Books about Textile Innivation

There are following three books recommended, each providing a different perspective, each inspiring in a unique way.

Extreme Textiles 

This book is so beautiful you will surely want it for your coffee table! The front cover has the words “Extreme Textiles” punched out of thick cover stock and the void is backed with a sheet of sail cloth. And the inside is equally delectable with more than 200 images of radical applications ranging from racing sails to aerospace garments. Included are six essays by specialists in the field of architecture, design and textile engineering, showing us how textiles have and will continue to create the cutting edge of design and engineering.
These six essays focus on unique functional properties; lighter, faster, stronger, etc. They feature case studies showing how textiles are changing the design of categories such as sailing and military protective garments. This book was published by Princeton Architectural Press.


Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design

By Sarah Braddock and Marie O’Mahony. This book is a slightly smaller book which provides an overview of contemporary textile design and innovation. The newest textiles, especially those from Great Britain and Japan, are the fusion of art, design, engineering and science; technology meets the personal expression of an individual artist. While Extreme Textiles focuses on performance and gives a nod to aesthetics, Techno Textiles has reversed the priorities. The textiles here are far more decorative, more flamboyantly dimensional, and far more colorful. Originally published in 1999, Thames & Hudson recently re-released this title as the interest in materials for design, fashion, art and architecture continues to grow.


Textile Innovation: Traditional, Modern and Smart Textiles

By Ros Hibbert. This is a smaller volume than the other two, containing only 90 pages which are spiral bound. This black and white printed edition reads much like collegiate course required reading – the sort of thing your very academic professor puts together – but what a fabulous resource! In many ways, it is the most technically useful of the three, concerning itself more with specific facts about fibers and fabrics than their aesthetics or their influence. It speaks to the technology of a material more than the culture created by it.