Lycra Reshapes the Future of Denim With FitSense
What if we can reshape the future of denim?
It’s the question that inspired The Lycra Company to develop its latest technology, FitSense.
More from Sourcing Journal
A combination of a new yarn and garment processing technology, FitSense allows brands to customize jeans with targeted compression shaping in certain areas such as the stomach, thighs, butt, legs and waist without sacrificing comfort or changing the authentic look and feel of denim. The technology is discreet and invisible on the fabric and garment.
With FitSense, Lycra is creating a whole new fit experience for consumers.
Designed for all body types and shapes and for women and men, Melissa Stewart, The Lycra Company VP of global R&D and end-use research, described the wear experience as “built-in shaping that the wearer can touch and feel and have an emotional connection of feeling being held in without having the wear shapewear underneath.”
“None of us want to ever experience having to wear shapewear under a pair of denim,” she added.
The patented technology is a dual-core structure that wraps Lycra fiber with temperature-responsive fiber. The yarn goes in the weft throughout the entire garment. After garment making and dry and wet processing, manufacturers apply silicone pads to targeted zones on the garment and use a heat press to activate or lock-in shaping power in the desired areas. Activated areas will have lower growth due to the memory set.
“It can be a solid area or a pattern to create differential zones of stretch,” Stewart said. “When its heat activated, it changes the modulus, or it helps to reduce the stretch which will create these areas of localized compression.”
The heat-activating process does not damage the Lycra fiber or change fiber composition, and there is no visual difference between activated and non-activated zones. Fabric weight and construction may influence the temperature and heat time. Lycra has tested FitSense’s performance to 25 home laundries. Low-temperature ironing should be fine, but the company said there still there is a slight risk. Tumble dry is safe.
Ebru Ozaydin, The Lycra Company’s global strategic marketing director for denim, wovens, and ready-to-wear, pointed out that garment makers don’t have to make major investments into the technology because heat presses are common at their facilities. “We are not putting any pressure on the shoulders of any garment maker because the machinery is already there,” she said.
Eroğlu, Calik Denim, Soorty, Advance Denim and Crystal Denim are the first partners to introduce FitSense into their collections. The partners were chosen for their strong engineering and technical backgrounds, Ozaydin said, adding that the technology will be introduced to Brazilian partners in Q4 2024-2025.
Problem Solver
FitSense is an example of Lycra’s “pain points to solutions” approach to innovation, Ozaydin said.
“We’re trying to create confidence with the consumer,” she said. However, there is always a big problem when it comes to finding the perfect pair of jeans. From brands and retailers to fiber and chemical companies, the industry is never able to make the consumer happy, she said.
Lycra’s recent research backs up this sentiment. In 2023, the company surveyed over 1,200 women aged 19-49 in the U.S., China, Germany and Spain about their denim purchases. Though specific issues with jeans varied across demographics and size ranges—restricted movement, fit around the thighs and lack of stretch were challenges for larger sizes; smaller sizes said they struggle to find jeans that give them the desired shape; younger women (18-21) said they have issues about fit around the mid-section and bum—most pain points focused on fit and shape.
The survey found that the ideal jeans for both small and large sizes have a slimming effect. It lifts and pushes up, controls around the tummy and waist, is easy to put on and take off and is versatile, breathable and durable. Of the areas where shaping is important, 39 percent said bottom, 30 percent tummy and 10 percent said waist.
Stewart described FitSense as a “designer’s delight and consumer’s delight.”
Consumers’ first reaction to the idea of FitSense is excitement. Eighty-one percent of consumers surveyed said they think it would be “comfortable/very comfortable” to wear jeans with FitSense technology. The same percentage of consumers said they “anticipate likely purchasing the technology” and 69 percent said they “would pay more than they would typically on jeans” with FitSense.
From a product development standpoint, designers can think about what benefits they want to bring to the consumer and customize where and how their designs shape, support and lift, Stewart said. It’s also a technology that can be applied to a variety of fits and silhouettes—not just skinny jeans which are often associated with shaping and Lycra.
To dial in on how FitSense works with different types of jeans, Lycra tapped Ayr co-founder and creative director and former Calvin Klein and Madewell designer Jac Cameron to develop a fit lineup and wash directions to support designers and patternmakers.
“We’re the scientists, we’re the engineers and we’re working with the right partners, but someone was missing in this value chain—a fit designer,” Ozaydin said. “Jac has not only worked for high-end brands, but they even worked for Amazon. That background is helping us because they know every single different segment of consumer and brands and brand identity.”
The lineup includes three low-stretch silhouettes and three high-stretch silhouettes and spans flare, slim, straight and skinny fits. Each style is marked with designated areas that could be relevant for FitSense—a move that Stewart said is sparking conversations about the possibilities of FitSense.
Though the idea for FitSense was born before to the pandemic, Lycra’s goal for the technology has endured consumers’ ever-changing demands and the challenges of the post-pandemic denim market.
“It’s about embracing the body and elevating confidence,” Stewart said. “It’s elevating a sense of feeling good.”
