Brave New World

Funny old genre, sci fi. Oft derided, as much for its audience as its tenuous hold on plot. It has, nevertheless, dealt with the technological and moral concerns of our age. From the cautious optimism of H.G. Wells's Time Machine to William Gibson's Cyber-punk dystopia, science fiction serves to express our hopes and dispel our fears.

Our hopes would appear to be fairly mundane: Peace would be nice, but so also would less time spent preparing meals - the old pills for dinner cliche - and a clean, reliable form of transport - obviously the hover car. Our fears are many, but if science fiction from immediately after the second World War is anything to go by, our main fear is that women/insects/amphibious dinosaurs will get hold of the nukes. Despite confidently predicting Travelator foot-paths and robots in every household, it seems that most sci fi writers' imaginations failed them when it came to picturing the clothes of the future. In pulp novels that vague word "robe" is usually employed, especially when a species is seen to be more advanced than our own. (See? Gandhi was right.)

Otherwise, clothes as envisioned in sci fi schlock fall into three categories: 1) Barbarella. Present day equivalent: Spice Girls. 2) Post-Holocaust Chic. Present day equivalent: Anything Belgian and deconstructed. 3) Retro-Futurism. This is the look that concerns us: Designers will bang on about the zeitgeist, and the ephemeral nature of their inspiration. But increasingly, the clothes in the shops, the clothes that you and I buy, resemble nothing more than those worn in re-runs of old Star Trek episodes.

This is partly because sci fi's lurid hey day coincided with a forward-looking fashion moment. The geometric shapes of the late 1950s and 1960s lent themselves well to notions of The Future. While accepting that certain forms of existing clothing could not be bettered, directors and costume designers had to create practical, all-terrain styles that inter-galactic battles could be fought and won in. It turns out that the most futuristic way to dress is to edit away all extraneous detail, including visible fastenings, and concentrate purely on function. Oh, and if function comes in a metallic fabric, then so much the better.

In the enervating round of revivals that has made up the last two decades, it was inevitable that these modern, streamlined shapes should be re-assessed. The basic sci fi uniform of tunic and trousers still looks remarkably fresh. Take this year's funnelneck, for instance. It may shatter an illusion or two, but that little Prada Sport number you've been hankering after was probably inspired by the likes of Logan's Run.

Worse still, the funnel-neck's most recent incarnation, nanoseconds before it became cool, was the shell suit. And there's the rub. If today's silhouette is inspired by the modernist 1960s, then the practicality, comfort and sheer weight of science that goes into sportswear has had an equal, if not greater effect. If an outdoorsy company like Patagonia can recycle plastic to make supersoft fleeces, or has produced a range of clothing that is both waterproof and breathable, then why can't that knowledge be brought to bear on all our clothes?

Increasingly this year it has. Chain stores now stock children's clothing that has been treated with Teflon to make it waterproof, and more importantly, stain-proof. Thermo-pigments enable clothes to change colour according to your temperature, and Chanel are now adapting that technology to use in nail-polishes, and eventually lipsticks. Velcro, invented in 1955, is no longer just for those who can't get the hang of shoe-laces. This year it has been used on everything from shirts to coats. Latex, paper and nylon are suddenly the materials of the day (again).

And that's just outer-wear. Underneath all that, you can choose between tights or briefs that sculpt your body, whether your problem areas are tummy, thigh or derriere; minimiser bras, or maximiser bras; or if your shape's okay, but your circulation's shot, body sensor tights are heat-sensitive and claim to keep you warm in cold weather and cool when indoors.

Given the furore over genetically modified food, it seems unlikely that pill-taking is going to replace eating any time soon. The hover car is still just a dream, although whose I couldn't tell you. Until those Travelators and housekeeping robots hit the shops, it's only fair to ask that our clothes work as hard as we do.