Look Ma! I’m Hot

What would your infant say if he were running a temperature? But this dress can scream, ‘Hey, he’s running a fever’

What would your infant say if he were running a temperature? But this dress can scream, ‘Hey, he’s running a fever’

In the 1980s, a thermochromic range of fashion clothing was launched by Hypercolor, but nobody found it fashionable enough and the line of clothing literally faded away. The ink, back then, was manufactured by Matsui Shikiso Chemical of Japan. Now, almost two decades later, clothes with the same technology are all trying to make a comeback. And they just might because the contract to manufacture them has been signed with a UK ‘inventor’. This time the clothes will be targeted at children. Not as fashion accessories, but as lifesavers. For once, people will be glad to see the clothing change colour, because the change will indicate whether a child’s body temperature is normal or high enough to mandate medical attention. There is a lot of hype around this ‘new’ technology currently, but the only new thing likely is that the new thermochromic dyes will last longer on the cloth than did their early avatars. The early one were notorious for fading away if subjected to a high-temperature wash. Its marketers want to call this line of clothing Babyglow, and the projected price is £20 for a pack. Thermochromic ink is still available off the shelf on many online sites, if you can’t wait for the line’s October 2009 launch.

Thermochromic clothing for infants

Launching October 2009

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