Before the Pebble smart watch and Google Glass, there were interactive costumes. Interactive costumes for performance artists, dancers, and musicians brought attention to the possibilities of wearable technology and introduced an element of fantasy by using technologies such as microcontrollers, LEDs, fiber optics, sensors, and motors. The fashion-tech revolution also teamed up engineers and designers to think and imagine like never before and create conceptually unique and visually dazzling pieces. Given today’s versatile and programmable technologies, fashion-tech is becoming one of the most cutting-edge industries!
In this studio, you will explore new techniques and concepts for wearable technologies and interactive fashion. Students will create and develop high-tech fashion pieces, including (but not limited to) designs that are suitable for dancers-performers-musicians. You will use 3d fabrication tools, such as laser-cutters and 3d printers, and 3d modeling software, such as Rhino and Sketchup, as part of the production process, incorporating unique materials, complex patterns, and fantasy-based designs in your final pieces!
Focus Skills/Subjects/Technologies:
Fashion Design
Digital Fabrication (Laser-cutting, 3d Printing)
Computer Programming
Electronics
Pattern-making
2D and 3D Modeling
Adobe Illustrator
Robotics (Arduino)