Методические рекомендации по восполнению знаний обучающихся по учебным предметам 1-11 классов

486
18 minutes 
Dressed to Dazzle
As high-tech materials invade high-street fashion, pre-
pare for clothes that are cooler than silk and warmer 
than wool, keep insects at arm’s length, and emit many 
pinpricks of coloured light. 
The convergence of fashion and high technology is lead-
ing to new kinds of fibres, fabrics and coatings that are 
imbuing clothing with equally wondrous powers. Corpe 
Nove, an Italian fashion company, has made a prototype 
shirt that shortens its sleeves when room temperature 
rises and can be ironed with a hairdryer. And at Nexia 
Biotechnologies, a Canadian firm, scientists have caused 
a stir by manufacturing spider silk from the milk of ge-
netically engineered goats. Not surprisingly, some in-
dustry analysts think high-tech materials may soon in-
fluence fashion more profoundly than any individual 
designer. 
A big impact is already being made at the molecular 
level. Nano-Tex, a subsidiary of American textiles mak-
er Burlington, markets a portfolio of nanotechnologies 
that can make fabrics more durable, comfortable, wrin-
kle-free and stain-resistant. The notion of this technolo-
gy posing a threat to the future of the clothing industry 
clearly does not worry popular fashion outlets such as 
Gap, Levi Strauss and Lands’ End, all of which employ 
Nano-Tex’s products. Meanwhile, Schoeller Textil in 
Germany, whose clients include famous designers Don-
na Karan and Polo Ralph Lauren, uses nanotechnology 
to create fabrics that can store or release heat. 
Sensory Perception Technologies (Spn embodies an en-
tirely different application of nanotechnology. Created 
in 2003 by Quest International, a flavour and fragrance 
company, and Woolmark, a wool textile organisation, 
SPT is a new technique of embedding chemicals into 
fabric. Though not the first of this type, SPT’s durability 
(evidently the microcapsule containing the chemicals 
can survive up to 30 washes) suggests an interesting fu-
ture. Designers could incorporate signature scents into 
their collections. Sportswear could be impregnated with 
anti-perspirant. Hayfever sufferers might find relief by 
pulling on a T-shirt, and so on. 
The loudest buzz now surrounds polylactic acid (PLA) 
fibres – and, in particular, one brand-named Ingeo. De-
veloped by Cargill Dow, it is the first man-made fibre 
derived from a 100% annually renewable resource. This 
is currently maize (corn), though in theory any ferment-
able plant material, even potato peelings, can be used. In 
performance terms, the attraction for the 30-plus clothes 
makers signed up to use Ingeo lies in its superiority over 
Hand out
pre and post reading 
Slide 11 

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polyester (which it was designed to replace). 
As Philippa Watkins, a textiles specialist, notes, Ingeo is 
not a visual trend. Unlike nanotechnology, which prom-
ises to ‘transform what clothes can do, Ingeo’s impact 
on fashion will derive instead from its emphasis on us-
ing natural sustainable resources. Could wearing syn-
thetic fabrics made from polluting and non-renewable 
fossil fuels become as uncool as slipping on a coat made 
from animal fur? Consumers should expect a much wid-
er choice of ‘green’ fabrics. Alongside PLA fibres, firms 
are investigating plants such as bamboo, seaweed, net-
tles and banana stalks as raw materials for textiles. Soya 
bean fibre is also gaining ground. Harvested 
in China and spun in Europe, the fabric is a better ab-
sorber and ventilator than silk, and retains heat better 
than wool. 
Elsewhere, fashion houses – among them Ermenegildo 
Zegna, Paul Smith and DKNY – are combining fashion 
with electronics. Clunky earlier attempts Involved at-
taching electronic components to the fabrics after the 
normal weaving process. But companies such as 
SOFTswitch have developed electro-conductive fabrics 
that behave in similar ways to conventional textiles. 
Could electronic garments one day change colour or pat-
tern? A hint of what could be achieved is offered by 
Luminex, a joint venture between Stabio Textile 
and Caen. Made of woven optical fibres and powered by 
a small battery, Luminex fabric emits thousands of pin-
pricks of light, the colour of which can be varied. Cos-
tumes made of the fabric wowed audiences at a produc-
tion of the opera Aida in Washington,DC, last year. 
Yet this ultimate of ambitions has remained elusive in 
daily fashion, largely because electronic textiles capable 
of such wizardry are still too fragile to wear. Margaret 
Orth, whose firm International Fashion Machines makes 
a colour-changing fabric, believes the capability is a 
decade or two away. Accessories with this chameleon-
like capacity – for instance, a handbag that alters its col-
our – are more likely to appear first. 

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