MaterialDistrict

A lightweight blazer made of stainless steel

Clothing company Vollebak designed a lightweight blazer that consists of 24 per cent of stainless steel.

The Steel Blazer is the second metal garment the clothing company, known for using unconventional materials, has released. Earlier, they designed the Full Metal Jacket, a jacket made with 11km of copper in it, which makes up nearly 60 per cent of the fabric. The copper strands in the jacket are measured by lasers to keep hem soft and malleable.

To make the Steel Blazer, Vollebak opted for using stainless steel. The material was chosen because of its ability to increase its strength by 50 per cent in temperatures of -270 degrees Celsius, which is one of the reasons the SpaceX Starship will be built out of it, the inspiration for the jacket. In addition, the material can cope with temperatures of up to 870°C , allowing Starship to withstand the entries into Mars and Earth’s atmospheres it is being designed for.

It took four years of research and development to turn corrosion resistant stainless steel into a jacket. The blazer is made of 24 per cent stainless steel and 76 per cent polyamide. The jacket is also lightweight, weighing only 518 grams. The collar can be worn in two ways. To wear it like a normal blazer, it can be fastened with any of the lower three centre buttons, keeping the lapels folded down. There are also two extra buttons present behind the lapels to button the jacket up to the neck.

Photos: Vollebak

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