Focus: Clothiers bet on 'cooling' fabrics as global temps rise
01/08/2023 17:58
By Katherine Masters
NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Retailers such as Macy's and
Columbia Sportswear are expanding their use of "breathable" and
"cooling" fabrics in a bid to boost sales as record-high
temperatures drive demand for clothing that can help consumers
beat the heat.
Other major companies, including VF Corp VFC.N and
Permira-owned Reformation, are also touting warm-weather styles
made with Tencel, a lyocell fiber that textile manufacturer
Lenzing LENV.VI says is more absorbent than cotton.
The push comes as clothing retailers, whose sales dipped as
inflation-weary consumers prioritized essentials over
discretionary purchases, amp up their marketing of "cooling"
garments as heat waves batter at least three continents.
Apparel manufacturers and sellers are banking on lightweight
materials and performance fabrics aimed at offering more relief
than traditional cotton and polyester knits, as well as
high-tech fibers they say offer wearers "active" cooling.
Many such textiles have been used for years, especially in
athletic clothing from brands such as Lululemon LULU.O ,
according to Jess Ramirez, an analyst for Jane Hali &
Associates. But with rising temperatures, more retailers are
promoting them for hot weather and expanding into year-round
styles as winters grow warmer.
Macy’s M.N officials told Reuters its newest line includes
a $150 trench coat made with lyocell and $24.50 tee-shirts made
with modal -- two silky fibers produced from wood pulp that
textile experts say are lightweight and breathable.
The department store chain is expanding such inventory and
will market some of those items as "breathable" and "cooling,"
Macy’s Senior Vice President of Private Brand Strategy Emily
Erusha-Hilleque said. Macy's conducts quality tests to back the
claims, she added, but the company declined to offer details.
Women's brand Reformation in June began selling new skirts,
bottoms and dresses with Tencel, which the company calls
"foundational" to its products.
Few retail market firms track specific sales of "cooling"
clothes, but related fabric manufacturing is rising.
Tencel-maker Lenzing expanded production with a Thailand
facility last year, its senior business development manager
Sharon Perez said, citing growing demand from brands including
Patagonia and VF's North Face despite costs of up to $0.10 more
per pound than other materials.
Overall, global production of cellulose-based fibers
including lyocell, modal and cupro grew more than 10% to 7.2
million tons in 2022, according to the nonprofit Textile
Exchange.
PT Golden Tekstil, an Indonesian mill whose clients include
Macy’s, PVH PVH.N and Ralph Lauren's RL.N Polo brand,
boosted its "performance" fabric production by 20% to 30% in
recent years, its U.S. design director Beth Carter Schlack told
Reuters.
Still, it also remains unclear whether materials marketed as
cooling can lower body temperature or simply help wearers feel
more comfortable.
Textile industry groups have developed tests to assess
cooling, mostly by measuring a fabric's ability to distribute
moisture and dry out quickly as a proxy, according to the
American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.
But no specific tests are required before companies can make
cooling claims, and not all lab findings necessarily translate
to actual use, said Roger Barker, who studies textiles at North
Carolina State University.
ACTIVE COOLING
Companies are also producing more garments with performance
fabrics such as Lycra’s COOLMAX, a polyester yarn designed to
wick sweat away to evaporate.
Fast Retailing's 9983.T Uniqlo has expanded its AIRism
line using super-fine, smooth fibers made from polyester and
cupro, which is made from cotton waste, that it says dry quickly
and feel cool.
Kirsty Wilson, a materials consultant who has worked with
major retailers, told Reuters more brands are using "performance
yarns" such as COOLMAX that dry more quickly than cotton.
J. Crew and H&M HMb.ST are among the retailers using
COOLMAX, which is also used in bedding, sleeping bags and other
products geared toward warm, humid weather.
Hotter temperatures are also driving more advanced "active
cooling" fiber technology by embedding materials that trap and
release heat rather than the passive cooling offered by most
materials to-date.
While sweat-wicking clothes can speed up the evaporation of
sweat from the body, which is how humans naturally stay cool,
there is a limit to how much relief such passive cooling
provides, said Barker, who heads North Carolina's Textile
Protection and Comfort Center.
This summer, Columbia Sportswear COLM.O released a new
sweatshirt with its updated Omni-Freeze Zero Ice fabric,
combining "active" technology with wicking properties and a
print it says absorbs sweat.
Creating new styles for hot environments will "remain an
area of focus," Haskhell Beckham, the company's vice president
for innovation, told Reuters.
Other retailers have turned to similar fabrics, including
those from Atlanta-based textile manufacturer brrr that embed
cooling minerals.
Brrr works with 47 brands -- including Adidas ADSGn.DE ,
which launched golf polo shirts using its material in March --
and has at least doubled production since 2018, according to its
Vice President of Sales Julie Brown.
While many garments with brrr fabrics target hot summers,
there’s growing demand for modified base layers and cold-weather
clothing as more shoppers experience unseasonably warm winters,
Brown added.
"If you're out walking or hiking or skiing, a lot of people
want that cooling effect, even in wintertime," she said.
(Reporting by Katherine Masters; editing by Susan Heavey)
((Katherine.Masters@thomsonreuters.com;))