The thinking behind, logistics and journey of Project Jacquard…

Dr. Ivan Poupyrev, Director of Engineering at Google, and Paul Dillinger Head of Design Innovation for Levi Strauss, join Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at FIT for WEAR Conference. MouthMedia Network studios are powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Building technology into a jacket
• The move to put tech into both hard and soft goods
• Power factory
• How tech can be integrated into textiles that are flexible, stretchable, and can withstand the burning of denim during manufacturing process
• Brands learning from each other
• Trust between companies is critical
• Corporate egos, understanding, admitting what you’re good and bad at, supplement deficiencies, finding right partner to fill deficiencies
• Co-creation was a key word defining the Google/Levi Strauss relationship
  The jacket was designed for use by urban cyclists, designed to improve your life when cycling
• Explored opportunity for tactile interface without having to put screen in face
• Now with product out there, how one uses the jacket is discovered and you can have more capabilities embedded, and amplify such as an interface with ride share
• Actual product you can buy and try, buy from Levi’s store online (exciting because it is not in an electronics store, but instead in an apparel store)
• Jacket takes the burden off of one device, consumer can avoid being orphaned by loss of one device, every object being able to have some function
• Pricing reflects tremendous R& D that’s gone into it, but Levi’s has other jackets at a higher price point
• Production supply chain, new considerations, but utilizing many standing resources and avoided disruption, ease of integration
• IP protection, trusting suppliers

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Socially responsible premium yak down…

Carol Chyau, Co-Founder and CEO of SHOKAY (committed to benefitting the communities that produce yak down, conscientiously selecting the right partners, creating timeless products, and using the best business principles), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at the 2018 WEAR Conference at FIT.

In this episode:

• SHOKAY sustainably sources hand-combed yak down from the remote Himalayan Highlands to bring incredibly light and beautiful textiles with a soft texture.
• Working with unconventional materials
• The yak car comes only from locations in Himalayan regions
• How it is like cashmere, warmer than wool, more breathable than cashmere
• What can be created from these materials
• Yak and ecomarine (recycle plastic bottles blended with oyster shell composites, offering anti bacterial and anti odor qualities)
• Coordinating with brands to innovate
• Working with a garment manufacturer with wearable tech, utilizing the materials into a piece that can be worn in a lot of circumstances including monitoring of EKG and heart rate
• Much coordination required for innovation between everyone in ecosystem of manufacturers, innovation is incremental
• China and a focus on sustainability, a lot of production delays because so many shops are shutting down because they don’t meet regulations
• Taking things from conversations into real tangible action

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A wearable heating platform…

Rickard Rosendahl, CEO of Inuheat Group AB (a developer and manufacturer of the Inuheat Wearable Heating Platform – an entire eco system with all components and materials needed for a clothing manufacturer (the apparel brand) to design and manufacture apparels with active battery powered heating built in), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at the 2018 WEAR Conference at FIT.

In this episode:

• How Inuheat has developed platform components to build in heat to apparel
• Gloves, socks, base layers
• Applications in medical, performance, military
• Users can stay out longer, focused
• Bringing heat onto skin safely and comfortably
• Creating a system that is cost effective in production, material sourcing, knitting
• Printing a flexible, smooth heating panel directly on garment
• Plus, a data platform!
• Testing certification, a need to develop their own tests and standards, considering setting up an accreditation process
• Durability, washability
• Sending data to the user
• Heptic feedback
• Inuheat’s partnership with DuPont for volumes with high quality printing, embroidery
• Medical applications
• Monetizing to make cost effective, working with 15-20 brands, volume allows them to put more money into development and quality
• Inuheat’s expertise combined with Inuheat results in added value – meeting a versatile group of end-user requirements on comfort and performance

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Interactive fashion wearable technology brand…

Francesca Rosella (bio), Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of CuteCircuit (a global leader in interactive fashion integrating new beauty and functionality through the use of smart textiles and micro-electronics), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on locations at the 2018 WEAR Conference at FIT.

In this episode:

• How Rosella started working in the field in 2001
• How people can use technology to connect with one another, express themselves
• Creating the first fashion wearable technology brand in world
• One of the first thing worked on was hug shirt, a t-shirt lets you hug someone over a distance, transferred in a hug message sent over mobile app
• Why start with a hug?
• Overcoming a disconnect between design and technology
• How CuteCircuit did not want wires in garments
• Pieces of fabric coated with nano-particals to be transparent and conductive
• Exciting project with Mercedes, designing a pilot suit, sensors for emotions of pilot, lights up in response to sounds and other stimulus, played in theaters
• What is the definition of “wearable”, must be a garment
• The ability to have the same electronics in a bracelet as in your shirt
• Must have fashion meet function
• Washability issues
• Sustainability considerations, recycling, use certified textiles, all electronics have restrictions of hazardous substances, and are all gold plated
• Have recycling program, send back garment, and recycle components, and discount on new garment
• Creating la ot of costumes for performers
• The sound shirt that allows deaf people to feel vibration of instruments in a concert

MouthMedia Network studios are powered by Sennheiser.

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3D printing, partnerships, and from science fiction to science fact…

Ben Christensen, Startup Mentor, Maker Evangelist, Keynote Speaker, Global Lead for SAP Next-Gen Science Fiction Community, joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortez in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Christensen on what he’s caring about and identity, always starting things, helping companies explore what’s possible to make partnerships
• If you can imagine it you can build it
• SAP –  his focus on the global sci fi community
• Sci fi shows what’s possible
• From science fiction to science fact, designing today
• The liquid – PLA – polylactic acid
• The possibilities of creating almost anything via 3D printing, an accelerating industry
• 4D printing and what it can be, do, and inspire
• A lot of trash results from 3D printing, how can you reuse the discarded materials
• How 3D printers can become stations in the community where things can be synthesized
• SAP Next Gen
• SAP started a campaign with UN Women, the “#SheInnovates Initiative”
• Partnering with The Startup Guide, for the first one for NYC
• Christensen on joining the circus, then working for a software company
• How 800M jobs could be eliminated through automation, but it is a crucial awakening for humanity
• Implications and opportunities for automation

As the market leader in enterprise application software, SAP is at the center of today’s business and technology revolution. SAP helps you streamline your processes, giving you the ability to use real-time data to predict customer trends across your entire business. SAP is committed to helping every customer become a best-run business.

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The impact of social responsibility, sustainability, and proper governance on the growth and expansion of companies…

Rob Sanchez, CEO of Mouth Media Network, moderates an impressive expert panel on material development, governance, and sustainability as part of an event at Spring Place sponsored by Financial Executives  International, including:

• Karina Givargisoff, Founder and Editor in Chief of MISSION Magazine
• Beth Colleton, Founder of Purpose Strategies
• Danielle Joseph, Investment Officer at Closed Loop Partners
• William Reinisch, Venture Partner at Paladin Capital Group

In this episode:

• The importance of consideration of social responsibility at early stages of planning a company, ESG and sustaibablity, in idea generation stage, how this has dramatically changed and become complete sector and way of thinking about it
• How for the next generation this wont be an add on, will be a fundamental part of building an industry
• Doesn’t work well when it is down the hall
• Using for growth, generating more opportunity, turning it into value, the more growth the more material a company is saving, correlated to growth, the more you can do — the more money you make
• Structuring business models around turning a waystream into a revenue stream
• Evolving, next generation space
• EVRNU, Bolt Thread as great examples of innovation
• Growing and scaling
• Gen Z and Millennials have the most stake in it, and trying to take into account their buying habits and influence, listening to a younger audience helps us keep on track to grow in the right direction
• Scalability in creating efficiencies in supply chain and recycling defective garments
• When fabric technologies create rcyclaaed textiles indistinguishable from originals
• Repurposing textiles
• Driving revenue generation by allowing people to purchase items that support the changing habits
• The planning side of raw materials, how we must be thinking about resilience
• A lot of unanswered question about how to integrate sustainable raw materials into the manufacturing process
• Making sure to avoid seeming tone deaf to the public, and the important of governance
• Investors looking at long-term value in companies, and the importance of sustainability
• The critical nature of transparency, and to lead from the top and follow through that it is a driving force and part of the DNA of a company
• The up and coming work force wants purpose in their employer, is a valuable part of retention strategy
• Critical: an actionable purpose strategy that is authentic

Photo credits: Jason Drago, ARENAISSANCE FILMS 

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Setting the standard for both hand painting and computer aided design with The Style Council…

Joe Castaldo, President of The Style Council (the USA’s leading textile design and service studio), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samantha Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• The way business keeps pace with the pace of changing fashion
• How Castaldo’s background as a clothing designer provides value
• The process creative people go through, travel, being able to look at every designer’s work, life, what’s in museums, and on the street, and bring it into what the Style Council does
• Putting together trends, giving the intel to artists who will do the best with it
• Predicting colors, palettes
• Designing prints
• Creating and impacting CAD software
• Going back to handpainting, and how that helps with copyright concerns, products so different than others, and that luxury has expense
• It is like a science project how dyes and heat react to fabrics, and how The Style Council is constantly pushing the envelope with what’s possible
• Castaldo works with 4-5 people who have been there 36 years, and his sense of responsibility and obligation, like family,
• The fight to be organic and natural given the cost
• How working with designers can connect you to the world
• Education vs. spirit of wanting to change the world

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Digital product labeling that enables consumers to go beyond the traditional label to learn more about product origin, materials and features, and to help brands establish a new, digital channel to engage directly with and learn from their customers…

Bruce Thomson, Co-founder/CEO of BrightLabel (a software platform that leverages mobile technology to enable digital product labeling in the textiles and apparel sector), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Getting dynamic transparaent info on material certifciations in hands of consumers
• Consumers looking for more out of porducts, to make more informed decsions on what they purchase and wear
• Most labeling contains little practical info
• Why this hasn’t been done before, regulatory regimes around the world dictating what labelled on products
• FTC regulated in America
• Unfortunate that the story of products isn’t told – Made in Mexico but with Amercian cotton?
• Symbols on labels mean little
• BrightLabel builds a label system  — more informed and better for customer while building something that works for manufactorers and brands themeleves
• Built a platform to integrate info about a product, including dynamic value chain map, provides elegent package attached to the product in retail environments
• Designers being responsive, value it generated in brand loyalty and what you stand for as a company, and content story piece, outwieghs any competitive challenges
• Integrating into a digital label provides additional info to consumer assuring high quality
• BrightLabel not generating new content yet, or reinventing information or content, partnerships of value
• Important to engage with brands across supply chain
• Behavioral change with consumer will be necessary to get the, to scan it
• Partnerships with companies like Lenzing
• FTC is exploring options to move to more modern format of labeling, and scale up and push out digital labeling standard
• Focusing on sectors where this can have added value
• Scanning a product label can translate a label to native languge
• Implementing “DNA” into thread, and the intersection with Bright Label work
• Able to extract significant value i.e. verifying fill count or material origins, differentiate quality work from substandard
• Fly fishing, and how spending a lot of time traveling inspired business
• Economics

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Repurposing everyday clothing with one of a kind intelligent fabrics…

Julie Golden (Operations Manager) Amy Adair (Production) of ADAY Clothing (consciously designed clothing reinvented with technical fabrics) join Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• How ADAY Clothing was founded by Meg He an active runner  and Nina Faulhaber a competitive gymnast, different in everyday activities and clothing they wore at work
• Comfy, great for travel, filling void in market
• Sweat wicking, breathable , all stretchy, many are wrinkle resistant, all machine washable, making life easier
• Company started buying from stock fabric companies environmentally conscious, and eventually developed own fabrics as they’ve grown, which drape nicely, and polyester is recycled
• All about seeking fibers and fabrics that feel great or have properties they love, no internal R and D team developing fibers
• Aim to get the best of both worlds – performance and feel beautiful to touch
• An ethos of minimalism
• Using one fabric in a garment
• How the company doesn’t think in seasons, wanting clothing to be a staple worn multiple times a week for different purposes
• Creating a hero piece that can be worn over something else
• “Something borrowed shirt” the most popular item
• A color palette primarily of neutrals and blacks, navys, launching some greens
• As colors go in and out of seasons, that palette allows clothing to be more versatile despite trends, including whit
• Initial problems in construction were identified and solved by customer feedback
• Supply chain, some US, some internationally – criteria for choosing factories includes both technical and sustainability abilities
• Why ADAY started working with a Portuguese factory
• How design helps manage return rates
• New developments in new collection – “Experiments in Conscious Design” – focusing on working out how to optimize an improve the way they are designing
• A jacket made from 41 recycled plastic bottles
• Working with women doing amazing things like Britt Bergmeister. ODM/ODC (Off Duty Model, On Duty Citizen), and Summer Rayne Oakes, model and super environmental activist, who are using their platform for their efforts
• The company culture
• Moving from corporate America to a fashion startup
• Considering a one year rotation in London

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Textile design software to create fabric realistic weaves, knits and prints

Steve Greenberg, President, Pointcarre, North America, joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• CAD textile software, computer aided design, allows almost anyone to design own fabric and print and simulate before end product to see exactly what it would look like
• Loom networking to send immediately to a loom anywhere in the world
• Can see yarns, determine knit and woven structure (more than 4,000)
• Set up gauge correctly, and in correct weave structure
• Working with a print and repeats of the design
• Easy to pick up software if you have basic knowledge
• Different kind of materials, even utilizing silver, want to know attributes of fibers to know how they will react
• Software does costing too
• How this software allows changing business model, cost structure
• Take any photo of your product, apply grid, then can map and wrap with any fabric/pattern and fully envision the product
• Full Pantone color palette
• People are trying so many new types of stitches and structures
• 3D envisioning software
• Can go right to digital print in tonal ranges, big thing with watercolors
• Doing what you love

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Conductive smart yarns…

Matt Kolmes, CEO of Supreme Corporations (creator of the VOLT Smart Yarns) joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

• Doing military work, being approached by military defense contractors, Top Secret, who said “Don’t ever say our name,” – what did this mean, and they realized the contractor probably realized they had perfect equipment for making conductive yarn, and an “aha “ moment
• How Kolmes was always jealous of wearable tech and smart yarns
• Most yarns had metal on the outside of the yarn, which exposed the conductive service
• How Supreme assessed they were disappointed, evaluated there was a solution, and designed insulation that could be soldered without stripping
• Sewing thread is the superhero of yarns
• Invention of protected copper wires so won’t break
• 185 patents in 54 years in 60 countries, with 15 more pending
• Why it is important to only protect what is protectable, what’s new, novel, and hasn’t existed before, looking at prior art (other patents relatable)
• How Supreme makes sure to keep half the invention a trade secret
• How a father’s offer changed Kolmes’ career path
• All their yarns are composite yarns, and they adding one new yarn per month
• Conductive yarn that changes color at a certain temperature, color shift yarn, can set temperature color changes
• Why North Carolina is a great place for fashion
• Changing color of yarn with electricity
• How apparel with conductive yarn can have a logo that can become an on-off switch
• A reality show, and sharks
• How yarn is exciting.
• A passion for savings lives, and a yearning for filmmaking, and how being a dad gives him the best moments of his week

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.