The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the entire World. We, as the human species, have the duty to find solutions that can reduce drastically our negative environmental impact. The developing of new technologies and the progress of science is helping the fashion industry to become more environmental-friendly. In this article you will get in touch with some of the most impressive innovations regarding the fabric's world.
1. SPRAY-ON FABRIC: FABRICAN
The spray-on technique was developed by Fabrican, a company founded by Spanish fashion designer and scientist Manel Torres, based at the London Bioscience Innovation Centre.
Fabrican is an instant spray-on fabric technology. The spray-on material is made from polymers and natural or synthetic fibres. The spray is delivered from a compressed air spray gun or aerosol can and dries instantly on contact with the air, creating a non-woven fabric that can be applied to many surfaces (including water).
Fabrican can adapt to numerous uses: Fashion, medical, hygiene, oil spill clean-up, automotive, design, sports.
When the fabric is still in the liquid state, it is possible to insert colorants inside to obtain colored fabrics, aromas to make the final fabric perfumed, and medical substances to ensure that the final fabric also has healing functions.
Like any garment, even those in fabrican can be removed, washed and worn again but if you get tired or change fashions you can melt and reuse the material for a new model or accessory.
With fabrican, circular fashion is enriched!
The spray-on fabric is the most innovative and avant-garde system of the XXI century, proving yet again the world is always evolving and remaining to be drawn but it will take another couple of years for commercialization.
Recently, during Coperni's Spring Summer 2023 show, the famous model Bella Hadid was dressed with a spray-on fabric. The show was a collaboration with the company Fabrican. Here you can see the video of the show.
2. DOUBLE FACE THERMAL FABRIC
A team led by Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering, created a double-sided fabric based on the same material as everyday kitchen wrap. Their fabric can either warm or cool the wearer, depending which side faces out.
This project came out of Cui’s interest in energy efficiency and his expertise in manipulating nanoscale materials. He thought if people could be more comfortable in a range of temperatures, they could save energy on air conditioning and central heating.
“Why do you need to cool and heat the whole building? Why don’t you cool and heat individual people?” asked Cui.
On one side, a copper coating traps heat between a polyethylene layer and the skin; on the other, a carbon coating releases heat under another layer of polyethylene. Worn with the copper layer facing out, the material traps heat and warms the skin on cool days. With the carbon layer facing out, it releases heat, keeping the wearer cool.
Combined, the sandwiched material can increase a person’s range of comfortable temperatures over 10 F, and Hsu predicts that the potential range is much larger – close to 25 F. With inhabitants wearing a textile like that, buildings in some climates might never need air conditioning or central heating at all.
The team’s ambitions are to create an easily manufactured, practical textile that people could use to save huge amounts of energy around the world. And they don’t stop there – Cui, Hsu and Fan envision clothing with medical devices and even entertainment printed right into the fabric.
3. 3D FABRICS
We have been talking about 3D printing applied to the fashion sector since 2010, when Dutch artist Iris van Herpen presented the "Crystallization" clothing collection. Since then, the experimentation of 3D printing in the fashion sector has taken place with ever more extraordinary results in an attempt to explore new possibilities in a market that traditionally welcomes news, but which can no longer ignore environmental sustainability.
Yes, because, when we talk about fashion, we don't just mean clothing, but a universe of accessories that find in 3D printing a highly creative, customizable, affordable and easily reproducible solution. New stylistic frontiers are now possible for clothing, leather goods, footwear, jewelery and eyewear.
Technology and tradition meet halfway in the creation of highly customized unique products that can be touched by hand in a short time and without excessive costs. The optimization of costs is in fact also linked to the absence of material waste. In an industry that produces thousands of tons of waste globally, 3D printing is one more solution in favor of sustainability. The new consumption trends and environmental issues are in fact changing the corporate behavior of even the big brands, which, for example, are abandoning animal products in favor of new green proposals with a lower polluting impact.
