The Future of British fabric/tecnology

I first heard about smart fabrics when Apple and snowboard-wear company Burton collaborated on the worlds first wearable electronic jacket. The Burton Amp Jacket is a snowboarding jacket with I pod controls built into the sleeve

London fashion week saw collections including LED lighting and T-shirts with videos. It is an exciting time to be a designer. Smart fabric producer Luminex have created a glimmering fabric that is made by weaving fibre optics into the fabric.

I think in the future new science will mean that people will be wearing garments that actaully interact with the environment that they are in. There is no limit to the possibilities of British fabric technology. However I think that it will be a long time until these fabrics are a part of main stream fashion. For example are these pieces practical? How can you wash them?. In the mean time I think that this technology may be more succesfull in accessories as it is on a smaller scale and may be more practical.