Katwalker
Regular readers may remember a previous column in which I waxed sarcastic about disposable fashion of a particular kind. I wasn't referring to the mass-market, re-interpreted trends pumped out with such assurance and at such low prices by the likes of Target and Kmart, but to an ingenious, if credibility-stretching contraption that promised to create fashion out of shredded paper. At the time I believe I ended my column in a "whatever next?!" flourish of derision. Well, now I can tell you with some authority what the next "whatever" is following news the world's first dissolvable dress has been invented under the ausI'd like to think this is an ironic nod to geek chic but somehow I have my doubts... so I'm hoping in this instance the chemist, one Professor Tony Ryan, stuck to the scientific part of the experiment (filling test tubes, lighting the Bunsen burner, rubbing his hands and laughing quietly to himself) while his partner, designer Professor Helen Storey spent time considering how to knit polymer polyvinyl alcohol into something fashionable. She clearly trounced the odds (knitting is challenging enough, but adding alcohol to the mix is asking for trouble in my experience) as evidenced by the resulting killer frock, made doubly enticing by the fact that it is designed to dissolve in water, thereby helping the environment.
Don't worry girls; it breaks down slowly enough to survive a sweaty night club, although perhaps plunging headlong into a heated swimming pool after one too many daiquiris, before falling asleep on an inflatable dolphin, might be off limits.
Killer clothes
It seems the dress is not the only thing dissolving, with credibility rapidly liquefying for a number of labels in China after a recent report released by the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau found quality problems in brands sold in Shanghai shopping centres, including Burberry, MaxMara, Dior, Armani, Zara and Ermengildo Zegna. The samples of MaxMara women's coats and Burberry trousers tested tended to fade easily, the bureau said, while a skirt claiming to be Zara contained twice the allowed level of formaldehyde - a chemical linked to cancer and also used in clothing to prevent mildew during shipping. This led to a panicked scan of Wikipedia's definition of formaldehyde as I succumbed to images of a recent Zara purchase killing me by stealth. Wikipedia stated that formaldehyde is heavily used in the production of polymers... which brought me back to the dissolvable dress. I'm sure the polymers used in the dress are nice, friendly polymers... I mean it's meant to be good for the environment, right? It really would be such a shame if it turned out to be a killer dress in more ways than one.