As Paris fashion week wraps up, several designers are lauding polyester as high fashion's next big thing. Lanvin's Alber Elbaz, Nina Ricci's Olivier Theyskens and the American designer Narciso
Rodriguez all have elaborate thousand-dollar polyester creations that women are starting to see in expensive stores.
Designers say recent improvements in the synthetic fiber have made
polyester lighter, thinner and more delicate. Giorgio Armani urges men to wear blends for better fit and elasticity. An early adopter of the new synthetics, Armani says he now prefers polyesters to
natural fabrics, such as linen, which wrinkles.
Both technological innovation and clever marketing have driven polyester's emerging popularity among prominent designers. Recently,
Japanese producers of fabrics began developing new types of synthetics, such as super-fine satin, twill and crêpe, with light finishes that can't be achieved using natural fibers.
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