Catalytic Clothing, a collaboration between the London College of Fashion, University of Sheffield, and the University of Ulster, has recently presented the first prototype of a dress that can purportedly absorb airborne pollutants. A thin layer of space-age, pollution-absorbing concrete mixture is sprayed onto the “Herself” dress. Wearing the dress automatically means that you are helping to save the environment, simply by walking around and being fashionable!

However, the “Herself” dress is highly experimental and is only inteded to illustrate – in artistic form – the idea that textiles can help eliminate certain pollutants from the air. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that an actual, wearable version of the dress will be made.

Check out the dress here!

Some years ago, Fabrican created an instant, sprayable, non-woven fabric and was developed further through a collaboration between Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art, London (UK). When spraying the liquid onto your body, the liquid transforms into fabric. Each spray can sends thousands of cotton fibers splattering against your skin. The fibers then bend together and form a garment that peels away when you undress (so washing your clothes is no longer needed). Since the fibres are delivered in a diffused form, other elements, like perfumes, pigments or treatments, can be easily added.

Source: NextNature ; We make money not art

At the  National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, one specific presentation of MIT stole the show. The central idea, that got a lot of attention, is using a virus to develop hi-tech batteries that could be woven into clothing. It is harmless to humans and can be engineered as a bio-template to produce lithium ion batteries which could be made into clothing like military uniforms. In this way several portable devices such as smart phones, GPS units and handheld radios can be easily powered.

Source: PSFK