Textile and clothing sector has traditionally been one of the most important sectors of economic activity in Europe. The last decades the sector of traditional textile and clothing is shrinking as a result of the globalization and the emerging of new industries mostly in Asia. Still the importance of this sector remains significant in terms of employment with 3 million jobs in Europe.

The emerge of nanotechnology research provides new opportunities for development of textiles with advanced properties. Traditional applications for ‘smart’ textiles have been in personal protective equipment, medical, health and hygiene sector, industry applications, packaging, construction, architecture and interior design, agriculture and horticulture, transport and aerospace. In clothing and footwear industry, novel textiles find their applications mainly in sports and outdoor clothing, where advanced properties are required. Such applications include biometrics, textiles with micro-detectors and microprocessors that measure and/or control body temperature, moisture, odor, heart beat and rate, breathing etc. As the research in textile technology advances and new materials with advanced properties are being developed, the potential for commercial exploitation opens up. Smart textiles are becoming more and more popular, as consumers are actually embracing the new products and enjoy their functional uses. Market trends show that smart clothing for sports and fitness are very popular, with a growing market for baby clothing (monitoring baby sleep and breathing), fashionable protective clothing and casual clothing. As this is rather a new domain, with great potential for commercial exploitation, there is a need for specific competences that combine different knowledge domains, to enhance innovation, not only in production, but also in design and marketing. European Universities have to cope with this shift and introduce new courses on the bridge between Novel Technologies and Fashion Industry, to adjust to the new reality. New textile technologies present a competitive advantage for European clothing industry, opening up new exploitation opportunities.

TEXMODA project is an Erasmus+ Strategic partnership in the field of Higher Education that aims to develop a European competence profile on Novel Technologies for fashion industry and a training course based on this competence profile, delivered as a MOOC.

The project brings together five Universities, two business associations and a consulting company from five EU countries, all of them with experience in different aspects of textile / clothing / fashion industry. The synthesis of the partnership combines academic expertise and institutional capacity to mainstream results, incorporating the new course into the Universities’ curricula and the flexibility and effectiveness of the private non-for profit and profit sectors.