And now, an innovation that gives new meaning to the phrase, “You really light up a room”–Solar Textiles.

That’s right, folks–in the not-too-distant future, you may find your MP3 player, phone, and/or laptop powered not by some clunky solar bag–how passé!–but your actual garment, via a technological breakthrough from Cornell University’s Textile and Nanotech Lab. According to Greenlaunches, these smart folks have teamed up with two Italian labs to devise a way to make cotton threads conduct electricity without sacrificing the lightness and flexibility of cotton.

image via Greenlaunches

The concept dress/jacket featured here comes with fashionable flexible photovoltaic strips incorporated into the design of the garment itself. Electricity collected by these strips is then transferred–via electricity-conducting cotton fiber thread–to an inconspicuous USB charger contained within the waistline. Trés magnifique!

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