Fibre2Fashion November Issue'17 | Page 73

In terms of trade show, ShanghaiTex will invite not only manufacturers and traders, but also some apparel brands and OEMs to exchange opinions and share information. trend in recent years. While the sports bra is still facing many challenges on comfort, supporting, shoulder strap design and function, Sports Arena will invite lingerie professionals to advise and host a focus group discussion on today’s sports bra wearing experience.   Smart Textile Innovation Forum: Wearable technology has become an important momentum for the next wave of sports textiles. The forum will explore the latest developments in smart textiles and inspire the industry with innovative ideas on sporting goods market.   The Evolution of Sports Shoe Tech Forum: Running shoes have always been regarded as vital equipment for runners. The success of a pair of running shoes lies in the materials, design and technology in different parts of a shoe. Sports Arena will gather professionals from shoe uppers, sole, 3D printing to explore the latest development and trend of sports shoes. With increasing health awareness among people and unceasing development of fitness boom, coupled with the rise of the athleisure trend, fashionable sportswear has never been so popular. Nowadays, sport textiles take good care of not only users’ skin sensations like keeping warm and comfortable, but also their muscles and performance, with functions such as supporting movement in specific sports to strengthen training, reducing injuries and speeding up recovery. The sportswear fabrics will innovate and improve in terms of production technology, such as fabric weight reduction, flexibility enhancement and pattern diversification. ShanghaiTex is a not to be missed event for industry players, especially for the growing sports industry. Could you also tell us about the wearable technology competition that you are organising this year? What has been the response so far? How do you see the wearable segment growing in the near future? The competition intends to encourage designers to combine original ideas with high-tech textiles, to achieve the purpose of designing a piece of smart textile product that can improve the life of the people, through integration of wearable technology and textile. The competition attracted 18 worldwide participants from textiles, fashion, electronics, engineering and other related fields. We are now collecting their works, and will announce shortlisted finalists by the end of October. The five finalists will be invited to present and showcase their work on-site to worldwide textile industry insiders. Visitors can come to the Sports Arena at Hall W1 on November 28 at 10:30 a.m. to learn more about their creative ideas and revolutionary product design. The revolutionary integration of electronics and textiles has enabled smart textiles to sense and react to a changing environment which has triggered a revolutionary change in the industry. NOVEMBER 2017 FIBRE 2 FASHION |  73