Subverting the Concept of “Fast-Drying” and Redefining Sports Functional Clothing
HONG KONG, March 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eczewear‘s parent company, Comfiknit, a Hong Kong SAR-based health tech company developing sweat-management functional fabrics, introduced its sweat-wicking and cooling smart fabric technology that disrupts the concept of traditional “quick-drying” sportswear at the Sports Summit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Comfiknit and MIT have been collaborating since January 2024 to develop innovative strategies and design principles to optimise the heat-transfer function of sportswear, maintain body temperature balance, and improve athletic performance. The study is expected to be completed in 2027 and will help the industry develop standards for long-distance running T-shirts that truly absorb sweat and reduce heat stress.
Comfiknit has been a partner of MIT’s Sports Summit for the third year in a row, and this year it ranked first among partners such as FIFA, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and AusCycling Australia. Comfiknit’s CEO, Akahori Hiroyuki, said: “It is our honour that Comfiknit’s brand, technology, and team efforts have been recognised by top international academic halls. Comfiknit’s first place ranking shows that we have the ability to stand at the forefront of the international sports technology field and lead the industry to make breakthroughs.”
Breakthroughs in fabric design concept, structure and testing method
John Tsang, former Hong Kong Financial Secretary of the HKSAR and newly appointed Chief Advisor at Comfiknit, attended the forum as a panelist on the discussion panel titled “Athlete Partner in Design: Reshaping Sports Manufacturing” to introduce Comfiknit Activewear. He pointed out that Comfiknit Activewear embodies its disruptive innovation in many aspects:
- Breaking the dichotomy between the wearer and clothing, Comfiknit develops fabrics based on the human-clothing-environment dynamics, aiming to help wearers optimise a microclimate (temperature, humidity, and airflow) in clothing that is most conducive to the human sweat mechanism.
- Three systems are engineered into the fabric structure: sweat absorption, sweat transmission, and sweat evaporation
- The sweat-wicking and cooling functions of clothing are inherent to the human body and do not rely on external materials.
- Real-person dynamic testing (traditional functional clothing is tested with instruments that simulate the human body, which cannot reflect human physiology)
“The Comfiknit Activewear team is composed of experts in fabric production, sports science and civil engineering, focusing on the development of patented smart fabric technology based on the innate sweating mechanism of human body, so that the sweat expelled by the wearer during exercise is quickly absorbed by the fabric at the initial stage before sweat beads are formed, and transferred to the surface of the garment where the sweat quickly evaporates and takes away heat energy, exerting an efficient sweat drying and cooling function, ” explained John.
Comfiknit Activewear helps maintain a constant body temperature, bringing comfort from within (including both thermal and tactile comfort), and, more importantly, can help prevent physiological reactions such as dehydration, a high heart rate, and electrolyte imbalance caused by hyperthermia, and reduce the risk of heat exhaustion during exercise.
The discussion panel at the Sports Summit was moderated by Andy Harland, Professor of Sports Technology at Loughborough University, and featured speakers from CCM Hockey, the CEO of Fallinge, and representatives from ASICS Institute of Sports Science America LLC.
The development potential is unstoppable
Comfiknit, based in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, is raising funds, and several multinational corporations have expressed interest in the investment opportunity.
Being a sports junkie, John said he has personally experienced the benefits of Comfiknit Activewear, so he no longer gets drenched in sweat during workouts. Seeing the application of appropriate technology as an indispensable part of modern life, and given his alma mater, MIT’s involvement in the research project, he feels obliged to join the endeavour to promote sports technology for sweat management. He believes that Comfiknit Activewear has great potential and is poised to disrupt and reshape the functional sportswear industry. In addition, Comfiknit’s development strategy is guided by ESG principles that consider the well-being of both people and the environment.
Comfiknit’s eczema-friendly apparel, Eczewear, has expanded to a few stores in Hong Kong and Macau. Eczewear is a collaboration on the science of sweat management between Comfiknit and Nagasaki University School of Medicine in Japan, and has been proven to relieve itching, prevent moisture loss from the stratum corneum, and maintain a healthy skin pH in patients with eczema.
MIT Sports Summit
The MIT Sports Summit is the MIT Sports Lab’s annual flagship event. The event is designed to bring together industry leaders and academia, as well as the MIT community (students and startups), to share advances in sports and new work emerging from MIT labs. The forum features industry panels, researcher seminars, sports-technology start-up project presentations, and student research exhibitions.
https://sportssummit.mit.edu
Founded in 2015, the MIT Sports Lab is dedicated to education and research on tackling challenges that lie at the intersection of engineering and sports. The program links the expertise of MIT faculty, the unique resources of MIT’s facilities, the passion of MIT students, and the needs, experience and insight of industry partners. The Sports Lab uses advanced analytics to address complex challenges in a diverse set of areas: Player Identification & Development, In-game Strategy, Athlete Health & Performance, Next Generation Fan Engagement & OTT, Smart Stadiums & Venues, Data-driven Decision Making, Sports Technology Assessment and Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing.
https://sportslab.mit.edu/
About Comfiknit
Comfiknit is a fabric innovator and the spearhead of well fashion. We develop fabric intelligence inspired by the human sweat mechanism, enabling our fabrics to moderate human-clothing-environment interactions for optimal performance in protection, moisturisation, healing, and cooling. Comfiknit offers a range of wellness-focused products proven to outperform conventional functional apparel: Comfiknit Activewear, Comfiknit Travelwear (moisturising, pH-balanced clothing), and Eczewear (eczema-friendly clothing).
www.comfiknit.com
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Eczewear (eczema-friendly clothing) www.eczewear.com
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