e-Garments: Future as “Second Skin”?

Wearing clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. Conventional garment has become the second skin of humans which they missed by nature for the protection purpose that over time transformed the human body into a social and cultural symbol. The history of clothing is immediately linked with the history of textiles, and they are changing every day in line with technological advances and market pressure. Since the 1990s, electronic textiles or e-textiles have been introduced as new emerging concepts and prototypes. Early published literature and journals on the fields of textiles, electronics, and advanced materials have indicated that e-textile-based garment would have a great impact in textile industry to fabricate human second skin replacing the traditional clothes when enhanced properties are needed. More than two decades have elapsed since researchers in this field have begun to work on e-garments achieving excellent results, but these findings have not taken off significantly in terms of market success and consumer adoption. In this chapter, we discuss that a transition from a technology-driven product to a human-driven product can make e-garments the e-second skin for a mass market.