Silly string inspired spray-on dress

Photo from Head Topics

Edited by Yujin Tchun

From September 26th to October 4th 2022 at Paris Fashion Week, Bella Hadid walked down the runway only wearing her underwear. This obviously confused the viewers, however, promptly after her entrance to the runway, she was joined by two technicians. They sprayed a spider web-like material onto her body, which quickly transformed into a white dress. Afterwards, another person tidied and cleaned the dress up, and Bella continued to walk the rest of the runway, astonishing the crowd.

Dr Manel Torres was first inspired by silly string, as silly string turns from a liquid into foamy solid strings. He looked at the science of silly string and sought to look for a similar technique for fabric, thus beginning his quest for a safe wearable spray on fabric. The silly string has just a few main ingredients, a resin and a surfactant in a pressurized aerosol can with a propellant. The resin is a viscous sticky substance that allows its web-like structure. The surfactant on the other hand, lowers the surface tension of the liquid and allows the expansion of the resin foam, similar to soap bubbles in our hands. When the nozzle is pressed down upon with both these substances combined in addition to a propellant, the pressure drop allows the silly string to be shot out of the can.

Bibliography

Silly string science behind the dress sprayed onto Bella Hadid. (2022). Retrieved 7 November 2022, 

from https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/lifestyle/article/3197073/how-was-dress-sprayed-bella-hadid-science-behind-fabric-can-was-inspired-silly-string

Science, P. (2022). Bella Hadid’s spray-on dress was inspired by the science of silly string. Retrieved 

7 November 2022, from https://headtopics.com/us/bella-hadid-s-spray-on-dress-was-inspired-by-the-science-of-silly-string-30422309