Threads of change

At first, it seems strange that Futurotextiles, a new show presenting the very latest in cutting-edge fabrics, would display its far-out wares at the Jim Thompson Art Centre, a venue so strongly associated with the ancient, traditional art of Thai silk-making.

But after viewing the free exhibition, which opened yesterday and continues through October 16 as part of La Fete 2009, it's possible to see that textiles old and new aren't so dissimilar after all.

While the idea of fabric made out of processed crab shells - on display at Futurotextiles - may seem strange to visitors, cloth woven from worm cocoons would surely seem just as far out to someone encountering silk for the first time.

Textile makers have always used exotic materials to create new looks. The difference between our reactions to silk and "crab-cloth", then, largely boils down to levels of familiarity.

Give it the proper publicity, and perhaps we'll all be wearing crustacean couture in a few years' time.

And that's where Futurotextiles comes in. According to curator Caroline David, who also oversaw the show during its stops in France, Belgium and Turkey, the show aims to familiarise visitors with a new generation of high-tech textiles.

In the process, the exhibition seeks to answer the question, "What is a textile?"

The technical response is simple. "A textile is something made with fibre," says David.

But her straightforward response fails to do justice to the array of samples on display.

There are, the exhibit explains, three types of textiles: natural, artificial, and synthetic.

Natural textiles come from plant and animal sources and include many of the familiar high-quality textiles used in the clothes we wear, such as cotton, linen and wool. With the planet becoming short on resources and an eye firmly on the future, one would assume that natural textiles belong to the past. Not so: Futurotextiles explains that many environmentally conscious textile makers are now looking at less traditional natural materials. Visitors can weigh the merits of textiles made out of bamboo, soybean and peat, a decayed vegetable matter that David says is especially good for insulation.

Artificial textiles start with natural raw materials, which then undergo chemical processing that can turn, for example, pure silver into grey, cottony tufts. Silver cloth hasn't found its way onto many runways yet, but it has found use in hospitals thanks to its antibiotic and therapeutic properties (some of which are shared by the crab-cloth).

Futurotextile displays these artificial creations in a before-and-after-style. A solid chunk of volcanic basalt rock turns into a densely woven fibre mat capable of withstanding temperatures of more than 600 degrees Celsius. Sugars from beetroot and corn transform into a fully biodegradable textile that's found use as netting in aquaculture.

Synthetic textiles may conjure up uncomfortable memories of itchy polyester, but many of these textiles - plastics processed from petroleum - leave those '70s duds in the dust, and sometimes glow in the dark, to boot.

Scientific advances in the field of nanotechnology have led to further advances in water-, weather- and fireproofing for textiles. In the coming years, says David, many of these new technologies will replace the old natural standbys as research from the military and aerospace sectors trickles down to the consumer.

"A lot of people want to wear clothing in natural textiles, that keeps them warm in winter yet very fresh in summer," says David. "And we already have shirts that can be worn no matter what the temperature, as the textile reacts with the air and the temperature of the body."

According to David, photovoltaic textiles will also make a big splash. When used in clothing, these fabrics can take energy from the sun and charge mobile phones and other small devices.

But the advent of this new breed of textile will not necessarily mean doom for more traditional fabrics, says David, which is surely good news for companies like Jim Thompson.

Rather, new technologies could be applied to improve old fabrics. In France, she adds, linen garments have enjoyed a resurgence as new treatments have made the cloth more wrinkle-resistant and thus more wearable. And waterproofing technology has already saved many a pair of khaki pants around the world.

Compared to petroleum-derived synthetics, natural materials like linen and silk may also have an environmental advantage in an increasingly green-conscious world.

And while the Thai silk industry might be able to harness some of the technologies in Futurotextiles - waterproof silk, perhaps? - David is confident that increasing textile diversity and innovation will not lead to less appreciation of quality.

"Silk will always be one of the best fabrics in the world," she says.