When I think of reflective clothes, I just think of a traffic conductor, the people I see running every morning, or your average bicyclist. For the most part, I've only seen reflective clothes be more for fitness purpose. The first time I've ever heard of this reflective fabric being used in fashion, was when Alexander McQueen created these looks on the runway for his 2004 Fall Collection in Paris.
So how does it work? Well, first things first, not to be confused with A glow in the dark SURFACE that works as simple as turnING the lights out and that's how it glows. However, reflective objects and fabrics, work off of a separate source of light like a flashlight, camera flash, head lights, etc, to flash light back at you! It's initial purpose was to be able to be seen in the night time, for safety reasons of course. So bikers, police officers, runners, and traffic directors wear reflective vests, and reflective patches, to avoid being hit by cars if they're out at night! At first glance, the reflective material itself usually just looks like a almost metallic grey surface, but when a light is pointed on the material, it reflects back, giving off the white luminescent glow!
More recently, the flashy reflective look taking on more than just a sporty look, and it's slowly evolving to be more of a casual/street style trend. NIKE specifically has started to run with this trend, and while still being a sports oriented brand, most people wear NIKE as more of a fashion statement nowadays. Like most sport oriented brands, the logos on their shoes or apparel would be reflective, so if the wearer is on a run at night, and a car is coming by, they can be spotted and avoided easily. The trend is on the come up as a flashy thing for pictures! I see this trend in men's fashion a lot, but I need to see my ladies wearing this look more! It looks sick on men and women alike!
I recently came across a United Kingdom based clothing and accessories company called LFLECT who incorporates reflective elements in all of their pieces, with everything from head-bands, apparel, and even reflective yarn and iron-ons, so you like to DIY like I do, you can make your own custom reflective pieces! Shop LFLECT HERE
