Milk fabric - a material that has been forgotten for nearly 70 years is being reborn

Material made of the famous Heattech shirt line of Uniqlo was used on American military costumes in the 1940s.

According to Atlasobscura, in recent years, milk cloth has gradually been widely used in the fashion industry.

Qmilch - a company that manufactures clothes from casein (natural proteins commonly found in mammals) - was born in Germany in 2011. Under the guidance of designer and scientist Anke Domaske, Qmilch launches dresses that cost between 200 and 230 USD (about 4.5 to 5.2 million VND). Each dress is made of about 6 liters of milk.

Anke Domaske said the idea of ​​making a skirt from milk protein until she was trying to find sewing material that did not contain toxic substances for her stepfather had cancer."This material was made in the 1930s but at that time, the fabric still contained a lot of chemicals and had to go through a very complicated production process. I made a simpler production process, less chemical use. learn more, " Anke said.

Anka Domaske was the one who brought the milk production technology back into the 1930s.(Photo: Ecouterre).

In addition to Qmilch, Anke Domaske opened another high-end fashion brand in the United States, Mademoiselle Chi Chi. The brand also produces clothes from milk cloth and is loved by Hollywood stars like Mischa Barton, Ashlee Simpson. Currently, Mademoiselle Chi Chi combines this fabric with different materials to make clothes. In the future, the brand plans to produce all-milk products like Qmilch.

Uniqlo, which is familiar with popular designs, also makes fabrics made from milk into the Heattech product line.

According to designer Anke Domaske on Reuters, the new milk fabric feels like wearing real silk, without an unpleasant odor and easy to wash. Besides, proteins include amino acid sequences that have antibacterial and anti-aging properties. Material also helps to regulate body temperature and blood circulation. The cost of producing milk cloth is also much cheaper than traditional silk.

The return of milk cloth recently has been expected by experts to become the material of the future. Anke was awarded a creative award by the German Material Research Association. The association said it was a sustainable fiber that could change the whole garment industry.

"When society is increasingly interested in reuse, milk fabric can be a bad measure. Perhaps, our future is due to milk-based clothes , " Michael Waters - the pen's writer. Atlasobscura put the problem.

The idea of turning protein fibers from milk into fabric is from 1904 to 1909, in the study of German chemist - Frederick Todtenhaupt. His work failed, but created confidence for the futurists (throwing away the tradition and celebrating the modern world) - the movement initiated by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in Italy in 1910, affecting much Art field, including fashion.

Process of fabric production from milk.

Atlasobscura's study shows that wool fabric is essentially made of protein. Meanwhile, the main component of milk has casein, which is also a protein. At the molecular level, they have similarities. The task for scientists is to find ways to handle casein so that the end product has similar properties to wool.

In 1930, engineer Antonio Ferretti completed the process of producing milk cloth. In 1935, SNIA, the leading Italian artificial material manufacturer, obtained a patent on lanital (synthetic wool fabric woven from milk protein). "Lanital" is composed of two words including "lana" in Italian meaning wool and "ital" from "Italy".

On Time, engineer Antonio Ferretti shared the lanital production process as follows: At first, scientists put acid into skim milk to filter out casein. They then proceeded to treat the casein to form a uniform gelatinous mass. Next, the finished product is pressed through the case and then hardened in the chemical tank and finally cut into textile yarn.

Born Lanital created a breakthrough in Italian garment industry. From 1935 to 1937, 4.5 million kg of lanital was produced, becoming one of Italy's most popular fabrics.

The Children's Newspaper said the woolen cloth had infiltrated every suit, dress, accessory, even flags or banners hanging around the country. British Pathé - the famous British documentary producer at the time - praised: "In the future, people have more choices with milk, either drinking it, or wearing it." Karen Pinkus - Professor of Literature at Cornelle University, New York, USA - identified lanital as "the obsession of Benito Mussolini regime".

Factory producing milk from Italy in the 1930s. (Photo: Atlasobscura).

Not only creating a breakthrough in the garment industry, lanital also helps Italy solve the waste problem. Like many other countries, Italy had to spend hundreds of millions of liters of skim milk a year because it was not used. But since the lanital production technology was born, the country has found a way to make the most of its existing resources and save a significant amount of expenses. About 45 liters of milk, 1.68 liters of casein are collected for fabric.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the SNIA company began promoting milk cloth worldwide. The company sold patents to countries such as the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Japan, France, Canada, Czechoslovakia (Czechoslovakia), and the UK.

However, America - the big market that this company aspires to - initially not very salty. At that time, the US used casein to produce items such as lakes, buttons, combs, aircraft paints, piano keys or paper .

SNIA "infected" for Americans to apply casein to the fashion industry. They asked Marguerite Caetani - a famous figure who used to make newspapers in the US - promoting costumes from lanital milk cloth in New York. Mona Bismarck - the character that Chanel voted "The most beautiful woman in the world" - was also invited to perform a dress made from lanital in front of American guests.

Dairy fabric is expected to be the material of the fashion industry in the future.(Photo: Designswan).

By 1941, Italians sold technology to make cloth from milk for the US. A research group of the Atlantic Research Alliance - of the National Dairy Corporation (USA) - started producing lanital but named it "aralac" ( "ARA" stands for American Research Associates longer " lac "is milk in Latin).

The whole picture of fashion in New York is tinted with Italian fabric. In 1944, Life reported: "The majority of American citizens do not know that the clothes they are wearing are made from skim milk." Even when the US joined World War II, the fabric was mixed with rayon (artificial silk made of cellulose fiber) to make hats for soldiers. Aralac was then used to make jackets, suits and dresses for the US military.

The golden age of milk cloth does not last long. Although it has a " better " sound than traditional woolen fabric, lanital does not have the same durability. Milk fabric is easily damaged when ironing. Many customers complained about being wet, the lanital smelled like fermented milk, very uncomfortable.

In 1948, the US "closed" production of this garment material. Not long after, SNIA shifted its focus to other synthetic products. In the market, a variety of cheaper artificial products began to spread. That is the reason for a long time, lanital falls into oblivion.

• Clothes made from . milk