Protecting Cotton’s House
February 10, 2009 Under Armour says “cotton is the enemy.” Under Armour says “we must protect this house.”
But thanks to some new innovations from Cotton Incorporated, protecting the house just got a lot tougher.
Under Armour has undeniable brand recognition, rivaling that of Nike and Adidas. But what Under Armour doesn’t have these days is a performance advantage over new cotton athletic-wear products.
“Our emphasis has been to convey to companies that they can achieve substantially better performance and moisture management than what is available today – even better than Under Armour,” says Mark Messura, Cotton Incorporated’s Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain. “Our latest technology outperforms Under Armour. I think retailers and clothing brands want products that perform well, and cotton is a good fabric for them because consumers’ preference is strong for cotton – it is the number one fiber in clothing. Consumers like the comfort of cotton.”
The athletic-wear market is in the billions of dollars, but Messura says getting a handle on just how big it really isn’t the most salient point. “The key point is that a lot of consumers wear athletic clothing in their everyday life,” he explains. “It’s hard to differentiate just the athletic percentage of that unless you are talking about things like uniforms, specifically.”
Another point, Messura says, is that athletic wear tends to bleed into, or be the leading edge of, what you ultimately see in mainstream clothing. “This has been a target for Cotton Incorporated for a number of years,” he says. “It’s a market where there is a lot of interest in tight-fitting stretch clothing, and synthetic fibers have that. But it’s also a market where moisture management and comfort are critical properties. And cotton is both performance and comfort. For the past few years, Cotton Incorporated has done some terrific work with new innovations in moisture management. We think these innovations allow us to reposition cotton beyond just the cotton t-shirt – really position cotton as a performance-apparel fiber. Cotton is comfort and fashion.”
Moisture Management
One unique innovation is WICKING WINDOWS technology, designed specifically to significantly improve the movement of moisture away from the skin through the cotton fabric, where it spreads out and evaporates. “It makes it much more comfortable,” Messura says.
Also new is TransDRY Technology, which Messura calls a second generation moisture-management innovation with superior performance. “We are working with several companies to put the technology in their clothing lines,” he says.
One such company is a traditional powerhouse in both the athletic-apparel and casual-wear markets, but confidentially agreements between Cotton Incorporated and all of the companies are keeping the information just that — confidential — for the moment.
“The significance of these technologies is that consumers can get cotton athletic wear and performance apparel with both comfort and performance,” Messura says. “Consumers have always loved the feel of cotton.”
The New Denim
Messura says one market that can never be overlooked is denim, which accounts for one pound of cotton out of every five sold in the form of clothing. “That is huge,” he says. “That’s 20% of U.S. production, and it ends up in the market as denim products.”
Hitting the market this year will be STORM DENIM technology – a water-repellent, breathable fabric. “Your denim jacket and denim jeans will repel water, but they are breathable,” says Messura. “You are more comfortable and protected from the environment.”
The technology is also aimed at a market that was traditionally cotton’s, but one in which market share has dropped significantly. And that might be a fitting metaphor: Look down at your socks. “They are not as glamorous as performance apparel, but it’s very critical to cotton,” Messura says. “Cotton’s share has gone down over the last couple of years by more than 200,000 bales.”
Caption:
Mark Messura
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