www.ambiente.us FEBRUARY | FEBRERO 2010
Design Concepts: Bright, Brilliant and Bold LED Dresses
by Matthew Zuras
The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established
designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for
unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology,
many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass
market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations,
nevertheless.
One of the best indicators of the shift from one era to the next is fashion trends,
and nothing says future like tech-inspired dresses. We've seen an explosion of
LED-embedded frocks hit the Internet over the past few months, and we can no
longer dismiss them as mere experiments gone awry. While tech and fashion
have fused in the past, we think that we will soon start to see this kind of
synthesis in the mainstream. While they're no great indicators of taste, just think
of the LED belt buckles that were in style a couple years back. And, on the other
end of the taste spectrum, we have Hussein Chalayan's futuristic couture and
Viktor and Rolf attaching floodlights to their runway models. Face it: Tech
invades every facet of life, fashion being no exception.
Design Concepts: Bright, Brilliant and Bold LED Dresses
by Matthew Zuras
The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established
designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for
unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology,
many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass
market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations,
nevertheless.
One of the best indicators of the shift from one era to the next is fashion trends,
and nothing says future like tech-inspired dresses. We've seen an explosion of
LED-embedded frocks hit the Internet over the past few months, and we can no
longer dismiss them as mere experiments gone awry. While tech and fashion
have fused in the past, we think that we will soon start to see this kind of
synthesis in the mainstream. While they're no great indicators of taste, just think
of the LED belt buckles that were in style a couple years back. And, on the other
end of the taste spectrum, we have Hussein Chalayan's futuristic couture and
Viktor and Rolf attaching floodlights to their runway models. Face it: Tech
invades every facet of life, fashion being no exception.
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Flare,
by Stijn Ossevoort
Stijn Ossevoort's Flare
dress is not the
designer's first foray
into LED habiliments
(his Compass Coat
being one example),
but this is surely the
most graceful of the
light-up fare we've
seen. Flare is
sensitive to wind and
even breath, so that
the LED dandelions
slowly alight as
sensors are engaged.
OLED dress, by
Gareth Pugh for
PolyPhotonix
Gareth Pugh is no
stranger to the
avant-garde, having
crafted some of the
by Stijn Ossevoort
Stijn Ossevoort's Flare
dress is not the
designer's first foray
into LED habiliments
(his Compass Coat
being one example),
but this is surely the
most graceful of the
light-up fare we've
seen. Flare is
sensitive to wind and
even breath, so that
the LED dandelions
slowly alight as
sensors are engaged.
OLED dress, by
Gareth Pugh for
PolyPhotonix
Gareth Pugh is no
stranger to the
avant-garde, having
crafted some of the
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most spectacular,
geometric, and
frightening fashions the
couture world has ever
seen. Pugh teamed with
PolyPhotonix to create
this specimen of
futuristic flora, which
incorporates OLED
lighting panels and
low-cost solar cells.
Galaxy Dress, by
Francesca Rosella and
Ryan Genz
It seems like this dress
received more press
than Balloon Boy, but
we couldn't exclude it
from our roundup.
Allegedly the largest
geometric, and
frightening fashions the
couture world has ever
seen. Pugh teamed with
PolyPhotonix to create
this specimen of
futuristic flora, which
incorporates OLED
lighting panels and
low-cost solar cells.
Galaxy Dress, by
Francesca Rosella and
Ryan Genz
It seems like this dress
received more press
than Balloon Boy, but
we couldn't exclude it
from our roundup.
Allegedly the largest
wearable LED display in the world, the Galaxy Dress was created by designers
Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz from CuteCircuit, and incorporate 24,000 LEDs. No
one's had a chance to wear it, though; it went straight to the Museum of Science and
Industry in Chicago.
Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz from CuteCircuit, and incorporate 24,000 LEDs. No
one's had a chance to wear it, though; it went straight to the Museum of Science and
Industry in Chicago.
Climate dress, by Diffus
Ever want to know if you're inhaling toxic levels of carbon dioxide while attending a
chic cocktail party? The Climate Dress by Danish outfit Diffus contains an Arduino
Lilypad microprocessor and a CO2 monitor, which lights up LEDs through
conductive embroidery depending upon air quality. Just don't smoke around it, or
you'll light up like the Vegas strip.
Life dress, by Elizabeth Fuller
Perhaps the most cerebral of our designers, NYU student Elizabeth Fuller created the
Life Dress as part of the 2009 ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) Winter
Show. Basing her concept on British mathematician
John Horton Conway's model The Game of Life, Fuller
created the fitted dress out of dragon skin tiles, LEDs,
and an Arduino microprocessor. Following Conway's
algorithm, the cells are illuminated or kept dark
depending on whether they are "alive" or "dead."
Ever want to know if you're inhaling toxic levels of carbon dioxide while attending a
chic cocktail party? The Climate Dress by Danish outfit Diffus contains an Arduino
Lilypad microprocessor and a CO2 monitor, which lights up LEDs through
conductive embroidery depending upon air quality. Just don't smoke around it, or
you'll light up like the Vegas strip.
Life dress, by Elizabeth Fuller
Perhaps the most cerebral of our designers, NYU student Elizabeth Fuller created the
Life Dress as part of the 2009 ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) Winter
Show. Basing her concept on British mathematician
John Horton Conway's model The Game of Life, Fuller
created the fitted dress out of dragon skin tiles, LEDs,
and an Arduino microprocessor. Following Conway's
algorithm, the cells are illuminated or kept dark
depending on whether they are "alive" or "dead."
