Fabrican Sprayable Clothes Still To Become Mainstream

Industry news

Fabrican Sprayable Clothes Still To Become Mainstream

Fashion from a can, is an innovative idea by Dr Manel Torres from Imperial College in London. The `Fabrican' technology was presented at the London Bioscience Innovation, wherein a nonwoven, sprayable fabric has been created with the help of engineering, material science and design.

By means of an aerosol can or a spray gun, the liquid suspension in the form of a liquify fibre can be sprayed onto a body or a dress form. As the dissolvent evaporates, the result would be a close-fitting garment, from an instant nonwoven fabric. "It is stretchy and it feels like suede. It could be made of synthetic materials such as starpoly popolan or natural fibres such as cotton, linen, wool, and it could take different forms and textures," said Dr. Manel Torres. The flexibility of the sprayable fabric allows the fibre to conform to any body shape and diminishes the technical and economic barriers to customised fashion production and design. And the technology thus addresses the various logistics issues involved with conventional fabric and apparel manufacturing. It does away with the need for stocking or re-tooling various types of material, the design process can benefit from instant customisation of the physical attributes of the product, such as the shape, texture, colour, scent, all according to customers' preferences.

Other applications

Fabrican technology finds usage not just in fashion. Fabrican can be used with success in households, automotive, healthcare and environmental applications. When combined with nanotechnology Fabrican can create instant smart fabrics, as the material allows for sprayable conductive fabrics that can interface with wearable technology smart sensors and devices. Moreover, Fabrican is already known as the "second skin" in the medical and cosmetic industries. However, despite that Fabrican technology has been developed for about a decade with no known side effects, the technology has yet to move to the mass market before we see Fabrican sprayable clothes reaching mainstream adoption.