LIT Box

This was the set for Dior’s Pre-Fall 2019 menswear show in Tokyo. Kim Jones, the artistic director of Dior menswear, commissioned Hajime Sorayama to design the retro-futuristic fembot and the lights for the show. There were 3 layers of lasers wrapped around the room 360 degrees shining on the large robot. The various designs on this one figure had me mesmerized in awe and reminded me of the ballerina jewellery box that I had always seen in movies. I then began to think, what if this show was the handheld size? A mini fog machine could be placed underneath in water to create the smoke that the lasers need, a few lasers (roughly 5) can be connected to servos where they will make simple movements back and forth or up and down. Adding a tri standing mirror will help the lasers reflect in the area outputting more light than produced. The figure in the middle can be some futuristic mythical figure or pop star to provide the illusion of performance. This device would most likely be battery powered.

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Star Drip Jeans

Claire Danes lit up the 2016 Met Gala in her Zac Posen Gown. The theme was “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” and she made a statement with a dress so high tech, yet so elegant. The futuristic couture was made of a very thin organza fabric woven with fiberoptic strands. With the combination of these materials, the fibre-optics were not noticeable until turned on. This look inspired my desire to combine technology and fashion. I was curious about how fibre-optics could be added in everyday clothing. I figured that denim would be easy to weave through like organza, so I developed the idea of creating a pair of jeans with fibre-optics. I liked the idea of the fibres coming from the waist like dripping glitter or water down the pants like an ombre look. The lights being supplied will be programmed, changed, and tested using an Arduino. A small battery will be used to power the lights and will have a side pocket where it can be tucked in behind the beltline where it is unnoticeable but easy to access. Therefore, the battery can be removed, and the pants can be washed.

Twinkle Too Close

In the summer of 2018, I took a weekend trip to Beijing. My friends and I went shopping one night at this high-end mall and I saw this pink hoodie from across the store in Off-White. It had rhinestones in it that shined so bright, it felt as if they were calling my name. That hoodie inspired me to think what if rhinestones could be replaced with micro LEDs that dim and shine. I decided to take my idea up a level and make it motion activated by your surroundings. A camera would be hidden in the collar and/or on the shoulders and whenever someone got too close to you, the lights would begin to dim down or change depending on where the person was. If the image sensing program behind operating the cameras is too complex or not feasible, I thought of an alternative inspired by the “Ice Knit” sweater from Stone Island’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection that changes color with the temperature outside. It is made up of an exclusive thermosensitive yarn that changes color when exposed to the cold, but the inside is made of pure wool. My design would possibly be based on light touchpads placed on specific areas, so the LEDs change whenever they are touched on a specific side. This hoodie would be programmed on an Arduino Uno and connected to a small battery that can be tucked in a packed below the neck.

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