Vollebak's New Shimmering Jacket Is Inspired by the Blue Morpho Butterfly
Changing from matte to bionic blue when exposed to light.
Following the release of a jacket inspired by the squid’s adaptive camouflage, Vollebak returns with a new jacket, drawing from nature once more. This time, the fabric mimics the microscopic scales that cover the Blue Morpho butterfly’s wings and allows for its iridescent shimmer.
The Blue Morpho butterfly’s scales seem to constantly shift in color due to the reflection and scattering of light, allowing pilots flying over the rainforest to see them from a kilometer away. Vollebak embedded two billion microscopic blue glass spheres onto the surface of its jacket; in the sunlight, the jacket changes from a matte blue to a shimmering metallic blue. When the jacket is exposed to a camera flash, headlamp or search light at night, the bionic effect makes the body seem to fade away so that only the jacket remains.
Steve Tidball, co-founder of Vollebak, explained, “While we know we’ll always be playing catch up with nature, our ultimate aim is to create synthetic materials as smart and responsive as biological ones.” Along with the jacket’s ultra-visible reflectiveness, it was also created for high performance with a fully waterproof exterior, six air vents, a super-high collar and an ocean-racing style marine hood.
The Blue Morpho Jacket is available to purchase now on Vollebak’s website for $845 USD.
Elsewhere, Aquadive joins Poisedon Diving Systems for a limited-edition watch.
