A while ago now I had the privilege of going to an exciting show called The Fabrican, Science in Style fashion show. Through pot luck my dad came across the show on a gadget website (you'll soon see why!) and thought I might be interested. It wasn't open to the public but I managed to wangle 3 tickets for me and two of my flatmates also at London College of Fashion.
The show coincided with both London Fashion Week and the London Design Festival and was a show that really stood out from the rest. It was held on Monday 20th September at Imperial College London and was like nothing seen before. A celebration of both science, material technology and fashion, it was a spectacle of haute-couture dresses made using an innovative spary-on fabric technology called Fabrican.
The Fabrican spray-on fabric is an instant non-woven fabric which can be sprayed onto surfaces using aerosol cans or spray-guns, allowing fast application of clothing. Fabrican was conjured up by Spanish designer Manel Torres whilst he was studying for his MA in women's wear at The Royal College of Art some 15 years ago. It has been developed since then with a partnership between Torres and Professor Paul Luckham from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London.
The event was a showcase of Manel's 2011 Spring/Summer Collection using the technology. Sitting in the audience eagerly awaiting the start of the show I didn't really know what to expect. I pictured models sauntering down the runway in sporty spray-on t-shirts and leggings, but I was far from right.
As the lights went down and the music started the first model appeared, eerily walking down the catwalk in an enchanting wash of white. The dress was quite something, consisting of a wired wavy skirt and hem structure which had been sprayed with Fabrican.
When sprayed, Fabrican has an illusion similar to that of cobwebs with a slightly transparent look. Many of the pieces were cage like structures which were the filled in using the Fabrican, creating very clean and interesting shapes. Other pieces consisted of sleek wide leg trousers, skin tight bodices creating a second skin and long fringy dresses conjuring images of children's silly string . The finale was a full length dress where the skirt was entirely made from wire spheres coated in Fabrican, creating the illusion that the model was walking in a sea of bubbles. Rumour has it the finale dress took a whole day to spray!
See the aerosols? At the end of the show, the models enjoyed spraying each other and the designer with Fabrican!
These photos show the ideas and styles but apologies for the quality.
Fabrican is certainly something to look out for in the future. But not only in fashion. It has many uses!
Check it out here: http://www.fabricanltd.com/
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