New fabrication yields glowing results
Melbourne company The Specialty Group has harnessed Canadian product Energlo's ground-breaking technology to produce fabrics that glow after dark.
Energlo fabrics can glow for over three hours in total darkness after 12 minutes of exposure to natural light, thanks to a process that utilises photo-luminescent crystals capable of absorbing and emitting light.
The technology disperses the crystals within layers of waterproof, breathable coatings which can be applied to a variety of face fabrics.
According to Energlo international sales and marketing vice president Daniel Leipnik - based in the company's Vancouver, Canada office - the process can be utilised to enhance wet weather clothing where additional night time visibility is required.
He believes the fabric has the potential to revolutionise the apparel of Australian law enforcement, ambulance, paramedic and safety services.
"Imagine the benefits of being able to see traffic police out on a country highway where there are no lights, or tarmac crew glowing brightly around airports where planes move around in the middle of the night.
"If you are lost at sea or even in the back country of a mountain and it turns to night, a person wearing clothing or a backpack that lights up in the dark may just stand out long enough for search and rescue teams to find them. If you happen to be out a second day and then night, the glowing properties are re-charged anew giving a person multiple chances to be found."
There are also applications for the product across a variety of other categories within the sports apparel sector, particularly as sportswear brands that have already bought into fabric can value add by rendering it waterproof, breathable and photo luminescent through the Energlo coating process.
"We're getting dozens of calls a day from leading brands of ski and snow board wear and even manufacturers of cycling, running, and kids wear who see Energlo as a useful fabric. The appetite for this technology is seeing many companies request exclusivity because they know how well the retail reaction is going to be."
Sales of Energlo are not restricted to the more functional end of the apparel market however.
The product is also starting to weave its way into the world of fashion, with designers and manufacturers the world over showing increasing interest.
"I've had calls from a New Zealand company that makes dog coats, a baby stroller manufacturer in Norway, and even a company in Japan that makes hand bags with cartoon prints on them. It's great to see how designers think when they have something innovative to work with."