SKYNFEEL APPAREL is a long jump suit made from innovative condom material and designed for professional athletes by SKYN Condoms in collaboration with textile design and tech wear specialist Pauline Van Dongen. The conceptual design draws inspiration from biomimicry and includes dragonfly wing-inspired flaps on the lateral sides of the body to increase the athlete’s elevation when making a jump.
What Dongen calls dragonfly-wing flaps are geometric laser-cut panels that are intended to enhance athletic performance by staying closed for the run-up and then opening up the moment the wearer prepares for the jump. When the panels open up, they create air pockets, which results in an aerodynamic effect that could help long jumpers obtain more suspension in the air in order to gain distance.
The SKYN Condom’s patented material lends the cutting edge design a streamlined form that is simultaneously flexible, lightweight and strong. The SKYN condoms are marketed as a second-skin and this attribute has been brought across to the SKYNFEEL performance wear, which conforms to the body and maximises the physical agility of an athlete.
For both participants, the collaboration has been an exploration of the potential of technically advanced performance apparel. Dongen, who is experienced in textile innovation and intuitive wearables, says that the SKYNFEEL material has unique properties that have revealed “new ways of innovating sportswear”. Senior global brand director of SKYN Condoms, David Chaker is eager to see how the material develops in the competitive sports arena.
