Channeling Spider-Man
What’s blue and red and webbed all over? Spider-Man: Homecoming, the latest installment of our favorite superhero film franchise. We often get compared to Spider-Man, and although we’re not superhuman, we share Peter Parker’s love of science and we’re using technology to make materials we think he’d be proud of.
In fact, Spider-Man has been such an inspiration to us that we gave our first tie (and the first-ever human-made spider silk product commercially available) to Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, whose vision has galvanized generations to dream bigger.
We’re not the only ones inspired by Spider-Man – one of our first customers, Joshua Katcher, grew up reading comic books, which inspired him to change the world. Mr. Katcher is an instructor at The New School’s Parsons School of Design and founder of Brave GentleMan, an ethical menswear line, and The Discerning Brute, the first men’s vegan lifestyle website. Spider-Man’s impact on Joshua was two-fold: he was in awe of Spidey’s amazing superpowers, but the impression went deeper: Joshua truly took to heart the imperative to fight injustices and leave the world a better place.
At Bolt, creating amazing materials and leaving the world a better place are our top two priorities. Since we have so much in common with Joshua, we stopped by the Brave GentleMan store in Brooklyn and spoke with him about materials, the future of fashion, and why the BoltSpun tie is more than just a necktie.
Part of the intrigue of Spider-Man’s silk stems from its versatility: he can use it to wrap up villains, swing from buildings, and make any silk structure his heart desires. This may seem like fantasy, but each spider actually does make several different types of silks, which means Spider-Man’s multifaceted abilities aren’t so far-fetched after all.
By drawing from the natural templates of these different types of silk, we at Bolt can design our own varied palette of materials, each with custom properties. Although we won’t be marketing products for wrapping up villains any time soon, we do have some pretty cool projects in the works. Watch the video below for Scientist Mike Lee’s thoughts on the future of Bolt materials.
So when you watch Spider-Man: Homecoming, remember that we’re working away on awesome silk and other materials here in the real world.