Weaving technology into fashion to give us the future

It seems that the word ‘smart’ is finding its way into everything these days. First there were smart phones, then several house appliances became smarter followed by vehicles, security systems and so on. Now to join the list of all things smart is another industry, namely apparel. Clothes today have smart sensors sewn into them to in order to monitor and track the user’s vital signs and navigational equipment to track a person’s location in real time.

To take this a step further, certain apparel makers have begun offering additional services that range from enhancing comfort to making the clothing more sensual and even detecting climatic conditions. A South Korean designer has come with an innovative solution to help customers know about the atmospheric conditions. Dahea Sun has come up with a unique line of apparel called Rain Palette. This line of clothes provides a means to check the quality of air by detecting rainwater. The textile was developed using a natural dye that changes the color of the cloth due to a reaction to the pH level of rainwater. Moreover, it also enables the customer to upload the readings online through a smartphone application.

This line of clothing goes beyond just establishing a trend. It has enormous utilitarian applications. South Korea suffers from the occasional acid rain that wreaks havoc. Apparel like Rain Palette enables users to monitor atmospheric conditions and find shelter well in time to avoid acid rains. This could be the beginning of a new trend that could pave the way for a whole new industry.