The new wave of functional fabrics was reactivated, at least in Argentina, with the recent appearance of national masks made with nanotechnology that inhibit the action of bacteria and viruses, particularly COVID-19.From a joint project between researchers from CONICET and INTI (National Institute of Industrial Technology) in a short time it was possible to produce and distribute this product and today it is one more that competes in the market.But, because the pandemic continues and is still far from being controlled, various actors in the fashion sector -especially some global manufacturers- imagine a world with functional clothing (that is, the one that meets objectives such as making it a barrier to viruses), especially for essential workers but also in sportswear, home fabrics and why not?jeans and accessories.From the point of view of the engineer Patricia Marino, director of the postgraduate program Innovation Management in Textile and Fashion Companies at the UTN, this is the beginning of a new process: "COVID 19 abruptly accelerated the processes linked to the redesign of the fashion system, to the appreciation of innovations by consumers and to promote profound changes in the lifestyle of society and its priorities".And he adds: "The global fashion industry in this context is one of the big losers, according to the consulting firm McKinsey in 2020 it will suffer a 30% retraction with the disappearance of many of the brands that we know today, being high luxury items the most affected".However, the fall that Marino identifies is not the same for all sectors.According to the Fashionating World portal, a growing category is that of clothing and equipment linked to sports, sales of sports clothing, gym kits and footwear at a global level grew steadily for activities carried out at home, it is observed that consumers value the importance of exercise to increase immunity against the virus."In this way, new categories of fitness products are opening up," Marino defines.In this context, Santista, one of the largest global manufacturers of workwear and jeans, a few weeks ago presented a new line of fabrics with exclusive antiviral protection, including against COVID-19, to be applied in the manufacture of conventional garments and clothing. specific for segments such as health, food industry, refrigerators and industry in general.According to the company, this new technology also inhibits the proliferation of fungi and bacteria, a common cause of hospital infections such as pneumonia, urinary infections, candidiasis, meningitis, endocarditis, among others.Marcio Coimbra, Business Manager of Santista JeansWear explains that "a window of new businesses is opening in the textile industry in Argentina, especially in the jeanswear and workwear segments so that people can choose fashionable clothing that offers, at the same time, additional protection. Reconciling fashion trends that include visual appearance, colors, molding or constructions with functionality is the challenge we have. For example, the consumer in this period of new normality increased the use of the bicycle as a means of transport and we can offer a product with protection against fluids (water and oil) and dirt so that the person reaches their work destination without stains".Functional fabrics and nanotechnology have more than 10 years of research in the country.But the acceleration in its use is the responsibility of COVID-19: "In the framework of the INTI studies we have developed nanoparticles that inhibit viruses and bacteria and we think of applications for veterinary professionals, feed lot workers and all those people who need to have protective clothing such as rural workers and their traditional panties or teachers and their students. Currently these nanoparticles can cover any textile from a shirt, hospital sheets or upholstery", he explains Mariana Carfagnini, member of the INTI Textiles department.The Argentinian researcher Laureano Mon, based in Paris from where he commands a consulting firm on global trends, explains that "the fashion system will incorporate these new fabrics to the extent that it adapts to certain aesthetic and functional criteria of urban fashion: light garments, a wide color palette and different textures so that the clothes can be worn in a city without being dressed as scientists or in overalls".One of the main vectors, explains Mon, is that these fabrics have become cheaper and the first places where they will be seen are curtains, rugs, fabric for armchairs or kitchen towels.The proposition that functional clothing is here to stay is strengthened by one of the diagnoses that the Argentine trend researcher identified in one of his recent papers: "We are facing the definitive fragmentation of consumption habits, which implies the banishment of classic marketing categories -such as targets and lifestyles- that were useful in the past to be able to order preferences, rhythms of consumption and even common identities among large groups of people.If today this is increasingly difficult, in the future will be impossible. Differentiation as a social guideline enables people to search incessantly, boosting interest in accessing a wide variety of products and services and using innovative technological tools to facilitate experimentation and purchase in a global and hyperconnected market" .Until now, the innovation of textile products has accompanied the needs imposed by the virus.In the first instance, in the face of the emergency, chinstraps and face masks were developed that have the possibility of inactivating exhaled bacteria and viruses and that are made up of three-layer textile products.From the technical point of view, it is a product that contains nanoparticles of copper, silver and antifungal treatment in the middle layer and waterproofing in the outer layer.Now a second wave of products with functional fabrics is expected to come closer to the guidelines that fashion suggests or dictates.Linked to the sportswear sector, Chinese researchers have developed a fabric that heats and cools the skin without requiring energy input from an external source and are very light fabrics."The development is based on the inclusion of polyethylene glycol (a polymer that releases or absorbs thermal energy when changing phase) in the pores of silk and chitosan fibers and then they are sealed with a polymer. The tests indicated that in a In a hot chamber the material kept the skin cool and in a cold one it heated the skin and this development is already being scaled for mass products according to an article in Nonwoven Technical Textiles Technology magazine," explained Marino.Before Covid, the scientific approach to textiles with nanoparticles was more related to high-performance sports clothing and health monitoring with the incorporation of sensors.But now he returned to the origin of clothing, which is protection.And in this sense, all specialists agree that there will be a latent concern for more and new health episodes and society will incorporate this type of fabric and clothing into its daily fashion.Copyright 2022 SA THE NATION |All rights reservedDownload the application of LA NACION.It is fast and light.Do you want to receive alert notifications?A connection error has occurred