Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine
Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine
Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine
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A Healthy Dose of<br />
Textile TechnologY<br />
Fabrics and constructions offering<br />
‘health and wellness’ benefits<br />
represent a new<br />
opportunity for outdoor<br />
by Martin Vilaboy<br />
It’s not very often that a truly “new”<br />
category appears within a mature<br />
market or industry, but an emerging,<br />
albeit loosely tied, group of<br />
“medically beneficial” fabrications<br />
may just be one of those rare cases.<br />
And while there could be all sorts of<br />
outdoor performance applications at<br />
play, this “category within a category” behaves and is<br />
merchandised in ways that outdoor retailers haven’t<br />
before seen among apparel products.<br />
True, garments that protect us from the elements,<br />
prevent chaffing, regulate body heat, even fight off bugs<br />
and shield us from the suns rays all offer “health” benefits<br />
and certainly are all familiar territory. What we’re<br />
starting to see now, however, goes one step further, more<br />
toward wellness and even the therapeutic, often combined<br />
with performance enhancement, as well.<br />
Indeed, fabrics and constructions have come to market<br />
with the power to release moisturizers when signaled by<br />
body heat or friction, that support or warm joints on command<br />
and monitor physiological functions. There’s even one<br />
fabric technology that is flexible under normal situations but<br />
seizes up on impact to absorb shock like a solid pad.<br />
Mind you, these aren’t 10-year out, seen in medical<br />
and the military market examples; we’re talking technologies<br />
that are on store shelves right now.<br />
Macy’s, for example, this summer introduced a line<br />
of women’s undergarments embedded with microcapsules<br />
that “continuously moisturize and smooth the skin<br />
while helping to reduce the appearance of cellulite.” The<br />
new line of Skineez Skincarewear comes with a bottle of<br />
Skintex skincare spray to replenish the fabric after every<br />
six to 10 trips through the wash.<br />
“Women will be able to give their body a slimmer, more<br />
contoured look, while helping to smooth the appearance<br />
of cellulite and moisturize their skin, all at the same time<br />
and with one garment,”<br />
the company says.<br />
Sales of these so-called<br />
“shapewear” garments grew<br />
more than 36 percent between<br />
April 2006 and 2008, says NPD<br />
Group, with dollar value for the most<br />
recent 12-month period reaching $718<br />
million, says the market research company.<br />
A bit closer to home, this fall Optimer announced<br />
that its Dri-release technology has been<br />
combined with Celliant in socks aimed at the athletic<br />
market. Celliant is a material that when added to textile<br />
products and worn or placed next to the skin reportedly<br />
will enhance oxygen levels in the body from 8 percent<br />
to 25 percent, according to Ao2, the exclusive global distributor<br />
of Celliant, and Hologenix, which holds the patent<br />
to Celliant. The technology is marketed as a way to<br />
help regulate body temperature, boost energy, accelerate<br />
muscle recovery after exertion and aid in wound healing,<br />
say the companies.<br />
Critics argue that any material in contact with the<br />
skin will lift blood flow and oxygen levels at the skin<br />
surface, but Ao2 and Hologenix say Celliant works by<br />
modifying light, altering its energy and transmitting it<br />
to the body through textiles in contact with the skin.<br />
30 | <strong>InsideOutdoor</strong> | <strong>Fall</strong> 2008