STORES 2017 BIG Show Daily - January 16, 2017 - 12

2017 MONDAY

Wearable Technology Migrates to the Rest of the Ensemble

here it is: the pony-riding polo player
over the left breast, just as on any
other Ralph Lauren shirt. But this
one, the Ralph Lauren Polo Tech, comes
with a user manual. Yes, it's a shirt, but
it's also the latest in health and fitness gear.
The Polo Tech, like any number of
smart clothing products, monitors basic
health stats. In this case, it keeps up with
calories burned, steps taken and breathing
efficiency.
The first wave of wearable applications "centered on fitness-focused use
cases," says Ryan Martin, senior analyst
with ABI Research, a market intelligence
company focused on technology. "While
companies like Polo haven't traditionally
played in this space, they are making a
push. But whether market momentum is

Ralph Lauren has jumped into the
wearable technology game.

manifested in new partnerships or the extension of an existing brand, the fact that
non-tech companies are already starting
to jockey for position evidences a broader
shift in baking connected capabilities into
the clothes we wear."
Athos is one of those companies
leading the way. Using sensors attached
to clothing, it measures muscle effort in
real time with a goal of helping athletes
improve.
"The reason we integrate technology
into clothing is that it lowers the bar for
adoption, so it's intended for anyone who
would like the benefits of the technology,"
says Dhananja Jayalath, Athos' co-founder
and chief performance officer. "We are very
focused on developing our technology in
a manner that doesn't sacrifice comfort or
style - where you get all the functional
benefits of compression clothing and the
added unique value of Athos personalized
performance data."
Items worn on the wrist - a smart
watch or activity tracker - remain the
dominant force in the market. But smart
clothing is making a mad dash to catch up.
Deborah Weinswig, managing director of Fung Global Retail & Technology,
estimates the smart wearables market at
$28.7 billion in 2016, with 275 million
units shipped. She says wrist wearables

are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 30 percent through 2017, and
that apparel, sportswear and body cameras
will grow 12 percent annually over that
same period.
ABI Research is even more bullish on
the growth of the smart clothing market:
It predicts 16.5 million units will ship by
2021 - up some 500 percent from 2016.
"Although it's still early for smart textile
manufacturing as a whole, this is a high
growth-potential area," Martin says.

The market

Not surprisingly, smart clothing made

its initial entrance at major sporting events.
Under Armour, widely expected to be a big
player in a market it seldom discusses, put
Cam Newton through the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine - in which college players
"audition" for pro coaches and talent evaluators - in its connected compression shirt.
In the years since, smart clothing has
drawn the attention of major athletic wear
players - like Nike and Adidas - as
well as tech giants and startups. Google
has joined with Levi Strauss on Project
Jacquard, a stylish jacket that is focused on
tech - not necessarily athletic in nature.
Wearers can control music or access maps.

But it is the major fitness brands that
are pursuing the sector most aggressively,
Weinswig says. Since 2013, Adidas, Under
Armour and Asics have spent a combined
$1 billion acquiring companies that develop fitness and health software applications, she says.
Nike dropped its fitness-tracking-band
division in 2014, but has since developed
the Nike+ fitness-tracking software application, which is featured on the Apple
Watch. Underscoring the importance of
software applications to the sportwear
See "Wearables" on page 13

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STORES 2017 BIG Show Daily - January 16, 2017

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