Fashion with fast solutions through InQube
Fashion has always been a breeding ground for innovation — from the invention of the sewing machine to the growth of e-commerce. But relative to the other industries, clothing per say hasn’t changed over the years.
Industry specialists have identified that now, more than ever, there is a real opportunity to revolutionalise fashion; all in the midst of the corona pandemic.
Sounds like science fiction, but this is the future of fashion and it’s unfolding before our eyes right here in Sri Lanka.
Started around four years ago, InQube Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, the innovation arm of Brandix Apparel brings all design thinking into one place. “The first three years were basically establishing the company,” Dr. Eshan Dias, Chartered Scientist, Chartered Engineer as Vice President in Innovation at InQube, which is basically an advanced innovation hub serving leading global brands in the textile and apparel industries, told the Business Times in an interview. Now they are ready to roll. In the apparel sector InQube is the pioneer to source all the aspects in design innovation thinking. And it is all happening in Sri Lanka and quite literally InQube is the hub of it.
InQube has built relationships with most big brands and is co- creating with them. “We also did innovations in material and technology partnering these brands,” Dr. Dias added. InQube pilots and pitches the technology and the brands adopt it and launch the apparel that is specifically engineered to deliver a pre-defined performance or functionality to the user, over and above its normal functions. Functional clothing provides special functionality to the wearer. In other words, it is worn for special functional needs and can be categorised into several classes which are Protective-functional, Medical-functional, Sports-functional, Vanity-functional, Cross-functional assemblies, and Clothing for special needs.
Dr. Dias added that it would take at least five to six years to commercialise a product.
He added that InQube is manifesting new thinking in apparel – making high quality performance clothing from trash that would otherwise pollute the planet, clothes that could talk to you and tell you when you need to take your next dose of medicine, clothes that measure your health and prompt change in behaviour and yet don’t have wires and gadgets hanging from them, clothes that encourage you, or relax you, that improve athletic performance, that adapt to your needs, won’t tear when you engage in rough sports or sliding down rock faces, even clothes might make you smarter. The work is highly confidential and specifics regarding the technologies and partnership and final outcomes cannot be shared.
He said initially after the first scare in March owing to the pandemic, most of inQube’s customers returned and now they depend more on the work that was done for them by inQube. He added that the pandemic encouraged more online work spaces and now there is more opportunity that the pandemic is better understood.
A new wave of textiles being developed and brought to market creates a fashion realm where customisation comes standard, environmental inefficiencies are nearly eradicated, and innovative fabrics are available for the masses. “To make things appealing on the outside requires the right combination of math, science and technology on the inside. Embedding sensors, electronics, and other wearable components into textile, giving rise to a new generation of wearables create smart clothes,” Dr. Dias added. He is hopeful that this year will see the launch of some new products.
InQube is a visionary innovation service generating the performance apparel of tomorrow using advanced materials, emerging technologies and novel chemistries. It looks to take it to market via unconventional business models. There is a lot of exciting research and partnerships with world-leading innovators and clients among the world’s leading brands.