Graphene jacket by Vollebak, made in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2023. Material made in Italy.

The inner layer of this jacket is made from the world’s thinnest and strongest material – graphene. Graphene is a one-atom thick, two-dimensional carbon crystal. Graphene is stronger than steel yet lightweight and flexible, making it a good candidate material for clothing designed to be hard-wearing.

One of the biggest challenges of applying graphene to commercial products is how to produce industrial scale quantities of graphene. In 2004, graphene was isolated from graphite using sticky tape by University of Manchester Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov. Manchester remains at the centre of graphene research and scientists at the National Graphene Institute are working at different methods of producing graphene aside from using sticky tape, including chemical deposition. Companies like Vollebak collaborate with the National Graphene Institute to apply graphene science to commercial products.