about materials for sensitive textiles

here you can find some innovative materials that could be embedded in fabric.

Most of them have been tested  by me, so I’ll leave some comments derived from my experiences about these products. 

So first of all, we need to understand what a sensitive textile is and what it is supposed to do. We can summarize a sensitive textile saying that is firstly able to change over time, to change visually or in its structure. Secondly, this kind of fabric can senses the environment where it is and respond to certain stimulus. The stiumuls can be electrical, mechanical, optic, thermic and magnetic.

A board made by Alan Hooper that defines the different stimulus and the respond to these stimulusis available at: http://smartextiles.co.uk/overview/smart-materials/

the thermochromic textiles have some inks that change color according to a certain temperature. Photochromic textiles instead change color according to day light intensity.

the designer Angel Chang made a beautiful s/s 08 collection including some thermosenstive fabric.this dress illustrates a New York map that is revealed only with a certain temperature.

About electricity: some textiles can reatc to electricity. For example, an electroluminecsent fabric will emit light when supplied.

Luminex, an italian textile industry developped this kinf of textiles. They look like magical.