Insects Have Entered the Fashion World – New Spider-Inspired Clothing
Insect used to simply be pests that we called in exterminators to get rid of. Now they’ve invaded our food culture, working to change the diets of people across the globe. But, the insect craze is not stopping there. Their next goal is to take over the fashion world. Say hello to clothes made out of spider silk. North Face Japan and the biotech start-up Spiber have joined forces to create the first clothing made out of synthetic spider silk. They recently unveiled their first prototype garment, the Moon Parka. This new clothing is something that you might think sounds like something out of a science fiction novel.
There is a reason two companies decided to team up and create this spider silk clothing. The material is incredibly strong and durable. The Moon Parka was made with synthetic spider silk material called Qmonos developed by Spiber. While it’s not actually spider silk, the bioengineered proteins mimic the material to a tea. The Moon Parka is designed to combine the extraordinary powers of the synthetic spider silk with the design of the North Face Antarctica Parka. And it comes with a lot of perks.
Not only does this material have the added advantages that spider silk does such as being incredibly tough, almost impossible to destroy, and heat resistant, but the fact that this biological protein material can be created synthetically means it is sustainable and extremely efficient to produce. This also gives the people making it the power to regulate performance attributes such as the heat-resistance elasticity and the fineness of the fiber on the molecular level, meaning they basically have the power to create the ultimate material that is impervious to harm and still feels silky soft. This also means that they could offer customizable material based on a person’s preference for things like how soft they want the material to be. The possibilities are endless!
How could the development of a super strong, sustainable, and customizable material like this effect the entire clothing industry?