German fashion designer makes clothes from milk

BERLIN (Reuters) – A young fashion designer from the  German city of Hanover is revolutionising high fashion by  designing clothes with a staple she can find in her fridge— milk.

Anke Domaske, 28, has developed a fabric called QMilch made  from high concentrations of the milk protein casein—the first  man-made fibre produced entirely without chemicals.

“It feels like silk and it doesn’t smell—you can wash it just like anything else,” Domaske told Reuters.
Made from all natural materials, the QMilch fabric is  ecological but also has many health benefits, said Domaske, who  also said the amino acids in the protein are antibacterial,  anti-ageing and can help regulate both blood circulation and  body temperature.

Fashion designer and microbiologist Anke Domaske poses between her dresses made from milk yarn, October 5, 2011. (Reuters?Fabian Bimmer)

Domaske’s fashion label Mademoiselle Chi Chi—a favourite  among the likes of Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson—has now started weaving the milk fibre into its collection.

Currently the MCC clothes—which feature flowing wrap dresses with edgy cuts and bright patterns—are made from a  combination of various fibres, including QMilch. But Domaske plans to design a collection made entirely from the milk fibre.

Milk fabric has been around since the 1930s but was always  produced in unecological ways that used a lot of chemicals. Unlike earlier prototypes, QMilch is made almost entirely from casein.

“We have developed an all-natural fibre consisting of a very high concentration of casein, with a few other natural  ingredients—and in only two years,” the former microbiology student Domaske said.

The casein is extracted from dried milk powder and then heated up in a type of meat-mincing machine with other natural ingredients. The fibre comes out in strands and is then spun  into yarn on a spinning machine.

Domaske said it would take about 6 litres of milk to produce  an entire dress, which costs about 150 euros($199) to 200 euros.
Luckily, for that kind of money, the clothes don’t come with  an expiry date—during the heating process, the molecules bind in such a way that the protein won’t decompose.

Due to its anti-bacterial qualities, the milk fibre can also be used in medicine and makeup. Even some auto companies have looked into using the fibre for car upholstery.opyright Thomson Reuters 2011.