5.Read text b high-tech fashion

High-tech fashion uses advances in science and technology to design and produce

fashion products. Methods used in high-tech fashion are borrowed from technologies developed in the fields of chemistry, computer science, aerospace engineering, automotive engineering, architecture, industrial textiles, and competitive athletic wear. Fashion projects an image of rapid change and forward thinking—a good environment for use of the latest technologies in production methods and materials. As technology becomes more integrated with one’s everyday life, its influence on the fashion one wears continues to increase.

Historic technological innovations such as the development of the sewing machine, the zipper, and synthetic fibers have influenced how garments are made, how they look, and how they perform. Elsa Schiaparelli was a noted designer of the 1930s and 1940s who had an eagerness to experiment with synthetic fibers. She introduced the first zipper to Paris couture. World events delayed advancements in techno fashions until the race for space began to influence designers in the 1960s. Paco Rabanne’s experimentation with metal-linked garments, and Pierre Cardin’s pioneering vacuum-formed fabrics began to push the boundaries of fashion through experimentation with technology and innovative materials. Plastics, foamlaminated fabrics, metallic-coated fabrics, and a sleek fashion silhouette launched fashion into a new realm. Technological advances continue to influence fashion with new developments in materials, garment structuring and sizing, methods of production, and the quest for fashion that reflects the look and lifestyle of the future.

Techno Materials

Techno materials include fibers, textiles, and textile finishes engineered for a specific function or appearance. The U.K. designer Sophia Lewis believes that “the greatest potential for the future lies in experimental fashion using advanced synthetics to promote new aesthetics and methods of garment construction”. While most synthetics of the twentieth century were developed to mimic natural fibers, the new synthetics are engineered to be strong and durable even when lightweight, transparent, or elastic. Blending natural fibers with synthetics in new ways to produce “techno-naturals” is adding to the aesthetic and performance advantages of textiles.

Recent fiber developments include microfibers, fibers regenerated from corn and milk proteins, metallics, and fiber optics. Microfibers can be produced at a thickness less than that of a silk filament to create fabrics that are soft and fluid with great strength and capabilities of performing under extreme environmental conditions.

Concept table High-Tech Fashion

Concept	Processes/Related Ideas	Characteristics/Description
High-tech fashion Fashion projects Historic technological innovations Techno materials	What advances in science and technology does it use? What is their major course of development? Trends in development What materials promote new aesthetics and methods of garment construction?	High-tech fashion uses technologies developed in the fields of chemistry, computer science, aerospace engineering, automotive engineering, architecture, industrial textiles, and competitive athletic wear. Fashion project is an image of rapid change and forward thinking—a good environment for use of the latest technologies in production methods and materials The development of the sewing machine, the zipper, and synthetic fibers have influenced how garments are made, how they look, and how they perform. The greatest potential for the future lies in the new experimental synthetics which are engineered to be strong and durable