Came upon this current ad by Ermenegildo Zegna and intrigued by the "cool effect fabric" label. Looked it up and this is what the house's PR has got to say:
Cool Effect
This season's (Spring 2009) leading innovation is ‘High Performance Cool Effect’, blazers in the collection offer protection against the heat produced by natural sunlight, by reflecting the suns rays. The classic ‘High Performance’ woollen fabric from the Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna is given an exclusive wash treatment. This enables the surface of dark fabrics to replicate the properties of white fabrics, reflecting 80% of direct sunlight, where they would normally only reflect 20%, thus minimises heat build up and cooling the effect of the summer sun.
The ‘Cool Effect’ treatment does not effect the fabrics handle which remains light, soft and sumptuous offering the wearing not only an impeccable appearance but also maximum comfort in hot climates.
Must be some chemical wash with a substance not that different from what is time and again advertised by Tide. Still. When the heat returns, I would be grateful for any "cooling effect". Of course it would be doubly great if I also had those very cool pennyloafers.
Here are some images, set in India, from the Spring 2009 ad campaign. (The previous campaign was set in China. The current one is not set in another Asian country. But who knows, Brazil may be next.)
