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Silver Lake Man's New Fashion Line Could Make Celebrities Invisible To Paparazzi

SILVER LAKE (CBSLA.com) —  A Silver Lake resident's new fashion line is being called the ultimate in anti-paparazzi clothing for its ability to make the wearer invisible.

The line of threads -- called Flashback -- was created by local music producer and disc jockey Chris Holmes and uses innovative technology.

"It's called retro-reflective material," said Holmes, who explained that he got the idea while touring with Sir Paul McCartney. "I had a pair of shoes that were made of it and when people were taking photos of me and I was wearing the shoes, it was ruining all the photos."

Holmes at first designed pieces with celebrities in mind so they could avoid the paparazzi when they're out, but he's now making the line available to everyone in a partnership with Betabrand, a company that crowdfunds new clothing ideas.

"The idea originally was, you know, to kind of give people more control over whether or not they're photographed. Pretty much everywhere you go, everybody's got their camera out. Everybody's waiting for a crazy moment to capture to post online," he said.

When asked how it works, Holmes said: "If you take a photo with an iPhone or any kind of smartphone with a flash, the camera can't compensate for the brightness of the jacket, so it turns into pure white and everything else is completely blacked out."

Invisible Sharon Tay
A photogenic Sharon Tay is virtually unrecognizable when she puts on an anti-paparazzi scarf. (credit: CBS)

The fabric used in the clothing line isn't new.

In fact, the suit Marlon Brando wore in the original "Superman" is made of similar material.

Today, pieces of this retro-reflective cloth are found in commercial products, like stop signs.

There are two pieces being made: a scarf and a hoodie, which are selling on Betabrand.com for $200.

"So, this is the Photobomber Flashback jacket Betabrand. And this was the first one to get crowdsourced. It is water-repellant, too," he said.

Holmes added: "It's not necessarily made for paparazzi and celebrities. It's the idea that everybody acts like the paparazzi and so the clothing is for everybody to kind of get back their consent. It's also really fun to play with."

Holmes is still trying to get more pieces of his Flashback line crowdfunded. For more information on his retro-reflective clothing, click here.

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