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Nancy Cassill, North Carolina State,
Suzanne Loker, Cornell,
Nancy Powell, North Carolina State,
Susan Ashdown, Cornell

Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management. In this issue, Interface: Apparel, Materials and Technology, we have compiled research papers, apparel designs, and industry news on innovation in apparel with a focus on areas of interface. We explore the interactions of materials, design, and technology in our field. Creative use of materials and an understanding of their functional properties and how they interact with design decisions have always been at the heart of our profession. Now we also see the promise and impact of new technologies in our field.

In this issue we present examples of state-of-the-art approaches to creative product development and production. Articles on digital printing as a design process, sizing technologies used for custom and ready-to-wear product development, a review of smart clothing, and others are intended to provoke debate and discussion among academicians as well as among corporate team members in charge of identifying future trends or developing new processes and products.

Nancy Powell, Suzanne Loker, Nancy Cassill and Susan Ashdown

This issue also represents a creative collaboration between two universities: North Carolina State University and Cornell University. Research colleagues from these two universities with highly respected and internationally known apparel and textile programs joined in developing the concept behind the issue as an outgrowth of a research session held at Nike headquarters in November 2004.

Nike Research Session Participants, Nike Worldwide Headquarters, Beaverton, Oregon, November 2004.

The research session was designed to bring research to practitioners, university to industry. Fifteen apparel and design researchers presented papers that explored the interface between apparel, materials, and technology from a variety of perspectives and with recommendations for innovative applications. The resulting dialogue between presenters and practitioners was the biggest reward of the day and encouraged us to look for more ways to continue this dialogue. We find the online format for these papers is particularly appropriate for this type of interaction, as information is presented more quickly, it is easy to access, and it is easy to forward on for an ongoing dialogue.

We hope that you enjoy this issue. Please read it and;
· share the ideas and papers with your colleagues
· contact the researchers for more information and new partnerships, and
· be inspired yourself to explore materials and technologies in new ways.