Modern Materials

Modern Materials 1928 Swimsuit The Racerback 1957 use of Nylon 1970s Nylon & Lycra 2000Fastskin Speedo Sydney MacRae Knitting Mills

Olympics 1896 Sport met the need for exercise and social interaction in the new urban population Sports clothing was comfortable leisurewear The Sidcot Fur lining, air resistant silk, Burberry fabric, Fur trim Right clothing for service men became important World War Ι Need for practical & comfortable sports wear Need for thermal insulation!

Trousers for women! Bathing costumes for women! World War Ι Coco Chanel, swim suit 1914 Woven fabrics Women were working in factories Beach Pyjamas 1920 Jersey fabrics

Trousers for women! Bathing costumes for women! Girls playing Basketball 1927 Women wear men’s Tennis trousers!

Women’s Liberation Hollywood 1930’ and 1940’ Marlene Dietrich Greta Garbo Katharine Hepburn

1940 Cancellation of the Olympic Games Sport went to the movies instead! The swimsuit is internationally recognised as a symbol of modernity that embodies fashion and function, leisure and athleticism, glamour and sensuality. By the thirties bra history was to change forever when Dunlop chemists were able to transform latex into reliable elastic thread in all sorts of dimensions. The yarn was corespun and knitted or woven and eventually made into washable Lastex fabric. Katharine Hepburn

1940 Cancellation of the Olympic Games Sport went to the movies instead! By the thirties bra history was to change forever when Dunlop chemists were able to transform latex (rubber) into reliable elastic thread in all sorts of dimensions. The yarn was core-spun and knitted or woven and eventually made into washable Lastex fabric. LASTEX is an elastic fibre made from Latex. Lastex will deteriorate after repeated washing and drying, losing its elasticity.

Hollywood stars also added glamour to the swimsuit so that bathers needed to consider having one in the latest fashion. Esther Williams and Dorothy Lamour along with films featuring synchronized aqua swimming whipped up interest in figure hugging costumes with higher cut legs and which revealed every body contour.

Good Bye Wool and Hello Cotton! fgjfgj Cotton was certainly more comfortable, but swimwear needed more structure if it was going to hide figure flaws. Enter the girdled swimsuit. Girdled swimsuits were equipped with elastic panels across the tummy area to help smooth out unwanted curves and bulges. Additionally, bra cups/ bustiers were incorporated into the design to offer greater breast support. And of cause they had a zip at the back!

Then it got even more adventurous! Swimsuits were super but how about showing a little more? In May 1946, Louis Réard created the two-piece swimsuit. He advertised it as the world's "smallest bathing suit". The idea struck him when he saw women rolling up their beachwear to get a better tan. The name BIKINI refers to the atomic experimental bomb detonated in the South Pacific near the Bikini Reef.

At the time cotton was still the fabric used, often bias cut for its stretch qualities. In May 1946, Louis Réard created the two-piece swimsuit. He advertised it as the world's "smallest bathing suit". The idea struck him when he saw women rolling up their beachwear to get a better tan. The name BIKINI refers to the atomic experimental bomb detonated in the South Pacific near the Bikini Reef. "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." (Fred Cole)

In 1959 Dupont’s Joseph Shivers was able to produce a synthetic fibre from polyurethane known for its elasticity. Stronger than rubber it was the ideal fibre for swim wear fabrics. Spandex revolutionised the clothing industry. The name "Spandex" is an anagram of the word "expands".Other brand names associated with Spandex include Lycra and Dorlastan.

From Bathing to Swimming to Where next? Swim wear to this day is made using the warp knitting method of construction. Unlike Latex Lycra does not loose its elasticity when washed. BIOMIMETICS Michael Phelps won 8 Gold medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing wearing a Speedo Fastskin swimsuit, designed to mirror the efficiency of shark skin. The Fastskin swimsuit is inspired in the shape and texture of shark skin. Shark skin's texture varies to adapt to water flows and currents against its body, in order to navigate in the most efficient manner.

BIOMIMETICS

Back to the 50’s and the magic of.. Jack O'Neill Jack O'Neill is the founder of O'Neill, one of the biggest surf and sportswear brands in the world. Born in 1923 in Colorado, Jack soon moved to California where he started off as a fisherman, a salesman and all sorts of other jobs. All the while he loved to surf and body board. But even Californian surf can be cold in winter, and with only bathing trunks to wear, the ocean was not a pleasant place to be! Frustrated with having to freeze his nuts off in order to surf, Jack went about designing a solution... NEOPRENE Polyurethane

Jack is the creator of the wetsuit back in the early 50's. Jack first came across a fabric now widely known in the surf world as neoprene. Strangely enough he discovered it on the floor of an aeroplane! He ordered masses of the material and started stitching it together to make vests, and later suits. In 1952 Jack opened his first surf shop in San Francisco, California, and appropriately called it 'Surf Shop'.

Know how when you buy something new suddenly you begin to see the same thing everywhere, when before you’d never noticed? It’s a bit the same here. We post a story on something that seems freshly green and maybe even a bit unique. But lo and behold they’re all over the show. Patagonia’s wetsuit inner is made of recycled polyester and merino wool which is funcky enough, but it was the outer neoprene of crushed limestone that sounded so exotic. Until we saw Body Glove were doing much the same thing. And readers alerted us to Matuse of California, and it didn’t stop there. Nemo wetsuits from Bali, Indonesia, Seventh Wave from New Zealand, NinePlus out of Cornwall, and Blue Seventy from Virginia. And no doubt a bunch of others too, but you get the picture. Now, not all are making wetsuits from an ecological standpoint, but what they do have in common is that they chose Yamamoto limestone-based neoprene from Japan. The company say their limestone is over 99.7% calcium carbonate and took 80,000,000 years to make, as shell secretions of marine organisms were deposited on the floor of the open ocean. The company suggest their rubber has a 23% higher close cell structure than oil derived neoprene, making it more buoyant, while also having a maximum elongation of over 480%, where human skin stretches only up to about 60 to 70%. The extra cells are filled with nitrogen gas and this makes wetsuits from the stuff warmer. Additionally Yamamoto contend that their neoprene is close to 95% water impermeable, compared to the petroleum-based standard of almost 70%. Matuse, who term their version of the material, Geoprene, note that their Yamamoto rubber wetsuits have a low surface friction coefficient of 0.032, whereas old-world neoprene’s drag coefficient is 4.0. As they say, “Metaphorically speaking, this translates to you being the hot knife and water being the butter.” It sure is curious stuff

The other week we noted, in passing, that Patagonia were playing with more environmentally benign wetsuits. We should’ve linked to their dedicated page, where you can learn more. Like how the neoprene outer is of 80% non-petroleum based ingredients. (Fortune Mag reckoned it was made with crushed limestone but the Patagonia site is coy on that aspect.) The inner lining is a chloride-free merino wool grid bonded to recycled polyester. Kneepads are PVC-free and are said to be more durable and grippier. Coming for both men and women in 2mm and 3mm versions, to span water temps from 48 to 65°F (9 to 18°C). Long and shortie styles, although limited availability just now. ::Patagonia Wetsuits.

A tiny piece of one which offers unlimited possibilitiesAs a result of a series of diastrophism over a vast span of time beginning approximately 80 million years ago, a rock situated in the present-day Hawaiian lslands traveled a long way to Mt. Kurohime in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It was us, YAMAMOTO CORPORATION, who first shed light on this unique rock. Charmed by its mysteriousness, we have continued to create novel business enterprises. Being composed of 99.7% calcium carbonate, this rock is miraculously free from almost all impurities. Using this rock as a starting material, we have developed a number of high-quality materials that have found applications in various fields such as; sports gear, medicine and fashion. Many of these have lead to the revolutionary new use of materials in these fields. Now, we have inspired yet another life into these rubber materials. In the evolution from technical rubber to Bio Rubber materials, our novel scope of activities has just begun.

Using materials like "Bio Stretch" rubber and "Eco Flex" exterior, Body Glove has created the "first environmentally friendly wetsuit." While the folks at Patagonia might have something to say about that, Body Glove's "Eco Wetsuit" can boast 100% petroleum-free materials which consume "1/10th the amount of energy normally used in the manufacturing of standard petroleum based wetsuits." As we've noted before, surfing and TreeHugging go together like fair trade chocolate and organic peanut butter; it's good to see more ways to walk the walk (and, hey, if you can look as bad-ass as this guy, why not?) before paddling out for some tasty waves. Get all the details about the Eco Wetsuit at ::Body Glove via ::Core77

Corn based outer material, non toxic water based inks, recycled zipper, limestone based rubber, uses no petroleum and only 1/10 of energy used when producing standard neoprene. Overall the GEOPRENE wetsuits are slightly lighter and warmer. Instead of the usual 3mm winter thickness only 2mm are necessary allowing for more movement.

Trousers for women! Bathing costumes for women! 1927 Women wear men’s Coco Chanel, swim suit 1914 Woven fabrics

Modern Materials