Ideal for those accident-prone amongst us, the I-Ultra sunglasses from Italia Independent are made entirely of rubber, save for the high-quality lenses of course. The malleable frames can be bent in essentially any direction without breaking, making them safe for stashing in your back pocket or tossing into a bag once the sun goes down. The lightweight material—which Italia Independent claims to have never been …
A driving force behind innovation in all areas of design and technology is the development of new materials. Sometimes overlooked, this core tenet is given the spotlight in the upcoming Thames & Hudson release, “Material Innovation: Product Design.” As part of the larger series Material Innovation, produced in association with material consultancy agency Material ConneXion, the book provides a wide examination of cutting-edge materials in …
With a committed mission to reducing their environmental impact, Patagonia has partnered with eco-friendly biomaterial firm Yulex to create the first plant-based wetsuit material. “Performance, natural rubber has not been used in wetsuits, ever,” says Patagonia’s director of surf projects Jason McCaffrey, adding, “the manufacturing process is almost entirely green.” The natural rubber is made from organic matter derived from the little-known Guayule plant, which …
