You may have heard of flower power in the 1960s and now in the 2010s we have solar power—that you can wear. You may already have purchased from us a solar bag or solar backpack, but soon you may be able to purchase solar couture. Several companies have come out with solar-powered articles of clothing meant for outdoor adventurers.

While the Environmental Protection Agency held a competition last April to create fashionable, eco-friendly, and solar-powered clothing designs, there has not been a rush of such items hitting the stores. You may have a market opportunity as there is a gap in the everyday wear category.

You may know of SolarWorld-USA for its efforts to impose tariffs on Chinese solar panel manufacturers as part of its lead in the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing. It also a couple of years ago sponsored Portland Fashion Week, where Seth Aaron Henderson unveiled a “solar-inspired fashion collection.” If you take a look at SolarWorld’s first peek at Seth Aaron Henderson’s Solar Inspired Clothing you will see that the inspiration is more on the models than in the utilitarian backdrop.

Now it seems that the next step is actually to embed the solar in the inspiration with solar power clothing. And this solar innovation is coming from an unlikely source, the designer and stylist behind Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress, Nicola Formichetti.  Formichetti will be releasing his new line of solar-powered clothing online in mid-2013.  Not only will his designs allow their wearer to make a unique fashion statement, they will also charge the wearer’s cellphone.

Formichetti, who is anything but conventional, wants to take the fashion industry into the future and is working with a technology company to make his dream into a reality.  While solar-powered clothing is not a new idea, Formichetti is taking a more fashion-focused approach and his line will be marketed to a more avant-garde audience.

The line, entitled Formichetti, will use smart textiles and solar panels, and promises to be both functional and fashion-forward.  Hopefully, he will continue moving the fashion world towards renewables by creating solar-powered accessories, along with clothing.

The media attention Formichetti has already garnered because of the wacky creations he’s designed for Lady Gaga is sure to continue when the solar-powered clothing line launches.  His celebrity will draw more attention to the solar power community, and the line will help to demonstrate the many uses for solar in our world.

Original Article on SolarTown