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Precious metals such as gold and silver have adorned women's clothing for hundreds of years, not simply as bejewelled accessories, but as part of the piece of clothing itself. Steel formed a knight's armour, or protective clothing. Often fhese pieces of clothing were band-crafted and worn many times.
In the mass-production market of fashion today, many clothes are designed to be worn only a handful of times. But that does not mean that metals are no longer required - on the contrary, precious metals, base metals, steel and various alloys play a variety of roles in clothing.
In fashion, the metallic "look" remains popular on the catwalks each season, as well as on the high street, although the amount of metal actually used to create it is at times small, or even non-existent.
Steel, as in so many of its end-use applications, plays a structural role, holding pieces of fabric together and supporting the design. Other metals are also used in clothing production: chromium, for example, is used in leather tanning, and some heavy metals are used in clothing dye, though their use has been minimised in recent years owing to safety concerns. And of course the machinery used to produce clothing - from a needle, or domestic sewing machine, on up to a large textile mill - is a separate major related market for metals.
SUPPORTING ROLE
Zippers and fasteners, such as hooks, eyes, snaps, studs, rivets and buttons often feature metals, although far from exclusively as variety of materials, including plastic and wood, are popular. YKK, a major fastener manufacturer, sells its various products in metals and plastic. When metal is used, nickel-tin plated steel or nickel-plated brass are commonly employed.
Metal also performs a supporting role, particularly in the multi-billion dollar underwear market. Wire is commonly used in undergarments such as bras, corsets and, occasionally, in men's underwear. In bras, the wire often comprises plastic-coated steel, although it can also be made solely of either material. Depending on the quality of the garment, the metal may or may not be tempered; thus some are brittle and more prone to breakage.
According to Ellen Jacobson, designer and owner of Elia bras, "Tempering is critical when making steel for underwires," though the step is skipped when a manufacturer looks to reduce production costs. "The better bras use underwires that have a plastic coating over the wires," she notes, as the coating allows the wire to sit within the fabric more easily and "reduces the chance of pressure or torque on the wire".
In corsets, the boning again either features metal, plastic or a combination of the two. Steel is used to provide a strong structure. At the UK-based company Silk and Steel Designs, all corsets feature either flat steel or spiral boning. "Using these steels ensures the corset is more hard wearing and helps give a more dramatic shape than a similar style with plastic boning would achieve," says the company. Other companies, like Chic-Argo in County Durham, UK, also feature steel-boned corsets.
SHINY NEW THREADS
Metal threads are found in many different types of clothing - from everyday wear to protective gear. "Fine metallic wire and monofilaments are used in fashion for colour, sheen, creasing, metal, and rigidity effects," according to Swiss yarn and fibre supplier Swicofil. Because of their strength, metal threads work in a variety of processes: "Fine metallic wires or monofilaments for textile applications can be used directly in weaving, knitting, braiding, doubling and spinning," Swicofil explains.
These threads are used in a variety of fabric-based applications, including clothing. The wires that are best for fashion have high mechanical and chemical resistance. The threads can be coated and coloured, and are made from a range of metals, including copper, silver-plated copper, brass, silver-plated brass, aluminium and copper-clad aluminium.
New Jersey, US-based company Meadow Brook Inventions sells 100% copper and aluminium threads in its Angelina range of fibres. The aluminium fibres - which are made from aluminium alloy 1 145 - have a "luminous, glowing satin-like appearance" and are designed to lie flaf within other yarns and fabrics. First developed for applications with high-temperature and solvent resistance, the copper and aluminium threads are ideal for applications such as active-wear and anti-static clothing, says the company. Its aluminium fibres, as fine as 15 denier, are said to have a distortion temperature of up to 4000F, or 204°C
The threads may form part of the fabric itself or be used to adorn fabric. "Metal threads have long been used for decorating textile products," writes Emilia Pryczynska in the 2003 publication Fabrics and Textiles: "The art of weaving with gold and silver threads was known in the times of Alexander the Great."
But given the cost of gold and silver now, soft threads of aluminium have become a more economical option in fabric. The process involves coating aluminium foil on both sides with a transparent polyester or acetate foil, explains Pryczynska. Cut into the desired thickness, the threads can either be applied with a colourless glue (therefore keeping the natural aluminium appearance) or a coloured glue to impart any colour desired onto the light metal.
Smart clothing - which includes electromagneticradiation-resistant clothing, fire-retardant clothing and hygienic clothing (see panel} - is a potential area for growth for metals. But metallic fibre manufacturers face some competition, as researchers continue to work to develop new materials for this application. "Currently, smart textiles are made primarily of metallic or optical fibres. They're fragile. They're not comfortable. Metal fibres also corrode. There are problems with washing such textiles," says Nicholas Kotov, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Kotov's team has developed a smart yarn by dipping cotton fibres first into a solution of carbon nanotubes, followed by one of sticky polymer.
MODERN "METALLICS"?
The metallic "look" in clothing - known for its sheen, brightness and reflectivity - is popular year on year, and fashion magazines are known for proclaiming that the metallic look is "in". But a glimpse at the popular fabrics themselves reveals that metals actually play little to no role at all - particularly on the high street.
Canadian-based fashion writer and editor Johneen Manning writes about Spring 2008's metallic fashion trend thus: "Sequins remain at the forefront of shiny style this season as designers continued to delight with the razzle-dazzle of metallics. In addition to the shiny sequincovered dress that's been all the rage through fall/winter, silver, gold, bronze and copper glistened across spring's runways in futuristic high-tech plastic fabrics, glossy satins, high-sheen silks, and foil-like lamé."
Companies are becoming more adept in reducing the amount of metals actually needed to produce a metallic appearance. Plastics have worked quite hard to replicate the appearance of metals - and have been successful in sectors such as fasteners. Many metallic threads are actually metal-plated threads. The Lurex® Company uses polymers to make a wide range of shiny and iridescent yarns with a metallic look.
Designers also employ curves in their designs, to catch light and create an almost instant metallic effect via mirrorlike reflections. This idea can be easily employed in fasteners: a curved plastic button, coated or lacquered with a shiny paint, easily "passes" for metal.
Completely metal-free "metallic" threads are possible. For example, gold lamé - an eyecatching, stretchy, shiny fabric generally made of 80% nylon and 20% elastane - employs no gold at all.
