Retroreflective Lace

This crocheted lace, donated by maker Elena Corchero, is made from a yarn that combines wool with retroreflective fibres, making it a high-visibility fabric. Light reflects off the LFLECT yarn, making it a potential alternative to popular neon yellow high-vis clothing as it can be incorporated into any knitted item of clothing.

Retroreflection is the term for materials that have the ability to reflect most of the light that falls on them back to its original source. Metallic films, white T-shirts and even dark colours can reflect light, but when they do the light is spread in many directions: these objects are reflective but not retroreflective. There are two main types of retroreflective materials: one reflects with the help of glass beads and the other is based on retroreflective prisms. In the first system, the light falls on the back side of the bead and is reflected directly back to its source. In the prism technology, on the other hand, the light falls gradually on each of the three prism surfaces before it is reflected back in one direction, through light refraction on the inner surface.