It is an unlikely collaboration: She is a fashion designer whose creations have been worn by Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince while he is a world-renowned polymer chemist. But together, Helen Storey and Tony Ryan are fusing style and substance to create clothes that purify the air we breathe.
Catalytic Clothing seeks to explore how clothing and textiles can be used as a catalytic surface to purify the air, employing existing technology in a new way. It is the brainchild of artist/designer Helen Storey and chemist Tony Ryan – people from very different worlds whose minds have come together over recent years in highly successful art/science collaborations.
The Catalytic Clothing team have worked out a way to harness the power of photocatalysts - light-sensitive substances that will literally clean the air as you walk. By adding them to your fabric softener, your clothes turn into earth-saving agents. Your jeans will have the ability to purify the air.
I thought if I put a catalyst on the (fibers of clothes) I can do a lot of environmental clean-up
Professor Tony Ryan
Ryan estimates that a pair of jeans weighing 500 grams could absorb around two grams of pollution.
Storey's journey away from commercial fashion to her current role -- she runs her own foundation and is currently a professor of fashion and science at The London College of Fashion -- began in 1997 with an exhibition called Primitive Streak.
Working with her sister Kate (a developmental biologist) she created 27 dresses which depicted the first 1,000 hours of human life.
Other projects blending science with art followed before she met Ryan in 2005 collaborating on the Wonderland project where they explored sustainable ideas for packaging and environmentally-friendly fashion, which in turn inspired their latest venture.
A four-minute film featuring British model Erin O'Connor and music by Radiohead was launched last year to promote the project and engage the public in the process.
