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Object Timeline

-0001

1998

  • Work on this object began.

2004

  • Work on this object ended.

2005

  • We acquired this object.

2025

  • You found it!

Textile, Palmhive® Bobble Camouflage Net, designed 1998, manufactured 2004

This is a Textile. It was designed by Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd. and manufactured by Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd. and made for (as the client) Ministry of Defense, United Kingdom. It is dated designed 1998, manufactured 2004 and we acquired it in 2005. Its medium is polyester and lycra™ and its technique is warp-knitted. It is a part of the Textiles department.

This textile was designed in 1998 and manufactured in 2004 by Palmhive® Technical Textiles in England for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence. It is composed of knitted polyester and Lycra and acts as three-dimensional camouflage for tanks and other military equipment. It is produced in the traditional camouflage colors of green, black, and khaki. The sculptural and highly textured surface of this stretch fabric disguises the large equipment it conceals.
The Palmhive® Bobble Camouflage Net demonstrates the ways in which fabrics can enhance safety, and also shows the unintended intrinsic beauty of many industrial textiles. This textile was part of the 2005 exhibition Extreme Textiles: Designing for High Performance and is now recommended for acquisition. The museum’s collection contains historic and contemporary examples of knitted textile structures, but none with such a pure industrial application.

This object was donated by Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd.. It is credited Gift of Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd..

Its dimensions are

Width: 114.3 cm (45 in.)

Cite this object as

Textile, Palmhive® Bobble Camouflage Net, designed 1998, manufactured 2004; Designed by Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd. (United Kingdom); Client: Ministry of Defense, United Kingdom (United Kingdom); England; polyester and lycra™; Width: 114.3 cm (45 in.); Gift of Palmhive® Technical Textiles Ltd.; 2005-29-1

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18702023/ |title=Textile, Palmhive® Bobble Camouflage Net, designed 1998, manufactured 2004 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>