Ansell, makers of Skyn Condoms, has presented Skynfeel Apparel, aiming to take condom material from the bedroom to the athletics track.
The Skyn brand created a one-of-a-kind conceptual long jump suit, intended for use by elite athletes, from Skynfeel, its ‘revolutionary condom material that lets you feel everything’. The suit seeks to minimise body limitation and provide extra airtime to long jump athletes.
“In the world of competitive sports, athletes look for every advantage, and we knew our Skynfeel condom material was revolutionary in our own industry, therefore we turned to the world of performance athletics and decided to conduct an experiment in apparel,” Ansell President and General Manager, Sexual Wellness Global Business Unit Jeyan Heper said. “We wanted to allow ourselves to think differently, outside of our own condom box.”
To create the garment, Skyn teamed up with fashion designer Pauline Van Dongen, whose wearable technology creations have won wide acclaim.
“Experiments like this can point the way to the future,” Ms Van Dongen said. “For me, Skynfeel Apparel is about challenging the status quo, trying something totally new, daring to innovate, imagine and inspire.”
The resulting Skynfeel Apparel garment features dragonfly wing-inspired flaps on the edge of the body, constructed from a thin layer of Skynfeel and reinforced by a geometric laser–cut grid. Designed with the long jumper’s technique in mind, the flaps stay flat during the run, to open up with the jump – just as the athlete twists their arms and straightens their legs. The aerodynamic design creates an upward lift that could help long jumpers stay in the air longer.
