While other models are catching cold from wearing threadbare designs on the runway, models of clothes designed by Olivia Ong of Cornell University can strut in confidence that they won’t be coming down with the flu anytime soon. The garments Ong design are the most functional ones you can find right now. Not only does it prevent the wearer from catching colds and flu but it also keeps you safe from pollutants from the air. Even better, they are wash-free! Yes you can wear them again and again without having to ever bother with washing.

Although this might excite people who want to be fashionable but are on a strict budget since you can save on your laundry bill this won’t exactly save you any money. Fashion for less is definitely not the garments’ tagline since the nanoparticle coated cotton fiber costs approximately $10,000 per square yard!

The garments were made pretty by Ong but the people behind the functionality are assistant professor Juan Hinestroza and his post doctoral researcher Hong Dong. Acording to Dong the fabrics were created by dipping them in solutions containing silver nanoparticles that were synthesized in their lab. The beautiful purple and metallic colors of the garments are a result of tweaking with the particles’ size as well as arrangement. Now that IS a high-tech way of getting color into your cotton. Dyes make way nanoparticles are here.

Fashion and functioned has truly fused.