Phantom Textile Fabric

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: product design 2009

Phantom of the senses
Textiles are like mirrors of the human fantasy – floating and transparent garments appeal to the senses of the beholder because they seem to artfully play with the unseen. Probably the oldest evidence of woven cloth is to be found on carved representations of gracious Venus figures dating back to 2,000 BC, representations that show figures veiled in elegant garments. Featuring a special kind of transparency, the Phantom textile fabric appeals to the imagination in a highly distinctive manner, it appears to be little more than a faint breeze in a room. Serving to cover windows as a gentle veil, this textile was designed by the Swiss company Jakob Schlaepfer, which also specialises in manufacturing haute couture clothes. Just like the origin of its name “phantom”, which suggests associations of the illusory, the Phantom textile possesses many interesting characteristics. The use of new weaving techniques produced a textile cloth that not only conveys a visual lightness, it actually weighs only 10 g/m2 and thus, on a window, looks both light and filigree – a quality that creates enticing light effects. The new appeal and material lightness were further enhanced by the finishing process used. The fine, 145 cm wide polyester weave is upgraded with several metals such as copper and bronze. Thus designed, the innovative textile fabric stirs the imagination – hardly discernible, yet unveiling details otherwise hidden to the beholder.