Page 62 - TEXtalks. July- August 2023

62
Smart textiles promote mindfulness,

with fiber optic polymers

The smart textile shown here in detail, uses two layers of Jacquard weave with fibre optic polymers
incorporated into the weft. The fabric has been woven in Italy by Dreamlux.

The five-story stair was originally built in the late 18th century to a design by Sir William Chambers, it was
destroyed during the Blitz in World War II, then reconstructed in the 1950s under the supervision of Sir
Alfred Richardson following the original plans that had fortuitously been kept at Sir John Soane’s House
(now museum) walking distance away in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

Visitors entering the stairwell area are presented with the smart textile measuring an impressive 10m in
length and 3m wide, as it stretches up through the floors framed by the historic stairwell and architecture
features as they spiral around it.

The textile combines two fabrics sandwiched together, that have been jacquard woven at Dreamlux. Both
layers use fibre optics woven in the weft of a fine organza allowing the colour changes to show through,
both in the front and the reverse that is visible walking up the stairs.

Different patterns appear on both with a single rather than repeat pattern used through the full length of
the fabric. This allows for a seamless undulation of the light as it changes, ripple-like as it moves both up
and down the length of the material. This creates a waterfall effect, evoking the calming effect of water.

Butterfly wings inspire invisible and

indelible labels

The combination of two materials bends and refracts Recycling could be more effective if a tag was woven
light to create optical effects that can look like colour. into the fabric, invisible until it needed to be read.
Less than 15% of the 92 million tons of clothing and
other textiles discarded annually are recycled, in part Recyclers already use near-infrared sorting systems
because they are so difficult to sort. Woven-in labels that identify different materials according to their
made with inexpensive photonic fibres developed by naturally-occurring optical signatures – the PET
a University of Michigan-led team could prove a plastic in a water bottle, for example, looks different
under near-infrared light to the HDPE plastic in a milk
game changer in this respect.
bottle. Different fabrics also have different optical
signatures, but Brian Iezzi, a postdoctoral researcher
Ordinary tags often don’t make it to the end of a
in Shtein’s lab, explained that these signatures are of
garment’s life – they can be cut away or washed until
limited use to recyclers because of the prevalence of
illegible, and tag-less information can wear off.
blended fabrics.
July/August 2023