Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic nano coatings

[East Coaster]

Will these coatings become more mainstream to reduce stains, wick away sweat etc for higher end fashion.

Or will they stay in the world of sports and commercial products?

 

[Holdfast]

High-end clothes covers a mulitude of makes. Those that emphasise traditional aesthetics and handwork will find incorporating modern technical materials difficult because of the clash with what they currently market themselves as. Those that emphasise cutting-edge design (or are more fashion-oriented generally) will find it easier to include modern finishes and materials. An example of a brand that attempts to marry the two sets of values to some degree would be Loro Piana, with its Storm System lines. But it's a tricky line to walk successfully, on a consistent basis.

 

[Northampton Novice]

Well given that the technology has been around for a number of years yet it's not broken through into other markets is a significant pointer. I would guess it's future will be determined solely by commercial factors, rather than fields of application.

 

[East Coaster]

Would love to see Hydrophilic coating on super fine cotton shirting.

 

[HomerJ]

This is a picture I took of Isaia's Aquaspider wool. Superhydrophobic. I'll have to try it again after a few dry cleanings.

 

[Svenn]



Those that emphasise traditional aesthetics and handwork will find incorporating modern technical materials difficult because of the clash with what they currently market themselves as.

Correct, though in my mind this 'clash' is an illusion. It seems every bespoke tailor out there seems to have a knee-jerk aversion to fabrics with harmless modern improvements like water-resistance, stretch, etc, that have no noticeable visual or performance difference with traditional 100% wool. I have yet to find any textile engineer or similarly-trained individual ever state that unaltered pure wool somehow 'drapes' better or whatever than altered fabrics... in fact, a tailor I used on the Row, highly esteemed on SF, when I presented him with some stretch suiting, frankly stated it may be a good idea but he didn't have experience working with it.

In my opinion then, it's the clients that are the source of this inexplicable phenomena in menswear; they're the ones demanding old-timey craftsmanship and the materials associated therewith. When they receive the finished product, they then declare how much better pure wool must be, than their JCPenny suit that was undoubtedly hideous because of the lycra it contained. All additional improvements to textiles thus become heresy and tacky.

I'm glad to see that Loro brand you mention is attempting to mesh the two, but I don't think these types of fabrics are ever going to go beyond RTW or MTM, until a new bespoke tailor is willing to differentiate himself.

 

[East Coaster]

It will happen slowly.

No doubt nano-coatings will probably appear with hydrophilic Bemberg to wick away sweat followed by hydrophobic coatings for suiting to make them 'cleaner' for longer.

If traditionalists don't keep up they will become museum relics rather than artisans.