How have textiles changed over time, how this has influenced the development of functional fabrics and why does it matter?
If you are a designer understanding past textiles can help you ‘re-engineer’ if a design functions poorly. It might also give you inspiration of combining something from the past with an emerging technology.
If you are in retail what do you do if a customer comes in who has not bought gear for some time or who want to know the difference between what is in the shop now and what he/she used 10/15/20 years before? This overview will help you give informed responses.
If you are an outdoor professional this will give you insights into how and why different combinations of textiles and garments are used based around past experience.
If you are a consumer it will help you understand both the evolution and the functioning of your gear.
Our textile innovation history gives the long view of how textiles were developed and shows the changing relationships between materials, skills, technology, science to processes and how these relate to garments and equipment produced. This provides a big picture although it is not a comprehensive history of all textiles and textile processes- just those relevant for functional outdoor textiles. Though there are some surprises. Who would have thought of using silk for ropes or oiled silk for tents? This innovation history shows how and why.
How structured?
The Textile Innovation History will relate to :
What you will find?
This section is under development but to start read about the textiles and textile innovations behind the Waterproof Jacket. Part 1 and Part 2