Balenciaga’s Spring ‘07 collection
Alexander Mcqueen’s Fall ‘07 collection
Sandra Backlund
Sans’ Spring ‘07 eco-friendly collection
Sans’ Fall ‘07 eco-friendly collection
Hussein Chalayan’s Spring ‘07 shape-shifting collection
Hussein Chalayan’s Fall ‘07 collection
Viktor & Rolf’s Fall ‘07 collection
And let’s not forget to include some for the men: Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall ‘07 Men’s collection
High technology and good Swedish design distinguish these devices for protecting child skiers.
The POCito collection, developed by POCSKI, includes a helmet, reflective jacket, protection for the back, anti-fog mask, waistcoat in reflective lycra for visibility, and other accessories. It has all been designed to prevent and mitigate the consequences of the numerous accidents on the increasingly crowded ski slopes. If it weren’t for the bright colours it would look like battle armour. Anyone fancy a nice game of tennis instead?
Via domus (registration requested but free)
It is a miracle substance - lighter than feathers, stronger than steel, one of the toughest fibres found in nature. Now scientists in Japan have found a way of harnessing the remarkable power of spiders’ webs to make anything from tights and fishing nets to bulletproof vests.
Researchers at Shinshu University have succeeded in injecting spider genes into silkworms to create a thread that is stronger, softer and more durable than conventional silk. A Japanese manufacturer is already experimenting with the thread, and spider socks, stockings and even fishing lines are expected to appear on the market within a few years.
The team, based in the city of Nagano and led by Masao Nakagaki, a professor of insect genetics, has beaten rival scientists from around the world in devising a way of mass-producing spider silk.
Conventional “farming” of spiders proved impossible because of their territorial and cannibalistic nature. Five years ago American geneticists devised a bizarre means of generating spider silk by extruding it from the udders of female goats. But Professor Nakagaki’s technique employs a much more manageable creature - the silkworm, whose shimmering fibres have been used to create cloth for more than 5,000 years.
Silkworm eggs are injected with the genes of Nephila clavata, the golden orb spider, known in Japanese as the courtesan spider because its striking yellow, black and red colouring resembles the gorgeous kimono of an up-market prostitute. The silkworm caterpillars that emerge from the eggs weave cocoons, of which 10 per cent consist of spider proteins. These are spun into silk. Professor Nakagaki hopes to increase the proportion of spider thread material to 50 per cent.
“Dragline silk”, which spiders use to raise and lower themselves and to construct the spokes of their webs, has one of the highest tensile strengths of any natural substance - five times that of a thread of steel of the same thickness. In terms of its ability to absorb impact, it is superior to Kevlar, the plastic fibre used for antistab vests and body armour.
Other applications include tennis rackets and fishing line and nets - unlike nylon thread, which pollutes beaches and threatens sea birds, spider silk will degrade naturally over time. Spider thread could also be used by microsurgeons as sutures after operations. The only company developing commercial applications for the spider silk is Okamoto, a business based in Nara, central Japan, which plans to release extra-thin and durable spider socks by about 2010.
Other cultures have found uses for cobwebs. Polynesian fishermen used the threads of the golden orb spider to make fishing line and communities in Papua New Guinea put webs on their heads to keep off the sun’s rays. During the Second World War, threads from black widow spiders were used as hairs in telescopic gun sights.
NOW comes an electric light bulb to displace glowing pearls from earrings! The photograph shows a young woman apparently wearing a large pearl earring, but in reality it is a midget electric bulb run from tiny batteries concealed in ornamental coils around it. The bulb is frosted to produce a soft light. It is particularly effective in contrast with dark hair.
From Modern Mechanix 12-1932.
Fashion designer Willy Bogner has put solar-powered lights in ski suits. The solar-powered LEDs employ thin-film technology developed by lighting company Osram.
Here’s some info from Osram:
LED on snow: High-tech winter fashion of tomorrow
Ski fashion for the year 2036 promotes LED lighting. At an event held on November 5th 2007 for the Munich bid to host the Olympic Winter Games, fashion designer Willy Bogner sent his models on a trip into the future of winter sports.
Together with lighting manufacturer OSRAM, he ventured a brief look into the future: state-of-the-art lighting technology providing the winter sports outfits of tomorrow with a conspicuous, yet sartorially elegant design. Bogner on the outside, OSRAM on the inside – this is the motto of these sparkling ski suits.
Twelve brightly illuminated OSRAM Golden DRAGON LEDs in a special version of the DRAGONx LED module fitted on the front and rear as well as on the sleeves made the “Solar Light Suit” sparkle. The LEDs are solar-powered. Based on the thin film technology developed by OSRAM, these light sources boast a particularly high luminous efficacy. With an optical output ratio of 55 Lumen/Watt, the Golden DRAGON LEDs require little space given their minimalist size. Even with integrated lens, each measures less than a centimetre in height. Thus they are suitable for the most diverse designs and can easily be integrated into clothing. Because of different beam directions – depending on the lens used – the high-power LEDs are also perfect for architectural and accent lighting and for use in spotlights.
LEDs with extremely flat design:
The “Private Space Suit“ – a further creation by Willy Bogner – featured LINEARlight Flex LED strips to place impressive illuminated highlights in red and white. The LED module, which is fixed on a flexible and separable pc board, emits the light either at the top or at the side – without generating a great deal of heat in the process. Due to its low height, it can be fitted in extremely flat designs, thus also in trousers or jackets. As a long-life solution with more than twice the luminous flux, the LINEARlight W2 has a life of up to 50,000 hours.
“There is no question that light will assume a whole host of different functions in the future that are quite inconceivable to the modern consumer,” said Florian Hockel, applications engineer at OSRAM. “As an innovative lighting company, it is our task to act and plan with a view to the future. Consequently, the Future Outfits for Willy Bogner were an excellent chance to demonstrate just what our LED modules can do, even in the face of an unusual, futuristic challenge.”
Via dezeen.
