Materials Science
Recycled nylon and armour-like leather: how new fabrics are shaping the future of fashion.
New innovation and existing cloth. A composition of modern and proven luxury fabrics is gaining a positive reputation.
DURING THEIR FAMOUS 1953 ascent of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay relied on a familiar material to keep the deadly elements at bay: nylon. Sir Edmund, drawing inspiration from military apparel, created a windproof suit of woven cotton and nylon to be worn over the pair’s Shetlandwool base layers.
“The advantage of nylon is mechanical performance,” says Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of Aquafil, which produces Econyl, a recycled version of the material. “You get more with less when compared to natural yarns or polyesters.”
Despite the fibre’s low weight, nylon has high thermal resistance and amazing tensile strength, which makes it perfect for outerwear. Burberry has a capsule collection, including a monogrammed jacquard car coat, parka and backpack, developed around Econyl, which takes fibres from waste materials like fishing nets and carpet and recycles them into a nylon yarn. Stella McCartney relies on it, as does Prada, which uses Econyl for its Re-Nylon line of bags, including a handsome men’s duffel in navy.
The adventuring experts at North Face developed its latest high-tech fabric, Futurelight, in-house. The material is created through a nano-spinning process that allows unprecedented levels of breathability in a waterproof material. Essentially, nano-scale holes allow air to permeate Futurelight without letting water in, and the material can be made to increase or decrease airflow so it can be customised for cold-weather mountain gear or sea-level running kit.
In the world of high fashion, brands are contemplating not just what new fabrics can do, but how to improve age-old luxury materials.
“We wanted to create a leather that’s paper thin, which still has the qualities of leather but also has strength,” says Gisela Draijer, Ecco Leather’s marketing manager. The thinner the leather, the less durable it is, but leather integrated with Dyneema, a material 15 times stronger than steel and typically found in bulletproof vests, can be used in applications that would require thicker hides. For the brand’s spring 2020 collection, Alyx Studio designer Matthew Williams transformed FSDX Dyneema into a handsome, slightly techy anorak in what looks like leather but is basically a new material: supple, luxurious, indestructible armour. Exactly how a leather jacket is supposed to feel.