Bespoke Fairing™ are specialized coverings that surround an existing prosthetic leg, accurately recreating the body form through a process that uses three-dimensional scanning to capture the unique leg shape. But Fairings not only return the lost contour, they invite an expression of personality and individuality that has never before been possible.

Lanzavecchia + Wai design disability aids that become a stage to discuss, understand and cope with disability, illness and human frailty. Their designs create a bridge between the user and producer aiming to open the possibilities and new values that these vital body accessories can bestow upon the user.

Leah Heiss, in collaboration with Nanotechnology Victoria, has developed a range of jewelry with therapeutic properties, including functional insulin applicator jewelry for diabetics.

Image source Bespoke Fairing, Lanzavecchia + Wai, Leah Heiss

Using the software the participants were able to play with the mapping and adjust the composition of their run which was then outputted as a high resolution print for them to take home. We also worked with the Innovation Lab at Nike to laser etch the runner’s name, the distance they ran and their run path onto a custom fabricated shoe box, which contained a pair of the ‘City Pack’ shoes from their city of origin

Project info on YesYesNo.
Images from YesYesno.

“I was interested in the way women wear eyeshadow and how most of the time you can only see the details when their eyes are closed. I sought to translate the attributes of eyeshadow into a digital medium. I made the initial decision to use the light to paint the eyelids when you blink and close your eye.” Continue reading on ecouterre.

Images and source from ecouterre.

There’s an abundance of light up stage-wear these days with another appearance on last night’s American Idol show. Katy Perry enters the stage wearing a gorgeous and futuristic skin-tight suit covered in LEDs in her performance with Kanye West. Her costume was completely covered in lights and was quite mesmerising.

Illumination is definitely trending in the wearable space. And we’re seeing some sneak into the mainstream market. I can’t wait for more.

More at DailyMail.
Images from DailyMail.

Continuum is a user-generated fashion collection that is the “application of interactive technologies for bespoke design. In short, an app lets you draw a dress, turns it into a 3D model, and exports a cutting pattern to make the real dress, sized to your measurements.” The result gives it a gorgeous, geometric aesthetic.

Go to Kickstarter and help her fund her project!

Continue reading on Kickstarter.
Image source.

In collaboration with argentinian 3D environment designer Carolina Travi, Alice Ziccheddu designed a collection of these gorgeous 3D digital garments called Living Clothes. There are quite a few explorations popping up that use software to generate 2D garment patterns from 3D models. The resulting aesthetic is incredibly beautiful and celebrates geometric forms.

I love how she first models the clothes in 3D Studio Max, software that was not intended for fashion design. She then incorporates sensors and microprocessors to make them interactive, sensing and reacting to their environment. I would love to see more.

Continue reading on SoftCircuit.
Images from SoftCircuit.

From the stage to the shelves, illuminated clothing seems to be paving the way right now for wearable technology to reach a wider audience. As I was once skeptical about “blinking” garments, these designers are integrating lights in ways that connect emotionally, making this an exciting area in wearable technology. Here’s a line-up of incredible explorations along with products that are making it to market:

Vega Jacket by Angella Mackey
One of the first illuminated garment to make it to market! This absolutely gorgeous jacket includes integrated lights that help you get around town safely on your bike. “Whether for fun, fashion or visibilty at night, it can be for commuting by foot or riding on a bicycle. However you express yourself, this is something new and exciting to play with—a unique addition to your wardrobe.” Continue reading.

Black-Eye Peas Super Bowl couture by Anouk Wipprecht
In collaboration with Bea Akerlund, they created stage outfits embedded with technology for the Black-Eye Pea’s Super Bowl half time performance. The garments included Luminex shoes worn by the lead singer, Fergie, that Anouk created with master shoemaker Rene van den Berg. Continue reading.

I’m Not A Robot collection by Moon Berlin
A collection of illuminated garments created by Brigitte Franken and Christian Bruns of Moon Berlin. The collection includes dresses, tops, and pants with integrated lights and illuminating woven fibers. Continue reading.

Into the Deep collection by Vega Wang
This gorgeous collection that consist of light-emitting garments. “The concept for my collection came from watching a BBC DVD called Deep Blue.” Continue reading her interview.

Kenetic Dress by CuteCircuit
The KineticDress captures the wearer’s movements and interaction with others and display this data through the electroluminescent embroidery that covers the external skirt section of the dress. Continue reading.

Pedal Pusher by Syuzi Pakhchyan
In collaboration with Magdalena Paluch, Pedal Pusher is an ongoing investigation into the biking community for women. The stylish shoe illuminates for safetey and is powered by the bike’s pedals. Continue reading.

Stage and red-carpet couture by CuteCircuit
CuteCircuit has been creating a collection of stage and red-carpet couture including a hand pleated silk chiffon dress embedded with over 5400 LEDs, and displays video from a real-time stream for Safura, Katy Perry’s illuminated red carpet dress for the MET Ball, and NYC Boys debut performance trousers and shirts that changed color and brightness in synchronicity with the choreographed performance. All controlled in realtime by the lighting DJ. Continue reading.

Alas, a new electricfoxy project!

Zip is a garment that explores the aesthetics and interaction of wearable technology solutions that have built-in music controls. There are many products on the market today ranging from snowboard jackets to hoodies that allow you to connect your music player and control it using buttons integrated into the textiles. However, most of the solutions simply take the music player’s hardware controls and replicate them on the sleeve or inside the lapel using eTextiles. Although still innovative, Zip investigates this further by:

Garment interactions
Rather than replicating hardware controls into soft textiles, Zip also considers some of our basic garment mechanics and integrates the controls into the gestures that we already perform with our clothing.

Aesthetics
Rather than simply attaching technology to clothing or hiding it in pockets, Zip considers the aesthetics of the technology, exposes it, and uses it as part of the overall styling of the garment.

Manufacturing
We are starting to see more wearable technology enter the public’s eye, yet producing tech garments is still one of the major road blockers due to high cost, lack of streamlined manufacturing processes and a variety of other variables. Zip is designed to be manufactured with both the pattern and ciruit design aimed for production.

Go to the project site to read all about it and watch the video.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this project!

Press
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Designer Marloes ten Bhömer is focusing on mechanical couture through a series of beautiful 3D printed footwear called Rapidprototypedshoe. They are “built using an additive manufacturing technology in which successive layers of a photopolymer material is UV cured. The concept of the shoe is based on the idea of the absence of assembly work in Rapid Manufacturing, however the shoe is designed in such a way, that it can be dismantled for the purpose of replacing parts. The different material properties within the shoe are created by constructing/layering the material in microscopic structures from two different materials. A myriad of different material properties can be created using this method.”

Continue reading at Bhömer’s site.
Images from Bhömer’s site.

The Intimacy series is a project by Daan Roosegaarde, Maartje Dijkstra, Anouk Wipprecht, V2_ Lab (Simon de Bakker, Stan Wannet, Piem Wirtz) and the team of Studio Roosegaarde (Peter de Man, João Carneiro). It consists of a growing number of gorgeous and evocative projects that investigate the relationship between technology and intimacy while considering the worlds of fashion, wearable technology and the electronic arts. The projects have already achieved international exposure and are often showcased in events and museums, helping to feed the ongoing dialogue about our contemporary technology-driven society.

The first of the series, designed by fashion designer Maartje Dijkstra titled Intimacy White, is made out of white e-foil that turns transparent to reveal the body based on your interactions with it (such as your proximity to the wearer).

The second dress, designed by fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht titled Intimacy Black, uses a newer version of the e-foil that transforms from black to transparent.

“The project[s] consist of high-tech garments made with wireless, interactive technologies and smart foils, which can become transparent. The distance towards the garments determines their level of transparency, creating an intimate experience and a sensual play of disclosure.” continue reading on V2_Lab.

Images from V2_Lab.