If you're looking to optimize your website for AI search, hang onto your cowboy hat. It's the Wild West out there. Former (and current) SEO companies see the handwriting on the wall as more search moves from traditional SEO to AEO (answer engine optimisation). Opportunists are popping out of the woodwork.

(There are good options out there, but vet them carefully.)

A New Approach to Smart Fabric

“As you think about the characteristics of your wardrobe, integrated technology will increasingly become a deciding factor as to what you buy and wear, expanding the capabilities of apparel to meet needs perhaps you didn’t even know you had.”

Michael McDonald, President of SPESA, shares his thoughts on this challenge from the perspective of the suppliers to the industry and states that over the last three years, he has seen more amenability to investment than he’s seen in a very long time, at least from the private sector.

“It’s still not easy. It’s never easy to start a startup. It’s even harder to start a startup in the textile, fashion, and apparel industry.”

This evolution is fundamentally reshaping global supply chains, moving from traditional, mass-production models towards agile, on-demand, and highly customized manufacturing.

Key innovations are focused on enhancing speed, precision, and versatility, while prioritizing environmental sustainability. This progression enables faster time-to-market, significantly reduced waste, and greater responsiveness to consumer trends, positioning the industry for a more efficient and sustainable future.

As Kornit’s customer base has grown, so has the value of a formalized user group. With the establishment of Kornit Konnections three years ago, the event has grown year over year, attracting 250 attendees for its Miami event at the end of April.

Sustainability was woven into discussions throughout the event, since it is a key concern for the textiles industry, and one Kornit and other manufacturers of digital equipment and services are working to address. Digital textile printing, of course, addresses many of the environmental issues associated with analog technologies by reducing waste, water usage, pollution, energy usage and more associated with traditional analog means of fabric printing and dyeing. Cary Sherburne provide highlights from the event in this guest article..” WhatTheyThink

“Epson is a formidable competitor as a printer manufacturer. They have also leveraged their technology across a range of industries, including textiles, and plan to increase that diversification even more. The acquisition of Fiery can’t help but accelerate this process, as they, hopefully, bring Fiery’s OEM partners into their network. ” Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“Under the new law, companies that make clothing and other textiles sold in California will be required to create a new non-profit organization by 2026 that would set up hundreds of collection sites at thrift stores, begin mail-back programs, and take other steps in all of California’s 58 counties to take back and recycle their products by 2030.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“We’ve been talking a great deal about the deleterious effects of Fast Fashion on our planet. Now we have a counterpoint to discuss—an effort in Congress to rein in fast fashion with the launch of the Slow Fashion Caucus. Plus, California is putting even more teeth into its recycling efforts with a proposed bill that establishes an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for recycling clothing and textile fibers. And France is proposing a Fast Fashion Tax and an EU ban on exporting used clothing.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“Procurement, workflows, and logistics need to be connected and optimized into one single workflow, as online print service providers need to be masters in cost-efficient and fast-turnaround print production spanning multiple sites and production devices. European section editor Ralf Schlözer points out how, in a remarkable move, online print provider Gelato is now opening up its software solution and production platform, GelatoConnect, to all print service providers”. By Ralf Schlozer | WhatTheyThink

“Observing this falter in digital fashion, many of the CEOs who touted Web3 as the poster child of luxury innovation have retreated sheepishly—removing all mentions of ‘metaverse’ from their roadmaps and frantically completing whichever qualifications allow them to sub-out the ‘Web3’ in their bios, all whilst writing off the money spent on NFTs as tax losses.” THIS OUTFIT DOES NOT EXIST

“Did you know that most of what you buy online and ship back as a return ends up in the landfill? It’s too expensive for most companies or their reverse logistics operators to put them back up for sale, so they just ship them off to the landfill. In this space, we have written a great deal about the evil effects of Fast Fashion, and this is just another one. I hope after reading this article, you will take a serious look at your buying habits.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“As you think about the characteristics of your wardrobe, integrated technology will increasingly become a deciding factor as to what you buy and wear, expanding the capabilities of apparel to meet needs perhaps you didn’t even know you had!.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“When we write about sustainability in textiles, we are often talking about the manufacturing processes. But for true sustainability, we need to go back a step further to understand where the feed stocks are coming from. As with most things sustainable, progress, albeit slow from a global perspective, is being made, with more attention being turned to more sustainable processes in agriculture.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“Whether it’s for-profit or not-for-profit, these are two examples that prove that secondhand chic is one of the paths out of the massive waste associated with today’s apparel industry. Every little bit helps. But even more importantly, perhaps initiatives like these will help push brands and retailers to be more responsible with their business models.…” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“The fashion industry has been under fire for some time over its excessive carbon footprint and the pollution it generates. Now a new metric is being thrown into the mix: Traceability. In this article, we define traceability and cite several reports that paint a not-very-flattering picture of progress the industry is making.” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“As Earth continues to heat up, brands, retailers and consumers alike are looking for innovate cooling technologies for textiles and apparel, and there are a number of them already on the market. As we note in this article, however, this is very much a “buyer beware” market, as not all cooling fabrics appear to operate as promised. Read on to learn more…” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“We all have a role to play, whether we are suppliers, manufacturers, brands, associations, journalists, consumers or upstart companies looking to make dramatic changes. So the question for you, dear reader, is: What’s in your closet?” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“I’ve always wanted to combine different print techniques, so this was a perfect opportunity to start doing this. I think the printed fabrics produced by Epson last year where really beautiful and beyond my expectations, I loved the quality of the printed colours. I was very honoured to have won the dye-sublimation printer, the Epson Design Awards, and to be able to start exploring the possibilities with digital textile printing.” commented Sophie Wantia.

“Held annually and focused on bringing together the print community in one location to experience the latest printing technologies and applications, the Printing United Expo event provides a platform for all that is new and worthy of note. Showcasing applications and technologies for multiple markets, the show provides a unique opportunity in a physical format, where the industries application specialists are on-site for face-to-face knowledge transfer.”

“A digital textile printing machine uses a printable design of a digital data file, reads the right color information, and prints the colors onto the digital printing materials.To fully understand why certain fabrics cannot be used for digital printing, it is essential to understand the technology behind digital print” Jos Notermans - SPG PRINTS