Black Magic

When the Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai glided into Oprah Winfrey’s talk-show studio a couple months ago, she dazzled the audience with her grace and glamour. But her appearance also left some observers wondering why she had chosen to wear something as unusual as a black sari.

Few probably realise that designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who made Rai’s outfit, have been trying to persuade Indian women to reconsider black for several years now. And they have had some success, despite centuries of religious and cultural symbolism favoring bright colours — and the simple fact that black is the most uncomfortable colour to wear in India’s searing heat.

The darker the fabric, the more light is absorbed and the hotter the wearer becomes. But a new fabric treatment on the market may make Indian women, as well as millions of Middle Eastern women, corporate executives and anyone else wearing black in a sunny climate, feel cooler and perspire less.

Schoeller Textil, the Swiss company that developed the Coldblack finishing process, says tests show that the skin temperature of a person wearing treated fabric is 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than that of someone wearing the same, but untreated, black fabric. It also guarantees a minimum ultraviolet protection factor of 30, a scale similar to the sun protection factor used for sunscreen lotions. Originally introduced last year for the auto interior and outdoor furniture markets, Coldblack textile technology quickly sparked interest among specialist apparel makers.

“It has great potential in the fashion market since it opens up a wide range of new opportunities for designers and product developers,” said Hans-Jürgen Hübner, chief executive of Schoeller Textil. “Now they can choose any colour they like for summer clothing without having to avoid dark colours anymore.”

Hugo Boss used Coldblack late last year for the Davis Cup tennis team outfits and Ermenegildo Zegna’s Lanificio mill treated some of its blazer fabrics with Coldblack for Zegna’s last two spring/summer collections.

And while Hübner is confident that Coldblack will be discovered by fashion brands soon, some designers unfamiliar with the product say they are surprised that a year after its debut, no one has marketed it to them yet.

“Breathability is a key word for any fabric in the Middle East, and that’s why muslin and natural fabrics are so important. But with this kind of innovation, it could make a big impact,” said Rabia Zargarpur, a Dubai-based designer, who has made a name by challenging conventional “modest fashion” look like in the Arabian Gulf region and reinventing abayas in more colourful, glamorous styles for her label Rabia Z.

“I am just about to launch a line of abayas called Demure Couture and I think Coldblack fabrics could be absolutely perfect,” she adds.

And, strange as it may sound, the taste for black actually is growing as globalisation brings Western brands into emerging markets. Loose white linen suits for businessmen in steamy Latin American countries have been supplanted by dark, tailored Italian brands and, although most Arab men still prefer white dishdasha robes to suits, things are changing there, too.