We speak to Nick Tidball, co-founder of innovative fashion brand Vollebak, on the innovations set to revolutionise clothing the way we see it.

Tidball (pictured) visits Copenhagen for the launch of a speaker collab with Bang Olufsen. Together, the two brands have also created a Spaceshop, an “interstellar delivery vehicle” designed by SAGA Architects, which will function as a pop-up store to tour across the world. As a true visionary, the UK entrepreneur constantly looks at what’s next in fashion in general and fabrics in particular. Such as metamaterials. Artificially designed materials with extraordinary properties and functionalities that do not or rarely exist in natural materials.

– It’s similar to how biologists will now be able to start work once they understand DNA sequencing and that kind of stuff. Metamaterials, I think, will define architecture, materials, space materials, engineering materials, and clothing materials over the next 3 decades. The best way of thinking about them is that we are going to have the ability to play with materiality on an atomic scale, or slightly bigger. You’ll essentially be able to create materials that have multiple capabilities in a way that materials haven’t in the past, so they could have unbelievable strength or resistance to fire or the ability to resist journeying through space. Essentially, because of our ability to play God with materials. I think metamaterials will have a slow but then incredible impact on materiality in multiple industries.

One expression that is used to describe this is Atomic Lego, relating to the ability to play at this atomic scale, although, material-wise, it might be on a slightly bigger particle scale than that. 

– ’This thread combining with this particle, combining with this ability to conduct’ is the best way to describe it. It’s an early part of a journey that’s just starting. It’s not a huge area yet, but I think it will become one, says Tidball.

– For us, the important thing is to just start that in clothing now because in all bits of innovation, you have to just start. You have to start practising, start experimenting—that’s how the journey works. I don’t massively believe in 20-year journeys privately behind closed doors. I believe in open journeys, where you put your ideas out into the world, and the world, or certain influences, shape them and make them better. With progress, they will inevitably come forward, and they will take leaps and bounds if you open yourself up to it.

Where are we in the development?

– Fairly early.

Are you collaborating with academia, labs, or startups here?

– We’re particularly interested in places that are developing stuff that no one else has really heard of, where you hear the idea and you have to say, ’Sorry, say that again, what are you making, and what are you trying to do?’ Typically, those things are in very early research phases or a few years in, and they may not have the most defined project yet, but you know that they’re in an exciting area, Tidball explains. He continues:

– There are lots of ways to look for the best things happening in the world. It’s not just defined to ’this university’ or ’this country’, it’s kind of everywhere. We use serendipity and our network of fascinating customers and people who interact with the brand to understand all the most boundary-pushing things that are happening in the world right now.

The “fascinating customers” saying is not just a cliché; Vollebak experiences a growing number of very dedicated end consumers. Some of them, for instance, travelled from across the world, at their own expense, for the launch of the Copenhagen Spaceshop. For the recent launch of its Cymatic range, the brand worked with experimental filmmaker Josef Gatti, who works with water and oil to capture the pulsating patterns created by sound waves and harmonic resonances in 6K. Vollebak also just opened the waiting list for the Electromagnetic Shielding Bomber, available later and built with the same electromagnetic shielding technology used by NASA.

Nick, for metamaterials, who’s ahead of the league here?

– We’d probably have to say that Caltech (California Institute of Technology) are pretty high up.

It’s good that you can exist as an industry player when these researchers need proof of concept.

– Yes, which we’re completely happy to be—that’s the way I would see the relationship.

Trial and error.

– Yes, I’m super comfortable doing that.

When could we expect the metamaterial as part of Vollebak’s range?

– In the next two years.

And what properties would it have?

– I’m interested in things to do with sound and frequency.

A good cliffhanger.

– A total cliffhanger. Sound and frequency, that’s what I’m into.

Top picture: Nick Tidball inside the Spaceshop.