Vogue Education Presents Dr. Manel Torres
Condé Nast College was delighted to welcome Dr. Manel Torres, Founder and Managing Director of Fabrican, as a part of the weekly industry speaker series for Vogue Education Presents.
About Dr. Manel Torres
Following his time studying at both the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London (a highly impressive and unique feat) Dr. Torres developed his revolutionary sustainable spray-on fabric technology and thus, founded Fabrican limited in 2003. Since its launch, Fabrican has continued to amaze the fashion industry, consequently earning Dr. Torres the nickname ‘The Chemist Tailor’. It was named as one of the ‘50 Best Inventions of 2010’ by Times Magazine. In September 2022, during Paris Fashion Week, Fabrican became part of fashion runway history , when the technology was featured in the Coperni Spring/Summer 2023 show. In an utterly viral moment, Dr. Torres and his team sprayed the fabric directly onto the body of supermodel Bella Hadid, who appeared in nothing but nude underwear. Creating a minimalist Coperni slip dress in real time.
The revolutionary technology fulfils the worldwide need to create fabrics that have a sustainable, eco-conscious life cycle. Fabrican’s patented technology begins as a liquid suspension sprayed via a gun or aerosol can. Cross-linked fibres then adhere to each other and the surface, forming an instant non-woven fabric. It is extremely versatile as it allows for seamless customization, removing technical and economic barriers for producers. They can easily vary product properties (shape, size, texture, colour, scent) to meet customer specifications without re-tooling or stocking different materials. Fabrican is created with various fibres, including natural and synthetic types like wool, mohair, cotton, nylon, cellulose, and carbon nanofibers. All of the fibres are sourced from deadstock, recycled materials. The fabrics that are created can be washed and reused, and when the garments that are created come to the end of their life, they can be dissolved for re-spraying into a new shape.
Fabrican is not only used to modernise the fashion industry as it has also impressed producers that create garments and fabrics for the healthcare and automotive industries.
The Inside Scoop on Fabrican
Dr. Torres does not believe in the word impossible; the evolution of his career is a credit to his unwavering determination Dr. Torres informed students that for many years, he was completely focused on his dream of creating a sustainable, sprayable fabric technology. However, he was faced with many comments from friends saying “that’s crazy, how will you make it?”. His tip to combat this is to simply “just go for it”. If you really believe in yourself and stop and nothing and no one who gets in the way of you realising your dreams, eventually they will become your reality.
Dr. Torres informed us that , “It [was]a long journey”, as Fabrican is the product of twenty years of work, but he “…made it happen”, adding “I hope I am an inspiration to you…”. Dr. Torre’s journey of making the impossible possible is certainly an inspiration to all of us to keep going and never give up on our dreams.
“Sometimes these things are favours, you know, I really believe in destiny and the universe…when one door closes, a hundred more will open”. Dr Manel Torres
Dr. Torres highlighted his spiritual mindset and how key it has been to him being able to embrace change and maintain faith in his career journey. He believes that happens for a reason. Being the inventor of such groundbreaking technology, he undoubtedly experienced issues when formulating his product over the years. Therefore, he was asked ‘when and if you come across problems, how do you turn them into breakthroughs, and how do you use them to motivate you?’.
His response was that “[we experience] problems… everyday…[therefore he] find[s] that mindfulness, it really helps”. He gave us an anecdote about a major issue he had recently encountered and that when it happened,he perceived rejection as redirection. Despite any issues that Dr. Torres encounters along his journey, he always achieves the best outcome.
By Nadege Mustafa, Edited by Sophia Rasab
Pictures by Annelee Kilidjjian, MA Creative Direction for Fashion Media student.