Biomimetic approach to the design of textiles for sportswear applications

This chapter explores biomimetic textiles in the context of sportswear. A brief introduction to the history of biomimetics and a snapshot of its current status in the UK and its relationship to the textile industry are followed by a review of commercial and experimental textile technologies that have been inspired by natural phenomena relevant to the sportswear industry. Commercial technologies such as Velcro®, Sharkskin®, the Lotus Effect, and Morphotex® are discussed while novel, adaptive developments such as variable geometry and the pinecone effect are introduced. The chapter concludes with a view on what the future for biomimetic textiles could look like for the sportswear sector.