Fashion that protects you from electromagnetic radiation

No matter where you are: at home, in the car or on public transport, you are continuously exposed to the effects of electrical devices. 5G, the 5^th generation mobile communications network, is currently being deployed throughout Germany, electrical devices communicate with one another independently, server farms provide high speed data transfer and smart home and office applications are booming. Digitalisation is expanding in leaps and bounds worldwide, creating an increase in levels of electrosmog as it does so.

Anyone can reduce levels of electromagnetic radiation in their immediate surroundings, for example, by not leaving electrical appliances on standby, or by switching off their wifi or mobile phone at night. However, you are defenceless when it comes to your neighbours’ electronic devices or any telecoms masts in your local vicinity. It is highly debatable whether tinfoil hats or aluminium amulets offer any protection from other people’s devices. Aluminium is meant to have screening properties, but this theory still lacks any scientific evidence to back it up and consequently fails to provide a patent solution to the problem in hand. But what is the best way of protecting yourself? What are the best ways of combatting electrosmog?

A fashion collection for people who live offline

The Dutch textile and interior designer Rian Smolenaers has examined this question and considered how you can really go offline. Her design approach is tactility, i.e. she thinks that feel and colour are the key to bridging the gap between people and technology. She links this basic principle with her passion for designing innovative and smart materials for spaces and clothing. Her intention is to create new kind of tactility for a world in which technology is continually progressing ever faster.

Rian took this idea as the basis for her textile brand EASE. Her stylish lifestyle fashions, ranging from mobile phones to coats, manage to combine aesthetics and functionality. All items included in the current “Feel at Ease” collection are made of a fabric which protects against electromagnetic radiation.

Stylish textiles which provide protection with conductive metals

The clothing contains conductive metals like copper and silver which have been incorporated into the fabric. Thus, a multi-function jacket, a sporty jumpsuit and a casual hoody protect against any potential harm which could be caused by having a phone in your pocket, working with a notebook on your lap or passing a telecoms mast. Your clothing helps to block the electromagnetic rays thanks to the inclusion of the conductive metals.

Such protective clothing has already been in use in industry for a long time. However, there has hardly been anything at all available for normal consumers who would like to avoid the electrosmog they face on a day-to-day basis. It is precisely this point that Rian Smolenaers makes about her collection when she says, “I would like people to be given the choice of whether they are online or offline”.

It remains to be seen whether the clothing will manage to assert itself. In any case, EASE offers both aesthetic and functional products for all those people who do not want to have to pull the plug at every opportunity.

Images: Rian Smolenaers, EASE