P&G Unveils Latest Innovations in Fabric Care Based on Cognitive Science

World’s leading experts gather in NYC to discuss the changing face of fashion and fabric care and examine the emotional and unconscious relationships people have with their clothes

George Kotsiopoulos, Washable Fashion Ambassador, at P&G Future Fabrics (Photo: Business Wire)

NEW YORK--()--The worlds of fabric and fashion came together in various dimensions for the senses today as P&G Fabric Care exclusively revealed how it is evolving to meet multi-sensorial fashion trends and solve the challenge of maintaining clothing beauty and longevity for its consumers. Hosted by style expert George Kotsiopoulos, the second-annual P&G Future Fabrics event in New York City brought together members of the media and influential guests from the fashion, home and lifestyle communities to experience first-hand the latest advances in fabrics and insight into how our own unconscious decisions affect our clothing perceptions.

The event consisted of presentations by a prestigious mix of fashion, fabrics and human psychology experts and culminated with a reveal of the next stage of the Washable Fashion initiative in a runway show cultivated by renowned fashion designer Giles Deacon. This was the second-annual P&G Future Fabric event in NYC, preceded by an event for global media that took place in Berlin last November.

P&G Fabric Care’s brands Tide® and Downy® will now have a stronger focus on macro fashion and fabric trends to ensure that the proprietary technology within its products can clean, protect and enhance the clothes consumers wear and love. Understanding that consumers are influenced by multi-sensorial (look, feel and smell) properties of fabrics, P&G’s Fiber Scientists will use the cognitive science of perception to analyze why consumers make their fashion and style choices.

Advancing P&G’s unique 3-Step FiberSCIENCE approach to prolong and improve the sensorial properties of clothes
“Our closets are full of clothes, yet 80 percent of the time, we wear only 20 percent of them,” said Margarita Bahrikeeton, Research Fellow for P&G Fabric Care. “Looking at that the other way round, why are 80 percent of the clothes we at one time loved left unworn in the closet?”

P&G is looking at Fabric Care from a new angle to find out the answer – breaking new ground by applying the latest research in the cognitive science of human perception to understand WHY consumers fall out of love with their wardrobe and how our relationship with clothes changes over time. By applying this knowledge to their FiberSCIENCE expertise, they strive to redefine what Fabric Care means for consumers and their clothes. Bahrikeeton also revealed that P&G Fiber Scientists are introducing new advances in the 3-Step FiberSCIENCE approach; to Clean, Protect and Enhance, which focus on prolonging and improving the multi-sensorial fabric properties that influence people’s perception of their clothes: the look, the feel and the scent.

The life cycle of our clothes is often cut short because these qualities are not cared for properly. Combining this cognitive knowledge with an unrivalled expertise of the fiber aging process, P&G is bringing a new approach to fabric care innovation (for brands like Tide and Downy) to maintain all the sensorial attributes of clothes and improve their quality of life.

Cognitive Science meets Fashion and Fabrics
P&G Future Fabrics’ official partner and respected fabric trends forecaster Première Vision opened with a presentation given by Associate Fashion Director Sabine Le Chatelier on fashion as a multi-sensorial experience, which illustrated how fabrics are more than visual – an alchemy of look, feel and handle or behavior. Also revealed was the current industry trends in textile and fabric innovation where imagination and technology are combining to produce exciting sensorial fashions that are also washable, easy to care for and sustainable.

This fashion trend toward the multi-sensorial was further explored by a presentation from leading Cognitive Psychologist Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum who revealed that the last years of research in perceptual psychology has given rise to a “multi-sensory revolution,” showing that our senses are always influencing one another and impacting our preferences and moods much more than we realize – often in ways in which we are not even aware. Dr. Rosenblum’s collaboration with P&G demonstrates how the myriad of cross-sensory influences on our experiences with our fashions - what you see, how it feels to touch, what your nose smells - impact the relationship we have with clothes and our final decision on what to wear.

Exclusive machine-washable collection for P&G Fabric Care by renowned fashion designer Giles Deacon unveiled
In a special fashion show at P&G Future Fabrics, runway models showcased 14 machine-washable looks exclusively designed by P&G Fabric Care’s Global Fashion Consultant Giles Deacon for Tide and Downy.

“High fashion shouldn’t mean high maintenance,” said Deacon. “When I design clothes, I want them to last, which is why the fiber science innovation led by P&G is so important to the longevity of fabric. After a year of working with P&G Fabric Care, I have been inspired by what Tide and Downy can do to ensure that clothes remain beautiful long after they were designed.”

“For this new collection, I was inspired by the macro-trend of multi-sensorial fashions and fabrics,” Deacon added. “Aware that both Tide and Downy have the capability to preserve and protect these fashions, I set about creating designs that bring the best of each brand to life. For Tide, it was all about making lasting first impressions, color, confidence and impact. For Downy, I focused on giving people the confidence to wear an item all day and feel as great in it in the evening as they did when they first put it on in the morning.”

The P&G vision
“P&G Fabric Care has had innovation at its heart for more than 60 years, and today is no different,” said Shailesh Jejurikar, President, P&G Fabric Care North America and Corporate New Business Development. “In fact, it’s more important than ever. In a world of new and ever-developing fabrics and heightened consumer expectation, we are taking action. We are not just cleaning clothes, we are protecting and enhancing them.”

“Born out of the challenge to maintain the beauty and performance of clothes, our mission is to redefine and elevate what cleaning and caring for clothes means,” added Jejurikar. “We are doing this by engaging more closely with fashion and fabric partners, like Première Vision and continuing our tradition of leadership in consumer understanding by engaging with cognitive psychology expert Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum to better understand how the sensorial attributes of garments plays into our fashion choices. We are also looking to the fashion and fabric trends which are coming down the catwalks to inspire the development of new fabric care technologies to support these future fabrics.

“It is these macro trends and the deep dive into the mind-body connection that have been guiding our most recent product innovations. This is an exciting time in a space full of opportunities for us to build meaningful partnerships and bring innovation to the market, and I look forward to advancing fashion and fabric care together,” Jejurikar added.

Tide, innovating for 60+ years, is redefining what fabric care and cleaning means
Responding to the trends in sensorial fashion and the unconscious multi-sensory influences behind human perception, Tide’s 3-step FiberSCIENCE approach – to clean, protect and enhance – acts on the fibers, not just stains, to maintain the sensorial qualities (look, feel and scent) of fabrics that impact people’s relationship with their clothes. Tide’s formulas help protect and improve the look of clothes via a process of fiber purification and preservation, which removes and prevents impurities from re-depositing back on fibers. This can cause clothes to appear dull and dingy and influence people’s emotions and preference.

Tide also helps protect the feel of clothes through FiberSCIENCE technologies specialized in optimizing the wash conditions to help protect fiber integrity and preserve that “like-new” feel. Tide FiberSCIENCE experts also focus on improving the cognitive-emotional connection to clothes thanks to a combination of unique fresh scent technologies and impeccable cleaning against invisible stains that can cause odor.

Downy – fiber protection and long-lasting freshness for clothes that look and feel like new for longer
Downy scientists have applied the latest learning in P&G FiberSCIENCE and cognitive science to protect and enhance the sensorial attributes of clothes (their look, feel and scent) at a fiber level. By understanding what drives people’s perceptions of their fashion, Downy’s formulation helps preserve the texture and construction of clothes and provides an uplifting perfume experience. Inspired by the link between people’s emotions and scent, Downy enhances garments and moods with sophisticated scent technology and perfume oils that provide an irresistible freshness experience and long-lasting fragrance throughout the day.

Furthermore, Downy penetrates in the layers of fabrics to condition the fibers and reduce friction between fabrics during the wash and day-to-day wear. This helps minimize the chances of damage to the texture of fabrics and premature aging of clothes. When you use Downy to enhance the fragrance, feel and life of your fashion pieces – both high and low – you can upgrade your wardrobe to the next level. When your clothes look great, feel soft, and smell amazing – it’s the difference between “just an outfit” and “next level fashion.”

About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves nearly five billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Première Vision
Première Vision S.A. is a leading French company that has been organizing textile and fashion trade fairs since 1973. Initially local, the company has skillfully evolved to acquire a global dimension. Première Vision is today at the heart of a comprehensive international network. With twelve subsidiaries and foreign offices throughout the world, the company now organizes 32 events a year in France and in key locations such as New York, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Moscow or Brussels. Its shows are known for skillfully combining a selective, creative and complementary product offer – high-quality fabrics, accessories, yarns, fibers, and textile designs – with original, forward-looking and cutting edge fashion information.

About Giles Deacon
Giles Deacon is a celebrated fashion designer renowned the world over for his playful, show-stopping designs. After graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1992, Giles chose to travel and gain experiences at different fashion houses. He spent two years working with French fashion designer Jean Charles De Castelbajac before returning to London to work for a number of High Street fashion houses. It was during this time that Giles met the owner of Bottega Veneta, and from 1998 until 2002 Giles was the head designer at Bottega Veneta and the Gucci Group. In 2004, Deacon launched his own label GILES at London Fashion week to international acclaim. His collection received numerous awards including “British Designer of the Year” at the British Fashion Awards in 2006 and the prestigious French ANDAM Fashion Award in 2009. GILES celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2014.

About Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum
Dr. Lawrence Rosenblum is an award-winning Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of the book See What I’m Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses. His research has been published widely in scientific journals and has been featured in Scientific American, The Economist, and The New York Times. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs including Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman and BBC Horizon.

Contacts

For further information and high resolution photography, contact:
Marina Maher Communications:
Caitlin Feroleto, 212-485-1676
cferoleto@mahercomm.com
or
Procter & Gamble:
Tracey Long, P&G Fabric Care Communications, 513-983-9629
long.tl@pg.com

Contacts

For further information and high resolution photography, contact:
Marina Maher Communications:
Caitlin Feroleto, 212-485-1676
cferoleto@mahercomm.com
or
Procter & Gamble:
Tracey Long, P&G Fabric Care Communications, 513-983-9629
long.tl@pg.com