Gore Identifies Workwear Megatrends

GORE-TEX Professional has identified a number of key trends in the world of workwear that will guide its strategic planning for the coming years. This outcome is based on an intensive collaboration with the Zukunftsinstitut, a future research firm based in Frankfurt and Vienna. Together, they identified four megatrends – security, new work, neo-ecology, and globalization – that are expected to impact the development of the workwear business by 2025.

Patterns progress

For Gore, the big picture is as important as straight facts and figures. The Zukunftsinstitut was therefore a conscious choice to jointly elaborate the megatrends through various interdisciplinary workshops involving Gore Associates and experts from Vienna. The Zukunftsinstitut has a staff of experts in various fields who act as sparring partners for their clients, including the Workwear team of Gore.

“Workwear is an exciting field with a clear future”, says Marcel Aberle, managing director of Zukunftsinstitut Consulting. “We have joined Gore to observe current trends and related them to the challenges and needs of the field.”

Background on Megatrends

Security

In the next decade safety standards will increase and become more global and existing standards will be more consistently applied. There will be an increasing need of multi-norm protection to cover a variety of protective needs and give workers flexibility (e.g. subcontractors). The increasing comfort of protective clothing will increase the acceptance of protective clothing by workers and will allow users to wear high protection levels for a longer time. Decreasing workforces will allow to equip the remaining workers with more protective and comfortable clothing. Highly dangerous operations might be done by machines in the future and therefore decrease the need for protection for workers.

Neo-Ecology / Sustainability

Companies and governments have started over the last five years to include sustainability goals in their plans and strategies. This will lead to increasing „sustainability demands“ by buyer and end-user. Likely we will see more countries in Asia and America getting more active regarding sustainability. The performance of Gore depends on the sustainable performance of our products, our operations and our people. We are working to protect the planet and people because our society, and our business, depends on it. For over 40 years, Gore has been designing durable products that are tested to perform even in the harshest conditions. But durable product performance is no longer enough. As we face severe and growing challenges to our climate, environment and society, we are taking responsibility for our actions and contributions.

Globalization

Most garment markets, supply chains and brands are highly globalized. Due to differences in protective standards and local preferences the workwear market is in many areas still rather locally organized but has been catching up over the last years. The financial impact of the current COVID-19 crisis will be severe in many countries. Governments will set up financial programs to stimulate public spending. Local products will be preferred, a trend which could remain for several years. The importance to protect workforces will increase in many countries and with that safety standards and regulations. This requires high quality functional garments in new countries.

New Work

Automation, Digitalization and an increasing knowledge culture is changing the way companies are organized. Outsourcing and partnerships are transforming companies to networks rather than „closed organizations“. The usage and familiarity of smart devices, communication technology and robotics in production will continue over the next years. Digital communication will change the way how people connect and look for information. End-users will be informed through information online before reaching out to potential suppliers. Automation will make production processes more effective leading to a decrease in workforce. The remaining workforce will need to be better skilled and will be better equipped and protected. Outsourcing companies might need to raise safety standards and might require multinorm protective garments due to often changing risk scenarios.

Gore revolutionized the outerwear industry with waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX Fabric more than 40 years ago and remains a leading innovator of performance apparel. Gore fabrics products provide comfort and protection in challenging environments and in everyday life, enabling wearers to safely and confidently achieve and experience more. From hiking in downpours to defense operations and fighting fires, Gore’s deep understanding of consumer and industry needs drives development of products with meaningful performance advantages. gore-tex.com and goretexprofessional.com