A Time to Reflekt

This is kinda old news so bear with me, (I'm still getting used to this blogging-thing). A few weeks back we were doing trend research for Fall 2014 and few things caught me eye but one in particular was reflective-wear / details. It's nothing new but there are some cool things happening. I think when people hear "reflective" they think work wear vests and other, more industrial clothing but there are a few brands that are working towards making some pretty cool pieces. 3M is the reflective manufacturer of choice and it's pretty exciting to see it seeping into the fashion world.

Ice Cold is one brand to check out.

Founder and designer Michael Cherman started the brand with socks. They're actually kinda cool for socks. You're supposed to stretch them out and crack the 3M reflective dots before you use them... "that's how you know they're fresh". I like that idea, it's like glow sticks - little mini raves on your feet.
Apparently Cherman suffered one-too-many accidents on the busy streets of NYC which inspired him the develop the socks. They're geared for cyclists and runners and offer function with style. Since then they have expanded their product line to t-shirts, hats and collaborated with other brands, such as Wish, (check out their anorak).
Check them out here: http://www.icecoldny.com/

ISAORA.


ISAORA #GetReflective from ISAORA on Vimeo.

The more I read about this brand the more I'm crushing on them. I'm really digging what they do, especially their philosophy. I like to hear that a brand practices what it preaches and the team at ISAORA seems to do just that. I'll have to do a separate brand-feature post about them because there is way too much to say.  The brand's focus is to bring aesthetics to high performance fabrics and make clothes for the urban consumer.  Back in December 2012, (throwback...aanndd not really available for purchase) they debuted their reflective jacket and vest. The cool thing though is that they garment dyed the reflective fabric - which I, frankly, didn't think was possible. It's described as 3M-like Italian fabric so it must have some natural-fibers in it to be able to take the over-dye, not to mention it looks pretty freakin' cool. True to their word it delivers on its functionality.
Check them out here: http://www.isaora.com/

The piece-de-resistance though is brought to you by Stone Island. One of my all-time favorite menswear brands. For an established brand they never get too comfortable and are always putting out the coolest and innovative stuff. Science Bitch! Stone Island delivers consistently. Please make womenswear, thank you sincerely, Lazy Cat.

Their take on the reflective trend puts them in a different league. Back in 2010-ish they introduced the idea of "liquid reflective technology" which is a reflective solution made of thousands of glass microspheres. Each garment is individually sprayed with the solution and then baked dry, (the baking process is similar that used for car bodywork) which also happens to make the garment water and wind resistant. Each garment was individually treated. Then they really capitalized on the idea and rolled with it. It seems like every season they release a new piece using "liquid reflective technology".
In 2012 they released more jackets in different silhouettes. Then, THEN for their 30th anniversary they released their fully reflective KNIT jacket. Ok, lets break this down for impact. Prior, they were spraying and coating their garments which gave them this sort of spotty, imperfect look. Pff next! Let's just make the 'effing YARN reflective. So they took the same microsphere idea but instead of spraying the surface they created microsphere micro-tape and melted it to polyester yarns and then knitted the damn thing together. The actual jacket is simple and clean as it should be, letting the technology be the focus. It looks so cool and the debut video just seals the deal, (check it out below). You keep doing you SI.
Check them out here: http://www.stoneisland.com/