US colleges to get smart textile hoodies

Dan Rogers - 11 Dec 2009

Hooded jumpers with integrated mp3 player or Bluetooth mobile controls will be available on college campuses across the US in September 2010.

Active wear company LimbGear has adopted Qio Systems' PaniQ technology - a control panel module that can be integrated into clothing - for college-branded hoodies.

The cooperation is part of a licensing agreement targeted at college bookshop products in the US and could be extended to shirts, t-shirts and shorts in the future.

The company is currently trialling the sale of hoodies at the nearby Virginia Tech college campus from an off-site college store.

Coming to stores

Tyson Daniel, president of LimbGear, says that on-campus stores will begin stocking the products, which have a PaniQ control panel in the sleeve, soon.

He states: 'We're moving into the on-campus stores soon and are currently offering the product to other colleges around Virginia. We will be going to Maine, Oregon, California, Texas and Florida to target all the major colleges and some of the smaller ones too.

'We hope to have 100 accounts [with different colleges] and will deliver products for our initial orders in January or early February 2010. By autumn 2010 these will be widely available on campuses.'

The college demographic represents a strong target market for smart textile products, as Qio Systems founder John Collins notes: 'We were looking for recession-proof markets and, every year, a new wave of college students come looking to buy new stuff.'

Daniel adds: 'Hoodies are the top-selling product in the college market and the 18-25-year-old demographic, which is the prevalent age group, is a wonderful fit.'

New range

The company also intends to add new products to the range available at college stores in the near future around its active wear capabilities.

Daniel comments: 'We've started prototyping new products around items that most students have.'

As well as active wear garments, the company is also planning to develop a PaniQ-based strap to attach to backpacks, sports bags and laptop carry cases to capitalise on the student market.

Daniel explains: 'We don't want to stray too far from our competency by making backpacks, so we'll make an attachment that meets with most types of straps and enables people to have the benefit of two uses from their bag.'

As well as the collaboration with LimbGear, Qio Systems has previously licensed its PaniQ technology for a number of other products, including Oxbow's outdoor jackets.