WeatherMAX® 80 was the fabric of choice for this yacht, to provide shade for both comfort and UV blockage of 99.98 percent. The fabric needed to be light,  yet strong and stable enough to handle tension and high winds, as well as compact for stowing when not in use. Photo: Safety Components Fabric Technologies Inc. [...]

Photos by Cory Rossiter Michael Lester doesn't shy away from a challenge. He builds a team of fellow innovators and comes up with tensioned fabric solutions. "We’re always innovating,” says Michael Lester, managing director of MakMax Australia Pty. Ltd. in Brisbane, Australia, a world-renowned company building custom membrane structures and manufacturing a range [...]

CTT Group uses its proprietary Flash Fire Man™ for some of the many hundreds of tests it performs on textiles. Testing the finished garment is particularly important for protective and safety clothing. Clothing designed to protect against fire needs to be checked for the fabric itself but also to ensure that seams, fastenings and [...]

One of my friends emailed me this morning to ask about some research she was doing into the history of women’s participation in “technological” careers, wondering what was considered “high tech” 30, 40 and 50 years ago, and reminiscing about professional life before cell phones and computers and a global communications network. When I started [...]

The Pavilion of Canopies is a modern take on a classic temple. Made of fabric and bamboo, the materials can be reused for future community events. Photos: Sayantan Chakraborty The lush countryside west of Kolkata, India, is home to a tribal community, the Kishor Sangha, who wanted to create an experience for a [...]

Dubbed “Little Red Riding Hood,” this is a four-part, full-cover system: the top; the bow and pulpit area ending at the midpoint of the boat; the midpoint to the transom area; and the engine covers. The project won an Outstanding Achievement Award for Canvas Experts of Ocean City, Md., in the 2014 MFA Fabrication [...]

The wearables market builds customer relationships with new products and high-tech expertise. The speedy acceptance of wearable technology by health and fitness enthusiasts has supported impressive growth in this market. This growth reflects today’s larger culture, in which people expect ready access to information. Consumers can even monitor and evaluate their health and fitness goals [...]

The Solar Powered Jacket features solar panels to recharge a mobile phone on the go. Photo: Pvilion Self-described as classic American cool, Tommy Hilfiger’s designs fuse traditional sportswear with influences from pop culture, music and even technology. That was the inspiration for a limited edition Solar Powered Jacket that combined classic tartan from [...]

Scale offers a sustainable solution to space design because it is easy to modify over time, adapting to the needs of changing work environments. Photos: Layer The modern office environment is changing dramatically as the way people work evolves. Four walls and a door are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The [...]

Dot One combines science and art to create beautiful patterns from your DNA. Photos: Dot One You may think the purpose of DNA profiling is to prove guilt or innocence or test for paternity, but London-based designer Iona Inglesby has found a way to use it to make art. Human beings share 99.9 [...]