The Specialty Group, Australia, has developed a luminous textile coating which the company claims will glow in the dark for more than three hours after only 12 minutes' exposure to natural light.

Called Energlo, the product uses photo-luminescent (light absorbing and emitting) crystals that are dispersed within several layers of the company’s waterproof breathable coatings. These coatings are then applied to a range of face fabrics that can be used for wet-weather clothing where additional nighttime visibility is required.

The company said the product, which was inspired by naturally occurring “bioluminescence” in deep sea creatures, will be especially useful for the emergency services attending traffic accidents at night, but added there is also keen interest from manufacturers of skiwear and snowboard wear.

Vice President of International Sales & Marketing, Daniel Leipnik, at the company’s Vancouver, Canada office, said: “Where the safety of law enforcement officers and ambulance and paramedic crews is involved, adding greater visibility to clothing at night is only going to make them safer and more easily seen than by conventional high-visibility fabrics or reflective tapes alone.

“We are getting dozens of calls from leading brands of ski and snowboard wear and even manufacturers of cycling, running and children’s wear who see Energlo as a wonderfully useful fabric,” he added.

A key feature of Energlo is that sportswear brands that have already chosen their intended outerwear fabric can have this made waterproof, breathable and photo-luminescent through the patented coating process.

One company already embracing the invention is Westbeach Sports, a well-known Canadian snowboard outerwear brand. “Westbeach is constantly searching out new technologies and testing fabrics to be used for our products,” said Michelle Gault, director of apparel at Westbeach, which has exclusive worldwide rights to the Energlo technology for the winter 2006/07 snow sports season.

“With Energlo, we saw an opportunity to push the boundaries of style while maintaining the function and the waterproof and breathable properties of the garment,” she said. “Westbeach has worked closely with The Specialty Group in the development of our first Energlo piece, the Phenom jacket, which will be delivered to retailers this fall.” According to Mr. Leipnik, more than 20 snow sports brands have confirmed they will be using Energlo in their collections for winter 2007/08 as well as dozens of workwear companies.

However, it is unlikely that sales of Energlo will be restricted to the snow sports and workwear sectors. “I have had calls from a New Zealand company that makes dog coats, a baby stroller manufacturer in Norway, and even a company in Japan that makes handbags with monkey cartoon prints on them,” Mr. Leipnik said.