I'm Gabriel Platt, creator of the first t-shirt that is blacker than black, inspired by a meme and made possible by a snake. AMA!

Could you make one in a tactical turtleneck? I hear there's a market for black and darker shades of black

Are you an architect?

archertect

Of a specificly stealthy Japanese variant?

Immediately sent this to my fellow arch students haha

Hahaha

When will your blacker-than-black shirt be available? Where will it be sold?

Ships in March for $75, according to the Mashable article

Holy hell, is it bulletproof?

Working on it. Like really.

Now that is pretty awesome. Can you elaborate at all or is it stealth

Sure. It's no secret that there are knifeproof (already used that) and bulletproof textiles. But as far as I know, there is nothing to date that is as lightweight as a t-shirt. Artificial Spidersilk looks promising, though

To clarify: Bulletproof simply mean resistant to bullets. Any shirt-to-be would not be able to absorb the kinetic impact or the like, right?

It so happened, that I recently talked to a friend who worked for a company creating kevlar vests. As far as I understood, it is, in fact not absorbing the energy (remember the energy conservation law) but deflecting it over the whole surface of the vest instead of a punctual hit. But I'm sure there are people here who can explain this much better.

That's true, and that's why Kevlar vests are as thick as they are; they need that many layers to distribute the impact. You could make a t-shirt that didn't allow the bullet to penetrate, but you'd still die from the blunt-force trauma without something to absorb or distribute the impact force.

Relevant http://www.vice.com/video/bogota-s-bulletproof-tailor

About what percentage of light does this fabric reflect, and how does it compare to a "normal" black fabric?

Hi there and thank you for your question. We've just come back from Switzeland from our tech partner where they are working on making the fabric durable. It currently is reflecting 50% less light than any other high quality fabrics they tested it against. I hope this answers your questions.

How is "any other high quality fabric" different from "any other fabric"?

Put a cheap black t-shirt beside a black expensive italien suit and you will see a difference.

I think that was his point. You could have just said "any other fabric", including the high quality ones.

I stand corrected (dammit)

How much more black could it be?.. and the answer is none. None more black.

Yes, it could be blacker than black times infinity.

Do your fuligin garments come in cloak form?

Not yet, maybe later. Actually, we thought about burkas too. More as an artistic statement.

I love that idea. T-shirt and Burka as the first two items definitely makes a statement

Phoebe thinks a lot about womens empowerment in her designs, that's why she uses very strong silhouettes and materials like carbon and kevlar.

The burka would be charming in a sense: "you want us to vanish in our black burkas, we can get even more invisible", but maybe thats overly romantic. Need an assassment by a muslim woman on that.

If anyone is wanting to order one now there is three days left on the kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phoebeheess/viperblack-the-blacker-than-black-t-shirt

I was thinking about it but will hold out until I've actually seen the product in real life.

My question for your AMA is this:

Do you think you will be able to make much advancement beyond the current reflected amount? (It's currently 40-50% ?)

I understand. It is just not possible to convey a blacker than black on a computer screen, so it will be interesting to see how people are reacting on it in r/l.

We started with 40% and now it's over 50. If you extrapolate this, we might be maybe landing at 60-70? But that's really just a guess, so please only rely on the current 50%

Technically, I think your shirts will be blacker than computer screens. Computer screens showing black are always a little brighter than a computer screen turned off, and even a screen turned off reflects more light than a good black color.

Exactly. I even thought about if it was possible to (with permission of course) turn parts of a screen off.

Well, it is. Your average LCD has one giant backlight, so no, you can't, but AMOLEDs for example have backlights on individual pixels (grossly oversimplified, but w/e) so the blacks on them really are black instead of dark grey.

Great info, we are just thinking about how to best do an installation at Paris Fashion Week

1. Get a big LCD TV.
2. Display black on the whole TV.
3. Hang a blacker then black shirt in front of the screen.
4. The shirt will be blacker than the TV.

Additionally, get a variety of black materials and put them on your table as a comparison.

• Charcoal
• Coal
• A Steve Jobs black turtleneck
• A large paintbrush with the blackest paint you can buy at the hardware store
• A pair of a popular brand of black socks
• A typical black suit jacket
• A black crayon

I like the comparison idea. Until now I only planned to go to events with a lot of black clad people, make bets with them and let them do mean things if they lose. Goth gathering -> wear neon and laugh the whole day

You joke, but bubble goth is a thing. (Though that's more pastels than neon, but shhhh.)

I am sorry if I insulted any bublegummers.

Does the fabric lose any of its light absorbing capabilities after being washed?

Yes, like all colors fade after a while. However, our tech partner is from Switzerland and quality and reaching certain standards is very important to him.

The charming thing is, even if it fades after a while, you still got a cool black shirt.

Can it retain its blackness for more washes by using Persil Black?

This post was sponsored by Henkel ^{I wish}

Actually yes, all black preserving washing agents will be benificial. But that's the case with all black fabrics, except plastics

If even light cannot escape you, then what hope have I?

You tease

Are you sure it's not just a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very dark blue?

Didididibang

Have you considered the possibly of military/ special operations applications?

Yes, but we don't want to make people more lethal.

Except for Ninjas. We would sell to Ninjas.

You are now on some NSA list dude

Now?

If they're really ninjas, you'd never even know you sold it to them.

Yes I would. Because it shows up in my book keeping. That's actually what I tell the IRS, too

Will these shirts be blacker than my ex fiancee's heart?

No, man. No.

Would you consider calling it fuligin?

There is an amazing book series, The Book of the New Sun, in which the main characters guild wears the color fuligin, the color that is darker than black.

Ah, that's where it's from. Thank you clarifying, I am constantly getting some obscure culture references and can't really keep up.

All my black shirts look like shit because they attract lint and cat hair like crazy. Are there any viper scales that repel little fuzzy things?

Wouldn't the opposite make much more sense for a snake?

But seriously, a evenly coated, non static surface should work best

Can the average person tell the difference? Asked by someone who often can't tell navy from black. And are you concerned you're targeting too much of the basement dwelling demographic, who seem to be the most common black tshirt wearers?

Absolutely. If it's not too dark in the room, it might even enable you to win rounds of beer in a bar with a high percentage of black clad guests.

I think I know what you mean with too many basement dwellers - it doesn't really fit to our hyperstyled high fasion brand. But you know what, in our campaign it turned out that these are the most friendly amongst our very diverse audience, so black wearers, unite.

Many minimalistic high end high street brands feature a lot of black and white staple pieces. COS comes to mind...

Sure. Black never goes out of fashion. After all, wearing black makes you appear more attractive, intelligent and confident.

Will you ever offer the material for purchase?

Not on a commercial level, but just for personal use. In my case, I make outfits for myself & friends, and would love to make the Ultimate Goth Kilt and/or trousers to go along with the shirt.

Very possible, yes

Do you make priest's socks?

Sorry, we don't do dark blue

Could you do the opposite to make a whiter than white shirt?

Given the fact that the blackest material to date stems from an ultra white beetle, I guess it is possible. But our designs are black only.

What are the physics behind making this possible?

It's a mixture between structure and pigments, literally creating a photon trap.

(I love saying this)

Doesn't this heat it up a lot? Or rather than truly trapped, are they re-emitted at invisible wavelengths?

It should heat up 40% more than your average black shirt. However, we also got a fabric in our collection that is not heating up much less under the sun.

Where can I see that super black shirt?

We will probably show it publicly at Paris Fashion Week. Sendout to backers is planned for march.

Is Berghain in Berlin your biggest customer?

VERY relevant question and we hear this a lot. The only problem is that Berlin's city motto is "arm aber sexy" (poor but sexy). Which really just means that all money is spent on recreational drugs. Ssource: worked for Vice Berlin for some years)

Would you consider tailoring a suit made of "blacker-than-black" material? Or at least selling bulk fabric so I could have one made?

We will probably sell the fabric in bulk as well

Could you turn these into pants, hoodies, etc?

Yes, we've been asked for hoodies a bunch of times. Guess some people want to execute their profession standing on corners in a discreet fashion.

No, we're on it.

I'd be interested to know if you'll be doing a dress shirt (I love to go black-suit, black shirt, subdued tie. If I have to wear a suit, I'm wearing all-black.)

That would look slick. You're the first to inquire this, but I'll note it

Are your products going to strictly be priced at a high fashion level, or do you have plans on a line with more median pricing?

That is a very good question. At the moment, the clothes we do look very excentric. But if you look closely, many of the pieces are really performant sportswear (Phoebe is a designer for Adidas in her day job).
The price tag will, however, always be above average, since we really take care about the circumstances (environment, quality, social) they are produced in.

If the shirt absorbs so much light rather than reflecting it, will it be noticeably hotter in the sun than a regular black t-shirt?

Correct.

How does this fabric perform in a cat-rich environment?

All of my black clothing looks like this, essentially http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9wkAC8YpcKI/UunHN19xC4I/AAAAAAAAMQY/7oxd5NihBzA/s1600/swipet+cat+fur+all+over+chair.JPG

It will get hairy. Everything will. You will end up in a cat coccon and they will slowly feast on you while you're alive

Have sports teams approached you? This would make some fucking sick jerseys.

Teams are normally under contract. I've seen indicators that lead me to the conclusion that our innovation is making the rounds in some sportswear company intranets, though

If what you've created is blacker than black, then what color is my heart?

obvs lonely

The tech you're using sounds like it wouldn't be unlike the fibers used to make cloth impervious to liquid/stains. Any thought in going in both directions simultaneously?

Interesting question, but if I look at the microstructures of both technologies, they look quite different. Otherwise lotus leaves would be really dark

Where in the world will you manufacture these?

In Bavaria, Germany. By a company that does high fashion sample collections. Very pro

Can you go into the process behind reverse engineering snake scales into fabric? It really looks like just another shirt that you are marketing with a shitty gimmick.

I understand where you're coming from. But please bear in mind that it is physically impossible to show a blacker than black on a computer screen. As far as I understand it with my limited knowledge of physics, the viper's trick is that it's scales are arranged in a fashion that the distance to the next scale is approximately the wavelength of light. So the photon goes in, but is unable to bounce back.

And that's exactly the arrangement we're trying to recreate.

Will they be available for purchase online after the kickstarter is complete?

Yes, but we wanted to incentivise backers who take this journey with us. So the price will be higher afterwards.

Why did you not name the product fuligin, the color of which is blacker than black? This seems like a pretty big oversight.

Because I did not know fuligin before.

Can I have one?

Of course https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phoebeheess/viperblack-the-blacker-than-black-t-shirt

Have you ever read The Shadow of the Torturer? Fuligin plays a fairly important part in the narrative.

No, but will read it now. Thank you

Germany

My question, thanks to German 101 as an undergrad: Wünschen sie ein einzelzimmer oder ein doppelzimmer haben?

I feel this is a trick question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbijTxhdbG0

who are you? not enough for an AMA i think

What are you missing? You mean my own background?