The small Italian town of Prato has been built on cloth. There is even a museum there dedicated to its history, so there is no better place to weave together traditional Italian know-how with digital technology and come up with the next generation of cloth, what they are calling “smart fabric”. A company named “Luminex” has proposed on the idea of weaving fiber-optics into fabric, so the wearer can really light up a room when they enter it. Awesome right!! It is a fabric containing, amongst other things, fiber-optics, but there is also a technical side to it. The system consists of cabling, and the fiber-optics is lit by high-efficiency LEDs. The system powering it varies according to the function. Well mates until now with this technology so far we light up our computer casing, now let’s light up you self’s. Luminex’s glimmering clothing include spotless shawls, as well as shirts and pants that flicker. But it is not just night owls whose stars are coming out at night.

There are more immediate applications, everything from clothes for special events or occasions and accessories, and also household furnishings, cushions etc. But there are also a whole range of applications that are more technical, such as the security and emergency services. It is easy to see how this technology could conceivably save lives in conditions where visibility is low, such as in fog or smoke or in the dark ocean. Putting technology into fashion might also save the life of Prato’s home-grown fabrics industry, currently meeting the challenge of new competition from Chinese companies and imports.

The Italians are not the only ones exploring the interface between fabric and technology. The British company Eleksen has come up with a fabric that is sensitive to touch idea. It consists of three layers of fabric that allow a charge to run between them when you touch them. Works almost like a touch screen, just much more sensitive. Well here you go you got extra artificial Sensory beyond your body. Will be very useful for sensitive woman’s who don’t want to be touched. Hey no offence just a joke.

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