Antiviral fashion seems to be inevitable.
Denim brands are developing jeans that use advanced antimicrobial technologies to help protect wearers from the spread of the coronavirus, while remaining stylish.
On Thursday, Diesel, worn by celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper, announced the introduction of an ultra-innovative denim treatment that physically stops 99% of all viral activity on tissues.
As part of the retail specialist OTB Group, Diesel will implement the ViralOff technology, developed in partnership with the Swedish chemical company Polygiene POLYG
through a selection of spring / summer 2021 denim style brands, which will be on sale in mid-January.
Diesel has exclusive rights worldwide to apply the treatment to all denim fabrics, a spokesperson for MarketWatch said. The brand said the technology is still active and has the ability to deactivate more than 99% of viral activity within two hours of contact between the pathogens and the tissue. It works by interacting with key proteins, preventing the virus from attaching to textile fibers.
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Polygienes’ efforts to protect clothing began with the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome in the early 2000s. ViralOff technology has also been used previously by facial mask producers such as P&S Healthcare, Maloja and SilverTek USA.
Little is known yet about how the new coronavirus interacts with clothing and fabrics. In March, Dr. Juan Dumois, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, told MarketWatch: coronaviruses generally last much longer on a solid, non-porous surface compared to porous fabrics. He suggested that they would outlast artificial fibers, like polyester, rather than cotton.
The trend in antiviral technology is slowly spreading to high-end fashion. The Italian luxury manufacturer Albini Group, which supplies fabric for dress shirts to luxury fashion groups, including Kering KER,
Armani and Prada unveiled its Viroformula fabrics in May.
Developed in collaboration with the Swiss performance textile company HeiQs Viroblock, antiviral and antibacterial textile treatment is applied textiles in liquid form during the washing process to provide a disinfectant and germ-resistant surface.
Albini said Vogue Business that its new antiviral fabrics look and feel the same as its other luxury materials.
Denim brands DL1961 and Warp + weft are also working with HeiQ and said in June that starting October 1, all new collections from both brands will use the company’s technology.
It uses silver-based technologies that generate antiviral reactions by attracting viruses and permanently binding them to their sulfur groups, thereby reducing the risk and speed of contamination and retransmission.
Tissues treated with HeiQ Viroblock, which has been tested by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, are expected to remain active for up to 30 home washes.