Saturday, September 06, 2014
CuteCircuit on smart textiles and digital fashion
www.dezeen.com: Francesca Rosella of interactive fashion brand CuteCircuit claims advances in digital "smart" fabrics will revolutionise the fashion industry, allowing us to download new styles for our clothes rather than buying new garments.
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12 comments:
The technology behind these garments are amazing and the concept of having to manufacture less garments while giving the customer more options of patterns digitally is very creative and environmentally conscious. But, this idea will never stick. It will not become mainstream because its too expensive. Also, people like buying new clothes! They grow out of clothes or change their style and want to buy something different. This technology only gives you the option of changing a pattern, not the style of the garment. Very exciting new project but nothing that will become mainstream enough to actually make a difference environmentally.
I think this is pretty cool and that with this technology, so many amazing designs can be made. I will say, though, other than the LEDs, what they showed, nothing was so great about the clothes, they were all very generic patterns with an LED textile. I agree with Myha'la in that people don't want to be wearing the same styles over and over again even if the textile is different... ALSO technically the textile isn't even different!! they're just LEDs.
Don't get me wrong, I think there is a lot of potential here, I just don't think it's that great right now. Actually it's kind of "duh" because of course this would happen. Two years ago, I was thinking about how there should be something like this and well now it's here but it kind of disappointed me...
Also, in the video she called it haute couture... this is not haute couture. The word couture is thrown around way too often. If anything, it's very expensive high end commercial clothing.
I love this fashion line, it seems to be done better then many of the 'technology infused' fashion collections that I have seen. I remember my freshmen year that Carrie Underwood wore a dress at the Country Music Awards that was projected onto her dress,the amazing this was that it was pixel mapped to her figure and outfit. I really think the designers in this article have exceeded that in beauty with this collection. The advancements of the type of LEDs they are using is also amazing and makes me look forward to the future developments. Having lights in a shirt or dress that just blends in the fabric with thickness, weight, and texture is perfect for the forward thinkers in the fashion industry. Also, doesn't everyone want to control their outfit with their phone? It just makes me think that someone out there is going to change the color of my dress by hacking my phone....
Ok. That is AMAZING. Imagine the use in theatre. An actress could a literal beacon on stage, and transform before our eyes from something bright and colorful to something dark and pulsing before our very eyes. If used correctly, the lights might feel like how she described Katy Perry's outfit-- not like wearing technology. Like simply glowing. Adding yet another layer of aura to a character.
From an industry point of view, it doesn't exactly seem practical. What if it rained? I don't think this will ever move into mainstream fashion. However, the possibilities for art, performance, concerts, and even the red carpet are beyond imagining. We do so much in shows with digital enhancers-- why wouldn't we want to make them look that magical in real life? It's the ultimate blend of costume and media. I cannot wait to see people take advantage of it.
Flashy at first sight, not entirely practical at closer scrutiny. Like the few comments before me have touched upon, I personally do not believe that this is something that could actually stick around and become popular. Myha'la nailed it perfectly. While you may be able to change the pattern, or color of your garments, you're still wearing the same type of cut or style each time and that's not something that people who are concerned with fashion do. It's not like you could just buy more clothes too because I guarantee they'd be way too expensive for the casual consumer.
I think this is an amazing concept, and that it could certainly succeed in some smaller markets, however, this technology completely ignores so many aspects of modern couture design to ever become the real norm for the runways. Where is the texture? In that light translucent piece of fabric draped over that panel of LEDS? I certainly think that a lot could be done in terms of statement pieces using this technology, however, it definitely falls short of what kind of practicality we would expect from any kind of ready-to-wear collection.
I do like to entertain the idea of the use of these types of garments in the theater however, and in fact, they are already being used today (see: Blue Man Group).
I was looking at this the other day. I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I obviously appreciate the innovative technology and design that went into making these articles of clothing, but at the same time I am torn because of the sheer impracticality of this clothing. I think this idea has a lot of potential, but it just doesn't seem practical in our everyday society. I think were I actually see this technology being the most useful is in the theater and entertainment industry. There is a very ephemeral nature to this technology that would be a wonderful tool in storytelling.
This particular article seems to focus on the use of smart textiles and their use in fashion and clothing. While I think that this is definitely something that we will start to see incorporated into costume design, I’m wondering what scenic applications it could have.
The article states that “these textiles become alive.” Here at the School of Drama, we are always trying to revolutionize how we make theatre. I’m interested in how this product could be used interactively, in both costume and scenery. Garments that react when near other garments, or a scenic element. Depending on how this textile is produced, perhaps a soft video wall that can be rolled up or stretched to fit different shapes.
I don’t think it will be long before we see products like this on stage regularly. Soon enough, we’ll be crediting “Fabric Programmer” right below “Moving Light Programmer.”
I’m really excited to see what applications the industry will come up with.
These new textiles are conceptually astounding! This creates such a new bridge in the costume-lighting industry. I have seen lights in costumes before, but never to such an elegant degree. That being said, the technology does seem a bit rushed. Some of the lights seem a bit large for dresses. It takes away the magic when you can physically see each light embroidered into the fabric. I do hope to see these textiles used in theatre soon.
I always love watching fashion show since I was little and I've been seeing new innovations and developments in fashion industries. Using LED light attached to the fabric is one thing that I noticed designers start to add it to the designs more. I think it's cool, and innovative, but I still think it's something that I'd prefer to be exists only on catwalk and not down the street, it doesn't seem practical to me yet. It looks a little weird for me, plus, it's not about creating a new design but more like adding LED into some standard pattern dress (boring) and called it Haute Couture (doublr boring, or course it's not). But looking at it as an ordinary person enjoy watching models walking down the catwalk with those dress on, cool, love it.
These clothes are super cool! But I agree with what a lot of others are saying; the cut of the clothing is nothing special so people will get bored with it, even if they can change she pattern. Also, I personally think the types of patterns they showed are really...unnatural for clothing. They look kind of like an old sci-fi show trying to predict what the future will look like - no one actually wears clothing like that.
Maybe if they find a way to do more natural clothing patterns, these could be awesome to wear, but, like many others have said, it's just too expensive for the average person to buy. I love that the designer is hoping to be more environmentally friendly with the concept, but it will take a long time before it pays off and has a hope of becoming main stream.
Although costuming and fashion are not nearly my forte, I can't help but see this new technology as a paradigm shift in the artistic realm. Obviously the LED embedded fabric holds huge potential in fashion especially with the vibrant and powerful statements that can be created through light, and the individuality and uniqueness that can be expressed through one's own programmable LED clothing that can replicate infinite different patterns.
In terms of theater I see this technology being employed not only for spectacular jaw dropping effects but also as a potential revolution in costume design in general. If the LEDs could be integrated in a way that they were less flashy and all so apparent always, but rather more subtle in their tonality, the potential use could alter how we design costumes for shows forever. Imagine even creating one garment that could change its color or pattern at the click of a button. A designer in some shows could use that one piece to represent numerous other garments used by a single character that would otherwise all have to be created by the shop for a single a theatrical body of work. Using one garment in replacement of many would save time, labor and money in the costuming world and would further increase the reusability of that piece. In addition pattern altering fabric could drastically effect the backstage aspect of costumes as a garment that can instantly be programmed to change its appearance and simulate another could reduce or even eliminate the need for quick changes in theater.
Yes, this technology needs to be further refined to reach the full potential of its use, but new innovative technology like this might someday be the definitive factor that makes or breaks certain aspects of the fashion and costuming industries.
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