V2_ Knowledgebase

London College of Fashion is the only college in the UK to specialise in fashion education, research and consultancy. We offer a unique portfolio of courses that aim to reflect the breadth of opportunity available in this vibrant industry.

After numerous attempts and experiments, it has finally been possible to integrate a luminous fibre into a fabric, giving its own brilliance. Luminex is a new fabric that can emit its own light. Itís the result of a close collaboration between a highly technological electronics company like CAEN spa, which is in fact the worldís leading company in the planning and production of electronic equipment for use in Nuclear physics experiments, and two companies operating in textiles sector FIT spa in Prato and the Swiss company STABIO sa.

In Making is Connecting, David Gauntlett argues that through making things, people engage with the world and create connections with each other. Both online and offline, we see that people want to make their mark on the world, and to make connections. During the previous century, the production of culture became dominated by professional elite producers. But today, a vast array of people are making and sharing their own ideas, videos, and other creative material online, as well as engaging in real-world crafts, art projects, and hands-on experiences. Gauntlett argues that we are seeing a shift from a 'sit-back-and-be-told culture' to a 'making-and-doing culture'. People are rejecting traditional teaching and television, and making their own learning and entertainment instead. Drawing on evidence from psychology, politics, philosophy, and economics, he shows how this shift is necessary and essential for the happiness and survival of modern societies.

Designer Mariëlle Leenders has experimented with fabric that features shape memory wire either woven into the material or added later as one or more lines of stitching. Her Moving Textiles (2000) react to differences in temperature by shrinking, creasing, changing structure or rolling up. Lines of stitching added to the basic material in certain places cause the fabric to creep up when temperatures rise.

Material ConneXion is the leading global platform for material solutions and innovations. Built on the belief that Every Idea has a Material Solutionô, we are the trusted advisor for Fortune 500's, smaller forward-thinking companies, and government agencies seeking a creative or competitive edge through strategic material selections. With offices in New York, Bangkok, Cologne, Daegu and Milan, Material ConneXion's international network of material specialists provide a global, cross-industry perspective on materials, sustainable alternatives, and their potential uses

Milano Unica, the new international textile fair organized in Italy, has been created through the vast experience, fine quality and tradition of four prestigious Italian exhibitions, Ideabiella, Ideacomo, Moda In, Shirt Avenue. This unique, composite project will be held twice a year (February-September), presenting the finest quality products from both Italian and European textile manufacturers. The name, Milano Unica represents the three essential characteristics of the textile fair. UNICA is synonymous with singular, exclusive, united. February 16-18 2010

Modern protective clothing needs to meet a variety of multifunctional requirements and offer a very high level of protection as well as remarkable comfort and wearability, influencing the wearerís physical performance which puts it far beyond usual definitions of comfort. The demand for multifunctional properties makes it necessary to develop and improve fibre and textile materials and structures (suits, uniforms, Ö). Introduction of nanotechnology and the use of a variety of (wearable) sensors / embedded electronics and processors turn traditional protection into a value added market posing ever increasing challenges to researchers and engineers at universities, institutes and industry. Design and manufacturing of sophisticated interactive protective textiles and clothing, meeting very tight specifications, has to be done taking into account cost-effectiveness, environmental issues and even the need to be applied to military as well as civil purposes.

Novanex is a design company specialised in design, product development and manufacture of innovative textile products. Our objective is to combine intelligent design and trendsetting technologies optimally with one another. The sustainability issue also plays a very important role here.

Plug-and-Wear, a one-stop-shop offering materials and components specifically targeted to eTextile creators has opened it's shopping doors. Plug-and-Wear is the brain child of Riccardo Marchesi, Managing Director of InnTex, an Italian based textiles and textiles machinery company with 55+ years experience in the textile industry.

We are a recently formed group of textile designers, bound by a shared vision for the future direction of design. Far from the common perception of textile designers as girls who draw flowers, we are individuals who integrate aspects of material science, fine arts, academic research, storytelling, and product design into our practice. Because this broad understanding of textile design is still considered unconventional, we join forces to create a stronger statement for textiles.

We are experimenting with responsive textiles, that means textiles which have the ability to change qualities (patterns, colour, structure...) as a result of a given interaction with the physical environment, the user(s) or as a result of the of an interaction with more abstract datas.

The international clothing and textiles market is, without a doubt, a very dynamic one. To be successful in this industry a Product Manager needs to be able to draw not only on his or her technical knowledge of textiles, but also increasingly on a sound understanding of business principles and the manufacturing process in a wider context. Therefore the focus of this course is on Product Management in Clothing and Textiles.

The School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering (PTFE) offers undergraduate and graduate degrees with a specialization in polymer and fiber engineering to put you on the cutting edge of the world's leading industries.

SENSOREE is an art and technology design lab elaborating on ideas of therapeutic bio.media, body architecture, interactive installations, sensitive technology, and robot clothes. SENSOREE designs future fabric and smart textiles for wearable technology and interactive installations. Our whimsical designs create external nervous systems that inspire body awareness, insight, and spontaneity. We promote extimacy – externalized intimacy. SENSOREE explores for the Sensory Computer Interface [SCI] — the investigation of proximity, intimacy, telepathy, intuition, and humor between human and machine. It’s a sensory soiree !

The symbiosis of textiles with wearable computing, augmented reality, human machine interfaces, media and interface design and the collaboration between established electronics and textile industries currently lead to a totally new class of flexible, conformable informative and interactive wearable systems. The current market size for wearable computing and smart fabrics and interactive textiles (SFIT) is modest but presents a strong future outlook.