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Why cry over spilled milk when you can wear it? |
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Every year, millions of tons of milk deemed unsafe for human consumption are discarded in Europe. |
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Now, a German company is turning it into high-end fashion. |
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打翻的牛奶如果可以拿來穿，又何必為之流淚懊悔呢？歐洲每年都有數百萬噸的牛奶因為被認定不能供人安全飲用而遭毀棄。現在，德國一家公司卻把這樣的牛奶轉變為高檔時尚。 |
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Anke Domaske, a biochemist turned fashion designer, is the inventor of QMilch, a fabric made entirely of milk. |
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由生化學家轉行成為時裝設計師的安可．多瑪斯科，發明了 QMilch 這種完全以牛奶製成的布料。 |
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"Milk fabric has been around since the 1930s, but the process involved chemicals. |
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QMilch doesn't, and it uses up fewer resources than natural fibers do," said Domaske, whose fashion label Mademoiselle Chi Chi is a favorite with stars including Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson. |
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「牛奶布料自從一九三０年代以來就已經存在，可是以前的製造過程都必須使用化學物品，但 QMilch 不必，耗費的資源也比自然纖維少，」多瑪斯科說。她的時尚品牌「琪琪小姐」是明星的最愛，包括米莎．巴頓與艾希莉．辛普森。 |
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The fabric is created from milk which is allowed to ferment before it is turned into a powder. |
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It is then heated and mixed with other natural ingredients and turned into yarn. |
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這種布料由牛奶製成，首先必須讓牛奶發酵，再轉為粉狀。加熱之後，再和其他自然原料混合在一起，轉製成紗線。 |
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"To make one kilo of cotton takes 20,000 liters of water... our process only uses two liters of water," said the 29-year-old entrepreneur, who hopes her environmentally friendly fabric will revolutionize the fashion industry. |
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「生產一公斤的棉布需要使用兩萬公升的水……我們的製造程序只用掉兩公升的水，」這位二十九歲的企業家說，她希望自己的環保布料會為時裝產業帶來革命性的變化。 |
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The fabric might use less water than cotton but it is far more expensive to produce -- QMilch costs $30 per kilo to produce, compared to $3.8 per kilo for cotton yarn. |
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這種布料耗費的水雖比棉布少，生產成本卻高出許多──生產一公斤 QMilch 花費三十美元，比起來一公斤棉線只要花三點八美元。 |
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QMilch has a similar feel to silk, and is marketed as a luxury fiber. |
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But, unlike other labor-intensive materials like silk -- whose commodity prices fluctuate depending on the markets and the weather -- the cost of QMilch is expected to be stable, which Domaske said is feeding into its popularity. |
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QMilch 摸起來的質感像絲綢，在行銷上也被定位為精品布料。不過，不同於絲綢這類勞力密集的其他材料──那些商品價格會隨著市場與天氣的變化而起伏──QMilch 的成本應該可以維持穩定，多瑪斯科表示這點有助於讓這種布料受歡迎。 |
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"We are just ordering machines for producing 1,000 tons per year," she said. |
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"It is scaling up from producing two kilos per hour to 120 kilos per hour." |
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「我們剛訂購了機器，以便每年生產一千噸的布料，」她說：「生產速度從每小時兩公斤提高到一百二十公斤。」 |
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The fabric, which Domaske said is non-allergenic, is attracting interest outside of fashion. |
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Makers of hospital and hotel bedding, and even car upholstery firms, are keen to cover their products in the sustainable fabric formerly known as milk. |
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多瑪斯科指稱不會引起過敏的這種布料，在時裝界之外也引起了興趣。醫院和旅館寢具的製造商，甚至是汽車內裝供應商，也都很有興趣用這種原本是牛奶的永續性布料來包覆他們的產品。 |
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