The textile activity taking as a whole can be assembled in four large families :

1 - Fashion-garment is the textile emblematic family, it answers a basic need, brings a finery, protects and « manages » the relationship between the external and the internal ( evacuating the perspiration for sportsmen for example, playing the role of second skin) etc.

2 - Textile as a material is both familiar because it is in our daily life and it is unknown when it takes the form of a High Tech material (aeronautical, medical artificial lamb, etc).

3 - The textile set is also an assembling method of materials, which has a thread like form. For many specifically needs we can « spin » or « knit » materials of different natures (optical fibre, metal, etc).

4 - At last the textile set also includes the support function. This is known through the « micro-encapsulation » (moisturizing stocking for example), through the antibacterial treatment in the bedding.

The graph emphasizes the wide space of innovation that constitutes the textile field : new materials, new functions but also new processes.

To this technological dimension, we must add the organizational innovation aspect.
Making use of TIC, this innovation concerns the way of coordination and cooperation within of the sector. In a sector in the middle of disruption as to view production but also distribution, this type of innovation can be a deciding factor of growth.