenges to be met as the market expands in the coming years?

Roashan:Battery is a significant product design challenge. The majority of smart clothing products today have some sort of a box-shaped device/unit attached to the clothing that contains the processing capabilities, and the battery. This unit can become a problem in the user experience e.g. when washing the clothes the user must take off the unit, and if forgotten product is obsolete.

Walker: Our five-year forecast includes smart clothing revenue and unit shipments for companies that have either launched product already or have strong plans to launch within the next 12 months. The likelihood of success for these products was determined by their value proposition against similar non-apparel products, or their potential as novel technology. As such, I'd say one challenge is building-in value above and beyond wearables in other form factors. Our latest analysis includes coverage of 40 companies working on smart clothing products.

Qmed: What sort of technologies do you see having a big impact in the near future?

Walker:I'd say the use of EMG not just for fitness, but enabling people with significant physical disability to gain control over their environment is interesting. In a similar vein, but not necessarily 'smart clothing' as we characterize it today, is work being done with exoskeletons.

Qmed: How affordable do you think smart clothing technologies will be as the market grows? Do you envision smart clothing becoming more affordable as technologies evolve and competition increases?

Roashan:Products available today are priced high. A smart shirt can cost the consumer $249. $249 for one shirt is expensive and a barrier to adoption. Smart clothing will without doubt become affordable. IHS expects the average sales price to decline at a CAGR of 7.1% through 2020. Reason being, decreasing cost of technology, larger players coming into this space with higher scale.

Qmed: Do you think smart clothing will have an impact on the medtech realm, or do you think these technologies will be largely limited to fitness and health tracking capabilities?

Roashan:Bedside monitoring at hospitals is one example of a potential smart clothing application that would be of value to healthcare. Generally speaking, vital sign monitoring can become more efficient and accurate with smart clothing given the aesthetic nature of clothing.

Walker:There are several ongoing trials for medical applications of smart clothing, most of which involve capturing biometric data for rehabilitative purposes. Three health-related applications of smart clothing that will likely see commercial development during the next five years include ECG monitoring, shirts with stretch sensors for monitoring respiratory rate for people with chronic lung disease, and hosiery related to wound care (with applications for those with diabetes and pressure ulcers).

As the market continues to gather momentum, here's a brief look at five emerging smart clothing technologies that could shape the trends in 2016 for wearables.

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