Smart Clothing Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2028)

The smart clothing market refers to a range of clothing and accessories that are designed to incorporate technology and connectivity to enhance the user's experience. These items can include everything from fitness trackers and heart rate monitors to smart fabrics that can adjust to the wearer's body temperature and movement. The popularity of wearable technology, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, has been on the rise in recent years. As more people become interested in tracking their health and fitness, there is likely to be a growing demand for smart clothing that can integrate with these devices.

The smart clothing market is expected to grow at a strong CAGR of 18.1% during the forecast period owing to the potential to improve health and fitness outcomes by providing real-time feedback and tracking the wearer's progress. This can help people to achieve their fitness goals more quickly and effectively. Moreover, the fashion industry is increasingly embracing technology, and smart clothing represents an exciting opportunity for fashion designers to create innovative and cutting-edge products. For instance, In 2020, the Canadian government announced a USD 40 million investment in the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, which focuses on developing new materials and technologies for the production of smart textiles and wearables.

Based on products, the market is segmented into outerwear, innerwear, and others. The outerwear category is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The rising demand for outerwear such as smart shirts, jackets, and others is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. A smart shirt is a type of smart clothing that provides biometric data such as heart rate, body temperature, muscle stretch, heart rhythm, and physical activity. Smart shirts are designed with electronic sensors that collect and transmit data to a connected device such as a smartphone.

Based on technology, the market is divided into active smart, passive smart, and ultra-smart. The active smart category held a dominating share of the market in 2021. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the benefits associated with active smart clothes such as the ability to track physical activity, monitor health condition, monitor sleep patterns, improve athletic performance, etc. Moreover, the growing use of smart clothing in different industries such as healthcare, defence, and others is further propelling the growth of the market.

Based on end-user, the market is classified into military & defense, sports & fitness, healthcare, and others. The healthcare industry captured share of the market in 2021 owing to the growing usage of smart clothing in the healthcare industry. Smart clothing can track chronic diseases and conditions, help a growing aging population, and provide patient comfort in hospitals and treatment facilities. It is seen as a way to create value, drive health insights and reduce costs.

For a better understanding of the market adoption of smart clothing market industry, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide presence in the countries such as North America (U.S., Canada, Rest of North America), Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Rest of World. North America is the largest market for smart clothing due to several reasons. Firstly, the region has a large tech-savvy population that is willing to adopt innovative products. Secondly, the presence of major players in the smart clothing industry such as Under Armour, Ralph Lauren, and Google has led to the growth of the market. Additionally, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity has resulted in a rise in demand for smart clothing that can track health parameters and provide real-time feedback. Recent developments in the smart clothing market in North America include the launch of the Under Armour UA RUSH collection, which features smart clothing that is designed to enhance athletic performance by improving blood flow and speeding up recovery time. The collection was launched in 2020 and has been well-received by athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. In addition to these product launches, there have been several collaborations between technology companies and fashion brands in North America

Some of the major players operating in the market include: AiQ Smart Clothing, TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC., Vulpes Electronics GmbH, Sensoria Inc, DuPont, WEARABLE X , Myzone, Siren, Applycon, s. r. o. , and Myontec.