Vollebak

On 18 February 2021, the Perseverance Rover was heading towards Mars at 20,000kmph, which is around Mach 16.   It needed something to slow it down.   The impact shock of slamming on the brakes at hypersonic speed is extreme. But NASA had created the lightest, strongest and most temperature resistant parachute fabric ever produced.   Just a couple of seconds after deploying the parachute, its speed had dropped to just 320kmph. The Rover landed. And the rest is history.   As for the parachute fabric that didn’t go to Mars?   That came to us.   And we’ve used it to build the most advanced piece of clothing on Earth: The Martian Aerogel Jacket.   There’s a new Rover Orange edition made from the same orange parachute material that NASA used to land on Mars. There’s a new Stealth Black edition. And there’s the original Mercury edition that sold out last year.   It’s not just the outside of the jacket that’s arrived from another planet. Keeping you warm on the inside of the jacket is a completely new type of laser-drilled aerogel built by the same team making the new aerogel heat shield to protect the next Mars Rover as it bursts through Mars’ atmosphere at 2000°C.   Aerogel is the lightest and most effective insulator on Earth and beyond. It’s only 3x more dense than air, but it’s almost impossible for cold air to pass through it as its individual nanopores are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. And this is the first aerogel in the world that’s flexible, durable, and waterproof. It can be totally compressed or soaked in water and still carry on insulating down at -20°C.   You can find the waiting list on this link - https://lnkd.in/ebvhvcqw

If you wanted to rebuild our Martian Aerogel Jacket from scratch just using the technology we’ve landed on Mars, the only thing you’d be missing is the zip.   The waiting list for the single most advanced piece of clothing on Earth is now open. And you can read the full story of the science behind it on this link - https://lnkd.in/ebvhvcqw

Our co-founder and CEO Steve Tidball talked to Pictet Group, and the wonderful Edie Lush, about the next 100 years of clothing and beyond.  Together they explore how our clothes and our technology will start to combine, a future in which we'll assemble metamaterials like Lego building blocks, and what fashion is going to look like up in space.  You can find their full 'Found in Conversation' podcast here...https://lnkd.in/g_7qq9Gp

With 72 hours left on our Future Test the early results are in. 83.7% of you would take a pill that lets you live for the next 1,000 years. 78.9% would genetically enhance yourselves. And 80.9% would download all human knowledge into your brain.   Thousands of you have taken our Future Test since we opened it. It’s how we know that an overwhelming 90.8% of you believe humanity’s greatest adventures are ahead of us, not behind, but only 17.9% of you fear being hunted down by robots one day.   If you’ve already taken the test, you will have unlocked a discount code to thank you for sharing your hopes, fears and dreams with us.   For those of you yet to channel your inner Neo and take the test, you have just 72 hours remaining. And you can find the Future Test here: https://lnkd.in/ditKVCce   Of those who came before you, 69% would robotically enhance themselves given the chance. 52.8% would take the first flight to Mars with no guarantee of return. And given the chance to be the only human on the planet to meet an alien species (that may confer life-altering wisdom, end your life immediately, or be an invisible bug in a petri dish) 83.7% took the meeting.

400 years ago Japan was a pioneer of sustainability. Even samurai warriors recycled broken umbrellas in their spare time – turning broken bamboo frames into kindling and the oiled parasols into wrapping paper.   And it was here that the art of Sashiko was born.   The technique of sashiko, or ‘little stabs,’ is a highly resilient form of embroidery where worn out garments were repaired using decorative hand stitches.   Clothes would be mended again and again as they passed down the generations, getting stronger as they got older. It was used to keep farmers warm, fishermen dry, and make firemen’s coats thicker.   A long, sharp sashiko needle was sometimes referred to as a magic wand – a tool that could not only save a piece of clothing but make it more beautiful at the same time.   Grey or white stitches against an indigo blue background were the classic sashiko combination, sometimes recalling blue mountains covered in snow, or the whitecaps on The Great Wave off Kanagawa.   Today our Sashiko Chore Jacket comes ‘pre-repaired’ with a blizzard of five and half thousand metres of white stitching.   A richly-coloured, indigo-dyed, Japanese denim base is overstitched with 5.5km of super-strong, pure white, fire-resistant meta-aramid thread, to create a modern day take on the ancient artform. You can read the full story behind it here: https://lnkd.in/eWmjNx5M

You can take a pill that guarantees you live for the next 1,000 years. Do you take it? You have the chance to download all human knowledge into your brain later today. Do you do it? You’re invited to take the first manned flight to Mars, but there is no guarantee of return. Do you take the flight? Our Future Test explores your attitude to risk, adventure, mortality, space and AI. Take the 5 minute test and earn 15% off your next Vollebak order. https://lnkd.in/eCrvC5i9

THE VOLLEBAK FUTURE TEST Would you take the red pill, or the blue pill? Now’s your chance to find out.   We spend a lot of time thinking about the future. From metamaterials and off-planet living, to alien life and immortality. And now we want to see how you’re thinking about it too.   Today we have robots armed with guns, scientists mapping the DMT universe, Harvard’s Avi Loeb searching for alien artefacts on the ocean floor, and monkeys playing Pong with their minds. Planning for your retirement on Mars now looks like a reasonable bet. Experiments at the quantum level are showing that not even the past is fixed. Ex Machina – which once looked like a cinematic masterpiece – now looks more like a documentary. And just like 8 billion lemmings running happily towards the cliff edge, we seem mildly obsessed with building sentient AI capable of plotting our own downfall.   So on the link below you will find an invitation to the future – a 5 minute test that explores your relationship to the future, to risk, adventure, mortality and space. It’s like spending 5 minutes being Keanu in The Matrix. But without the risk of getting unplugged.   Your answers will directly inform the areas we explore over the next decade and beyond. And while we can’t reward you with immortality, a code at the end will help fund the gear for your next mission whether you’re dressing for Earth, Mars, Titan, or the Apocalypse. Take the Future Test: https://lnkd.in/ditKVCce

After 4 years of R&D, our first Steel Blazer is built from the same material as the first SpaceX Starship bound for Mars.   The 20th century was practically built from stainless steel. From cars, to cities, to skyscrapers. And now it has its sights set on building the 21st century too. Starting with rockets and clothing.   While the human body is not built for the cryogenic temperatures of outer space, stainless steel thrives out there. At about 2.7 Kelvin, or -270°C, its strength increases by 50%, which is one of the many reasons the entire outer body of the SpaceX Starship will be built out of it.   The most powerful rocket ever built has been developed so it can not only be reused, but relaunch just an hour after each landing. So stainless steel’s toughness and extreme temperature resistance won it the job. It can cope with temperatures of up to 870°C – allowing Starship to withstand the hundreds of re-entries into Mars and Earth’s atmospheres it’s being designed for.   Back on Earth, it’s taken 4 years of R&D to turn corrosion resistant stainless steel into a jacket you can just throw on. The Steel Blazer is a lightweight two-layered jacket reinforced with 24% stainless steel. Malleable, strong and weather resistant, it comes with a convertible collar you can wear two ways, four pockets, metal detailing, a soft and breathable inner lining, and shoulder construction that looks like overlaid steel plates.   Unlike the rockets, our launch is scheduled for this Wednesday 10 July. Click here for more information. https://lnkd.in/et9h9VDm

If you're in London on Wednesday July 3rd, I'll be talking at MAD//FEST about 'What to wear on your first trip to Mars.'    From vomit pockets to sleep suits, you can see what fashion is going to look like as humanity goes intergalactic.   Click here for more information https://lnkd.in/emTN69P Steve, Co-Founder