THEY'RE the fabrics that you've been turning downs whenever they turn up on the clothes rails. The ones you believe will be too hot, too uncomfortable and too tacky. The ones your mother used to dismiss with the throwaway phrase `man-made fibres'. Well, she, wouldn't do that today and if you're smart neither will you. There's a new generation of non-natural materials being used, in fashion right now and they're the ones setting the pace.
This has to be good news for anybody who has ever moaned about the tendency of many designers to recycle old ideas. The 1990s look like being deservedly stigmatised as a decade devoid of originality, content merely to repeat the initiatives of the past. That's certainly true of the season ahead, for which the mid-1970s have been remorselessly plundered for inspiration. At first glance, it seems as though there is absolutely nothing fresh or new on offer. But look again, particularly at any labels detailing fabric content inside clothing and you'll discover just how much change there has been during the past 20 years.
While the cut of a garment at the moment may not differ much from its predecessors, the materials from which it is constructed will usually be totally different. Textile technology is now the cutting edge of fashion, becoming progressively more important as design subsides into a cycle of repetition.
The creation of new fibres and the machinery to weave and bond these together has witnessed enormous progress over the past decade and no designer can afford to overlook what is happening. John Rocha is typical in his use of newly-developed materials and as he explains, "basically, fashion has got to the stage where so many high street chains are so good at doing the basic merchandise that we have to move even further ahead. Modern fabrics give your work an extra edge. You have to keep up with technology."
Many of the latest fibres were created specifically with sportswear in mind and then gradually won a wider following among fashion designers. The qualities shared by new fabrics include breathability and durability. Athletes look for clothes which will simultaneously keep them warm and allow perspiration to escape from the body as fast as possible. And given that most of us now live in cities with the advantages of central heating, we're likely to look for the same requirements from our own clothes too. Over this century, there has been a steady move towards wearing fewer and lighter items of clothing; this has been assisted by the development of new fabrics. The most recently developed fibres actually allow the body to breathe and move better than do natural materials, as well as being much more hard-wearing.
For a long time, however, what were popularly regarded as artificial fibres suffered from a poor reputation among the public and designers alike. Among the latter group, one of the very first to break free of, that prejudice was the Italian Giorgio Armani who in the evolution of more lightweight, unstructured suiting began to use viscose in his work. Italy remains at the forefront of new fabric technology, the country where many of the breakthrough blends have first been created and refined. "Italy is totally important for new fibres," concurs Lainey Keogh. "It's not just the material but also the machinery for making clothes in the fibres. They're now so reliable and so clever at what they do that the quality is guaranteed." Irish designer Marc O'Neill has noticed that at Italian fashion fairs "elastane and Lycra are being mixed with wool so that suits can be made up with an actual stretch in them. The question of wearability is what sparked the whole thing off".
It's rare to find new fibres used at 100 per cent strength. The stretch cashmere by Lainey Keogh shown here is typical in its blend: 92 per cent cashmere with four per cent each of nylon and elastane. "We like to put lots of depth in our textiles," says the knitwear designer. "In terms of feel-appeal and quality this is the best fibre in the world for hand knits."
The combination of man-made and natural materials - thereby creating an entirely new fabric - has become widespread. The particular advantages to such mixes include overall lightness, ease of wear, durability and minimal care requirements. The majority of new fibres can take machine washing and demand far less attention from the iron than do pure natural fabrics. "Some people frown at the idea of nylon," comments Lainey Keogh. "But I wouldn't buy something without a tiny nylon content because otherwise it wouldn't wear so well." What's more, new fabrics often have the appearance of traditional materials without any of their disadvantages. As John Rocha says "in the summer, you can mix linen with a little nylon or viscose and it becomes much easier to use." Much easier to wear as well, because linen blends suffer from none of the instant, creasing associated with the unmixed fabric.
Precisely because so much of the latest technology in this area has been directly associated with sportswear, it is intensely body-conscious. Lycra, for example, which came to the fore in the late 1980s, allows a stretch and cling previously unavailable to clothe&. That's perfect for a designer such as Lainey Keogh whose work is imbued with sensuality. "In knitwear, it's stretch everything right now," she says. Thanks to textile technology, she can still employ beautiful noble fibres such as cashmere or silk without sacrificing any body-hugging ability.
And finally, newly-developed fibres and blends can often have a powerful visual appeal. When it comes to fake fur, for example, Lainey Keogh finds fake fibre is best again; "it has to have the same life qualities as real, that's what we've worked so hard to imitate. The lustre and structure must lend themselves to giving you something unbelievably rich." Similarly, Marc O'Neill's autumn/winter collection includes a wool run through with nylon thread; "it gives a shimmery, jacquard effect to the material," explains the designer.
Still unconvinced of new fabric technology's merits? Then why not go out and try it for yourself? You'll soon discover that not only do the latest materials and blends have enormous advantages, they're also almost inescapable. Pretty soon, whenever you go shopping for new clothes, you'll be rejecting those which show themselves to be made from 100 per cent natural materials. We have seen the future of fabrics, and it's manmade.