Technology is becoming increasingly important within the textile industry and today we can say that smart clothing already exists. Yes, as you read it, we still don’t have the interactive fabrics that Google talked about in 2015, but we do have other innovations.
The futuristic clothes from the movies they are a fact and there are more alternatives within our reach than we think. Some, so integrated into our society thanks to large companies that go unnoticed, but worthy of being taken out of their context to get to know them in detail. And it is that they consist of great advances towards the most sustainable sector.
We collect the most striking. From the already famous technology with a Spanish stamp that made it possible to create a dress with spray on the body of Bella Hadid during the Coperni fashion show, to the most creative proposals from brands such as Zara and Nike.
Weave with sprays
A revolution that amazed everyone during the Coperni parade. The Spanish company Manel Torres has created a spray that can be used to make fabrics to taste and opens up a range of opportunities. With it, it is possible the fabric is formed directly on a surface that can be the human body. As it is applied, the fibers bond and their thickness depends on the amount of product used.
This system admits the use of recycled, synthetic or natural fibres. The result is washable and doesn’t have to be white like Bella’s famous example, it can be any color.
In addition to its application in the world of fashion, the medical and interior decoration possibilities of this spray are discussed.
Anti-stain, wrinkle and bacteria fabrics
Gallantdale, the leading brand of uniforms for health professionals that has just opened its first boutique in Europe in the emblematic ABC Serrano Shopping Center (Madrid), uses a fluid-repellent fabric dries quickly and is easy to wash. It is resistant to chlorine, sterilizable at more than 130º (includes the sterilization bag), and is also waterproof and antibacterial, qualities that make it optimal for use by health professionals.
In addition, Gallantdale has confirmed that it will incorporate its new line of ecological fabrics into its next collection. A commitment to the environment that is also implemented in production and operating processes where reusable materials are incorporated.
Along the same lines, the Spanish brand Sepiia has been offering garments that neither stain nor wrinkle since 2016.
Sustainable fabric manufacturing technologies
The upcycling It has been considered a salvation within the fashion industry, but there are studies that doubt that it is really sustainable. As a solution to this, the UOC, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has created a system to automate clothing recycling capable of differentiating materials in order to facilitate their use.
Zara works, within the Sustainability Innovation Hub (SIH) platform, in a technology that transforms carbon emissions into ethanol, and later New Materials such as polyester (Lanzatech). Also in an innovative solution thanks to which it is possible to convert materials rich in cellulose.
Within the SIH program, the Inditex group firm is working in parallel on Infinited Fiber, which proposes giving another life to recycled clothing from the brand’s store collection program, and Renew Cell, which transforms pre- and post-consumer textile waste returning the cotton cellulose to the garment in question.
Nike, with Nike Forward, also joins this commitment to more sustainable modernity and has launched a new material manufactured in such a way that it reduces the environmental impact by 75%. Its technology manages to reduce the process and convert the fiber into a textile through perforations with punches. The result is a fabric with lower density and emissions.
Natural resources that can be converted into sustainable textiles
Much better known, but no less surprising, is the creation of fabrics from natural resources such as pineapples or corn. We have seen examples of this in the H&M collections.
In the same way, there are also those who are manufacturing fabrics based on recycled elements such as tire rubber, coffee grounds, VHS tapes or PET plastic bottles. Here Ecoalf, Mango, Inditex and C&A stand out.
Cover photos | AC
Photos | provided by the firms
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