To help clean the air we breathe - wearable design

Wearable Planter - etsy.com

Wearable Planter - etsy.com

This is an idea of how I want to present my final outcome. The book will be in a large hard back format and bound together. I will also include a small pocket size book to added inside the final page, which will consist of my personal reviews of new independent retailers and must see boutiques located within London and Prague, which I will be visiting shortly. The book will be designed to be sold in stores such as JR Franks and presented and shown at Trade Fair events such as Premier Vision, Expofil and Pure London.

Inspirational wording

To help have a variety of research material to continue with, I've put together a list of some inspirational words / materials / quotes that I've picked out from various fashion forecasting books and magazines :

• Technical Reinforcements (pyjamas with waterproof seams)
• Nano tech performances meet primitive handicrafts
• Hand craft recycling
• Emphasize unfinished process of creation
• Mixed up blend of material
• Found - Seashell and bone 
• Natural V Plastic 
• Spontaneous design - spray light
• Light reflecting pigments
• Luminescent
• Interactive projections
• Organic fluidity
• Hub design
• Kinetic patterns
• 90s layering 
• Re-routing functions
• Contrasting surface materials 

Inherent connection

Jayne Wallace uses a similar concept to Mouna Andraous, with mixing of materials to create digital technologies and jewelry. Her work focuses on the use of technology enhanced jewelry to enrich intimate interpersonal communications and relationships. 

The piece below for example is custom made for Ana, a participant in Jayne's research. It is symbolic of her relationship with her family in Cyprus and is remotely connected to a rain sensor planted within Cypriot family land. Once the sensor registers rain, a signal is sent to the jewelry object which opens the structure inside the glass, like a flower blossoming. 

I find this really interesting how an object that has the pretence to be a handmade piece of art, but has the functions and technology to personally interact in this way.

Blossom - Jayne Wallace - Digitaldelivery.com

Journey Between Ourselves - Jayne Wallace - Softcircuitwordpress.com

'The project above 'Journeys Between Ourselves', interact as a pair of digital neck pieces which are sensitive with touch. The touch of one causes the second to gently tremble. "This interaction is a tactile echo that reflects closeness of two people". - Juliette Sallin - SoftCircuit.

Handmade combined with technology

From looking further into the book Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour, I've come across a designer and artist who has very much inspired my idea of original idea wearable technology with light and mixing materials. She has been fascinated by the idea of wearable electronic jewelry and the intersection of handmade crafts with emerging technologies. Here are a few examples of her work;

Address Necklase - Mouna Andraos - Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour

Address is a handmade piece of electronic jewelry, made up of silver, acrylic, wood and electronics. It is designed to serve as a personal connection to a place where you either have a strong connection with such a birthplace or somewhere you long to be. By selecting this place when first given the pendant, it is initialized and displays how many kilometres you are from the location you have entered.."making the world a little smaller or maybe a little bigger" - Mouna Andraos.

Rubber MP3 Player - Missmoun.com

Rubber MP3 Player - Missmoun.com

This handmade MP3 player is designed as an alternative to the fragile MP3 and music players, which can be easily opened and modified. The thick rubber transparency on the outside acts as a protection and lets the user see the insides, it also adds a unique appearance and unconventional design to the typical music player.

Pod Sock - Missmoun.com

The sock pod is made up of an mp3 player, conductive thread, electonics, rubber buttons and stripy socks. It is designed to be worn which ever way you prefer, possible ways can be wrapped around the body, folded into a ball or hanging around the neck. It also comes with instructions to either modify it or build your own.

Wire Chandalier - Missmoun.com

300 individual hand soldered resin covered LEDs light up this chandelier. The colour coded electrical wiring makes the body of the design.

Diesel 'Liquid Space' Holographic Fashion Show - Part 2

Taking the term 'revolutionary' to another level

Playing with light - photoshoot inspiration

Natalie Kucken - Flickr.com

I love this. How the lighting has been used and the frame behind perfectly fitting the portrait. It looks as if the head scarf is lit inside. Inspiring! 

Julie Lansom - Flickr.com

Julie Lansom - Julielansom-photography.com

Both images above using light in different ways without the use of digital technology. Using make-up in that way is something I hadn't thought of within the photoshoot but this is definitely an interesting way to of using light. 

The second image looks as if it captures the light between a blind - a simple method but looks amazing.

Pushing the boundaries between form and function

Lianna Sheppard - Projection of Light - Philippa Wagner 

Lianna Sheppard takes on a different approach to wearable technology exploring concepts of puzzles and form, she has created a series of 3D shapes that fold out, pop up and light up. 

Working with internal light and projections, she is a growing number of designers who are crossing the boundaries between the body, product design, architecture and technology.

The Skin Probe Project - Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour

Philips Design - Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour

Both pages taken from the book Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour, which provides an insight to the number of designers all working with fashion, technology, science and designers, with contrasting notions towards revolutionary design. 

I've found this a true eye opener in what can be achieved in today's environment and how many designers have explored this and created these innovative collections, all with different purposes, such as environmental experiments, personal and body interaction.
Previously I had been slightly unaware of technology within fashion and have sometimes found to look at be too gimmicky. However, from looking into the ideas and concepts behind each designers collection has shown me the potential of technology for various purposes and not just future style. Also the way technology can be mixed with soft textiles and handmade crafts.

From Functional to Decor

Peclers - Spring / Summer 2009

As mentioned I want to create four different trends throughout my final edited book. Each using experimentation with light and the blending of materials.

I find it really interested the way everyday unusual functional objects can be transformed into innovative decorative designs. Using this idea I want to look at different ways this has been used within fashion. Above are a few examples taken from Peclers, which show different materials such as plastic clothes tags, sponge, electronic circuits and fuses transformed and amalgamated between technology and fashion.

An interesting article I found asking the question....

Is 'wearable technology' the future of fashion? - Telegraph

Fairytale Fashion Shpw 2010 - Diana Eng

Diana Eng is a fashion designer who specializes in technology, maths and science. Her designs range from inflatable clothing to fashion inspired by mechanical engineering. The collection above uses complex technology to create clothing with blooming flowers, changing colours and transforming shapes.

Playing with light

Each image plays with light in different ways, from using simple fairy lights and mirrors to more digital techniques. A few examples of how light can be used to create different effects and adapted within fashion. I plan to explore a range of different fashion designers and photographers who are experimenting with this concept to inspire me.

But_those_are - Flickr.com

Shuttersteein - Flickr

'The Arstonist Shadow' - Platformgallery.com

Blumu - Flickr

C.D.M Photos - Flickr

SHOWstudio - Tribute to Alexander McQueen by Nick Knight, music by Björk

A tribute to Alexander McQueen by Nick Knight.

This is another example of new media technology playing with colour, space and light. With almost kaleidoscopic motions, the film has been beautifully made.

Wearable technology examples

Vera Wang's Bioluminescent Couture - Fashioning Technology

Vera Wang takes on a sophisticated approach to luminescent fashion in her Bioluminescent couture collection. From researching so far into the topic of wearable technology, I've found some fashion approaches to come across slightly too high-tech and gimmicky, however I think this collection escapes this. Inspired by bioluminescent jellyfish and creatures from the BBC's Deep Blue, using custom EL panels glowing from inside structured white gowns she has created a unique and inspired collection.

Of Light, by Nick Knight - A blog featuring Hussein Chalayan

Above, Hussein Chalayan and Nick knight created six manipulations of colour and shape, each using coloured light tinting to eyes, lips and nose in yellow, blue, red, orange and purple. Each 'light make-up' created an uneasy mood, displacing the usual focus on the model's face.

'The effect of coloured light and shadow allows us to question what we see as beautiful - the colour and trickery above, or the face underneath?' - Dan the Scout - 'A blog curated by'

Knits illuminated with Light - Mary Haung's 'Rhyme & Reason'

Taking on a different sophisticated approach to Vera Wang's collection, Mary haung plays with light and dark  , with distinct feminine designs illuminated with light under a sheer layer of fabric within knits across the body adding texture and volume..

Fiber optic illuminated heels - Anastasia Radevich's Kinect 2011 collection

Using fiber optics within shoes, not sure how I feel about these!

CO2 Sensing Climate Dress by Diffus - InfraBodies

This dress is made up of embroidery and hundreds of LED lights, connected together with conductive thread which consists of a carbon dioxide sensor, which lights up with different varied patterns when C02 is detected. Very high-tech! This is an example of wearable technology expanding not only from a aesthetically aware view but also exploring technical potential through science to illustrate environmental concepts.

Revolutionary

The word revolutionary as described in the Oxford English Dictionary is:

• Adjective - involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.

Using this word as an ultimate theme for the project, I plan on creating a fashion inspirational trend book which will explore my interpretation of 'revolutionary' and what this means to me within a fashion direction.

For my final major project within my foundation year, I looked how light can be created in different ways,specially looking at spectrum's of colour using prisms and other materials to create varied effects. During the project I visited the Design Museum where Hussein Chalayan was exhibiting his work to date. The two collections which stood out - Readings (Spring/Summer 08) and Airborne Autumn/Winter 09). Both motivated by his ideas drawn from history, science, philosophy and technology. The use of technology being an integral part of his design, with use of led lights, crystals and moving lasers within a fashion concept.

This idea of wearable technology is becoming more and more progressive and I want to interpret my own take on this idea and create 4 trends consisting of DIY blending materials between functional and decorative, and wearable technology, with light being a theme shown throughout.