For hundreds of years canvas, sacks, ropes… only a few examples like these are considered to be an exception, but primer textile products (yarn and fabrics) which is used in clothing’s and in home textiles, today ranging from underground to space, industry to agriculture, vehicles to construction, health to sports, has become one of the most precious materials that is being used everywhere and in every area that comes to our minds. These textile-based products, which stand out from normal clothing and home textiles are referred as Technical Textiles. Due to its usage, with its market and production seen as the fastest growing segment and also parallel to the major developments taking place as well as occurring, in the recent years it has been observed that the area of technical textiles is reflecting the same accelerated development seen as in the garment industry and its significance is likely to increase even further.
Throughout history people dressed in order to cover and adorn themselves and now, they want their clothing to provide additional services, including on issues such as health, protecting them from external aggressions. Preventing foot odor, cellulite prevention, skin hydration, protection from electromagnetic waves, suspension from mosquitoes, kill germs…such examples with different functions and the textile products that are provided for at least one of the functions, are defined as Functional Textiles.
Apart from simple functional textiles, which provide the same function or functions, there are these textile products, which have the ability to detect any external influence or effect changes and react accordingly, for example products changing its color, shape, property of hot-cool preservation and these are named as Smart Textiles. Transmitting these features on fabrics that are to be used in functional and smart textile products, containing only a few exceptions, is achieved by using special fibers or by applying special finishing processes.
And after detecting an external influence or an effect change, there are also these textile products that have the ability to evaluate and react according to this specific evaluation and they are defined as Very (Complete) Smart Textiles. Initially, the emphasis was more directed towards the area of medicine and infants, the elderly and the disabled… where very smart clothing placed such importance for people who needed such care and for the military and space travelers, but the only issue that can not be said with certainty with respect to the prediction that this will become the normal clothing for people over time, is when this transformation will be realized. 40 years later? 30 years later? More recently?
High-performance technical textiles, functional textiles, smart textiles, very smart textiles... what all of these textile products have in common, is that they are Knowledge-Intensive Textiles. Until the second half of the twentieth century the nature of the textile industry was Labor-Intensive, then it became Capital-Intensive and in the twenty-first century it began to gain a Knowledge-Intensive structure. The future is Knowledge-Intensive Textiles.
In order to have a say in the production of Knowledge-Intensive textiles, the first work to be done is to establish an infrastructure in Turkey where these products can be researched and developed and to ensure the training of R & D experts.
