The European and especially Belgian textile industry focuses on technical applications. Technical textiles are high-quality products that are used in a wide range of domains such as the medical sector, construction, transport, industry, sports, agriculture. In addition to reinforcement, the textile also offers protection against foul weather conditions, heat, impact, (bio)chemical harmful substances, etc. Such products typically consist of many layers of rather thick, hard and/or impermeable layers, which severely compromise wearing comfort. Wearing comfort includes thermophysiological and ergonomic comfort. By judicious use (combinations) of advanced materials, comfort can be improved without affecting protection. The research includes three parts: intelligent textiles, modelling the physical behaviour of complex textile structures and testing from lab level to test subjects. The research is multidisciplinary.