1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,920 It's the fashion show season, and in parallel, Paris has been hosting the largest textile 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,840 show in the world, Premiere Vision. 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:15,280 Seven hundred and forty-two exhibitors from 30 countries presented their offerings for 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:20,160 the autumn-winter 2007-2008 season. 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,600 And this year, some special guests, so-called intelligent fabrics, textiles, for example, 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,920 that have built-in protection against staining. 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,600 If you imagine normal cloth being flat, with nanotechnologies, the cloth takes a form a 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,280 little like mountains. 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,360 The structure is invisible, of course, and dirt can't stick to a material like that. 10 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,240 It runs off. 11 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:51,320 So here, I'll put a bit of ketchup on, and I'll take some water, and there, you see, 12 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:57,320 it's a white cloth, and you can rinse off the dirt immediately. 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:02,960 Stain-resistant materials, bacteria-resistant materials, mosquito-resistant materials, materials 14 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:08,000 that can absorb smell or reduce perspiration, materials that can measure your heartbeat 15 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,280 or your breathing pattern. 16 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,400 Textiles that are totally impermeable, textiles that are ultra-absorbent, cosmetic textiles 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,000 that moisten the skin or apply perfume. 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,160 The world of intelligent textiles is expanding, and a multitude of European research centers 19 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,840 are part of it. 20 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,480 Here at Sintexpel in Belgium, not far from Liege, scientists are dreaming up the next 21 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,560 generation of intelligent or functional textiles. 22 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:44,440 Prototype maker Martine Delgerda's job is to transform these dreams into reality. 23 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,560 Here we have a pullover that's entirely knitted. 24 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,720 The keyboard is supple. 25 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,280 It enables the user to send a range of different commands. 26 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:58,120 The keyboard was conceived for handicapped people, to allow them, for example, with a 27 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:04,480 given code, to open a garage door, to switch on the television. 28 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:10,160 We've also got undergarments that allow you to monitor different body functions, breathing, 29 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:18,760 heartbeat, and so on, using electrodes that are in direct contact with the body. 30 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,640 We can also insert fiber optics into carpet. 31 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:31,160 They're integrated in the production process and to make the carpets luminous. 32 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:36,800 They can be used for emergency exits, for example, if there's a power cut, or just to 33 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,600 create pretty patterns within the carpet. 34 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,720 We've also used fiber optics in knitting. 35 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,160 This creates the possibility of luminous knitwear. 36 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,840 It can be used for outdoor safety clothing, or it can be stuck on walls and ceilings for 37 00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:04,920 decorative effects. 38 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:10,040 The most complex of these prototypes is probably the textile keyboard, which can also function 39 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,040 as a simple calculator. 40 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,080 Jean Lennart has spent two years working on it. 41 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:22,840 The key, the interaction of materials that do and don't conduct electricity. 42 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:28,480 In addition to the conventional materials, which are electrical insulators, we've used 43 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,480 metallic fibers that do conduct electricity. 44 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,960 The principle is that when you don't apply pressure, there's no contact between two conducting 45 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:38,960 layers. 46 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,960 And when you apply pressure, you create a contact between the two layers. 47 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,280 In addition to this, there's a small microelectric component which has been miniaturized as much 48 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,520 as possible, so that it disrupts the cloth as little as possible, because the goal is 49 00:03:53,520 --> 00:04:02,360 to preserve the characteristics of textiles, suppleness and comfort. 50 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:07,320 Suppleness and comfort, those are the watchwords for functional and intelligent clothing. 51 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,960 Yvette Rochester is in charge of the microbiology lab at the center. 52 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,800 She unlocks the secrets of textiles using this giant microscope. 53 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,400 Her research helps build an understanding of how fibers react to the presence of certain 54 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:22,400 nanoparticles. 55 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:34,840 For example, cosmetic nanoparticles that release perfumes into clothes. 56 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:40,480 These are microcapsules which contain a perfume that's integrated within the fibers that make 57 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,560 up the cloth. 58 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:50,480 What we've been looking at here is how uniformly the microcapsules are spread across the cloth. 59 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,520 And also, we wanted to have an idea of their dimensions. 60 00:04:54,520 --> 00:05:00,600 And then, after the material's been used, we wanted to see how the microcapsules react. 61 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,320 They're supposed to explode and release their perfume. 62 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:09,400 And in fact, what we've seen here is that there are indeed microcapsules that have exploded 63 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,520 and thus released their perfume. 64 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:19,320 At the Institut Francais du Textile et Habillement outside Lyon, intelligent textiles are tested 65 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:28,840 for resistance against heat, flames, tearing, liquids. 66 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,800 Engineers work on several Europe-wide projects and also invent their own textiles for the 67 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:35,880 future. 68 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:46,720 Once the concept has been established, the cloth is modeled to a chosen design. 69 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,520 And added to a virtual collection of tomorrow's fashion. 70 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:58,280 For dreams to become a reality, you need a plasma machine like this. 71 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:03,920 Here in a vacuum, textiles are put in contact with different gases, oxygen, nitrogen, fluoride 72 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:05,600 or ammonia. 73 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,160 In this way, researcher Jacques Magouin changes the textile properties. 74 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:14,720 Fluorides, for example, make normally absorbent cotton impermeable, while nitrogen makes normally 75 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,400 resistant materials absorbent. 76 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,280 Nitrogen will separate off and try to impregnate itself in the textile. 77 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:27,960 So using nitrogen gas, you can make a kind of water plasma, which will attach itself 78 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,300 to the surface. 79 00:06:29,300 --> 00:06:33,320 And when you put water next to this, there's a very strong affinity, and that makes a material 80 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,920 that absorbs very easily, which is good for cleaning materials, or for absorbing sweat, 81 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,040 or for sticky materials, or for printable materials. 82 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:46,600 On the other hand, fluoride gas makes cotton water-resistant, so when it rains, it's impermeable, 83 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,880 but still comfortable. 84 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,560 In these workshops, a European program to make threads of the future is being researched. 85 00:06:54,560 --> 00:07:00,000 Christophe Angeloz is developing polypropylene thread that resists high temperatures. 86 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,320 The polypropylene is mixed with chemical microparticles whose composition is a commercial 87 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:05,320 secret. 88 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:14,720 The mixture is pummeled, melted, stretched, and woven into yarn. 89 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:21,320 It's all polypropylene, but by changing the manufacturing conditions, like the extrusion 90 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:34,720 temperature, the weaving speed, the stretching tension, you can optimize the thread production. 91 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,120 Threads which, like others made at the center, will now undergo testing to see if they might 92 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,920 be useful in the creation of the new intelligent textiles of the future.