Corn Clothes: Thin and Comfortable

Corn Clothes Thin and Comfortable
Corn on the ... bod? This week, at the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Chicago, Ford fashion models will strut down a catwalk in dresses by designers like Oscar de la Renta made of fabric produced from corn kernels.

Called Ingeo, the material is "thin and comfortable" and "doesn't stretch or rip," says Melissa Sack of Moral Fervor, which is launching an Ingeo T-shirt line.

Armani is putting an Ingeo knit shirt in its spring-summer 2006 collection.

"But the main reason we're using it is it's sustainable."

Unlike nylon and polyester (oil-derived synthetics), Ingeo is made from a renewable crop: animal-feed corn, of which U.S. farms produce about 12 billion bushels annually.

There are downsides, however. The fabric is machine-washable but can melt if ironed; it costs a bit more than cotton or polyester.