Extreme Textiles

Stronger, faster, lighter, safer, smarter - these are the textiles of tomorrow. From the carbon-fibre bicycle frame to the cardiac constraint sock and the Mars Pathfinder landing airbags, material innovations surround us. Our landscape, our buildings, our vehicles, our clothes and our bodies all benefit from these highly engineered performance textiles. Featuring examples of fully realized products from all classes of technical textiles - architectural, product design, apparel, medicine, transportation, aerospace, industry and the environment - Extreme Textiles highlights successful collaborations between design, industry and science. Large, full-colour illustrations and essays by some of today's most influential designers and scientists trace the extraordinary developments made in textiles over the last twenty years and suggest what is to come. Tradition, technology, beauty and strength are joined together in the materials and products presented in this volume. Whether exploring space, running a marathon or fashioning the latest trend, these extreme textiles will inspire us every day, making us stronger, faster, lighter, safer and smarter.