The Illuminated fashion line-up

[gallery] 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.

Chris Brown lights up the stage

[gallery] Illuminated clothing has been exploding on the stage recently from Tron's drool-worthy illuminated costumes,  CuteCircuits Illuminated performance couture, to Anouk Wipprecht's illuminated Black-Eye Peas Super Bowl couture, light-up clothing seems to be paving the way for wearable technology. The latest on-stage sighting is Chris Brown's performance on Dancing With The Stars that included light-embedded clothing on him and his supporting dancers. Watch the lights synchronize to the movements in this vid:

Exploring soft sensors and eTextiles

[gallery] The DIY community and small research studios around the world are continuously pushing the boundaries on the possibilities of eTextiles. Here are some interesting projects and sensors that are being explored:

Bodyinterface introduces various wearable/installation projects done by SIAT soft-circuit research group members in Simon Fraser University as well as projects from the Body Interface course in the same university. Inspired by Hannah Perner-Wilson’s stroke sensor, they're investigating their own which sense when they are touched and stroked. (images)

Hannah Perner-Wilson at Plusea investigates stroke sensors made out of carefully crafted conductive threads:

She is also exploring interesting resistive fabric sensors that can bend and be washed:

And one of my favorite, also from Perner-Wilson, combines craft and technology by knitting a sensor that measures stretch:

If you want to dive in and start doing your own exploration, Lynne Bruning has an informative video that covers the basic materials that you need to start creating and prototyping your own:

Images from bodyinterface.

Nike shoe speakers challenge our throw-away culture

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I'm loving these Nike shoe speakers that challenge our throw-away culture by repurposing old shoes. "The Havana Club have issued a call for entries into the Inspired Ingenuity competition. The challenge of the competition is to:

take the everyday and turn it into something special

It’s intended to celebrate the culture of repurposing evident in Cuba, and accordingly, the winner of the challenge will earn themselves a trip to Cuba. Given reports of obsolescence oriented consumerism stalling somewhat these kinds of competition are a welcome addition to the design landscape."

Continue reading on PSFK. Images from PSFK.

An incredible wearable technology resource list

Digital media designer-artist, theorist and curator Valérie Lamontagne has an incredible wearable technology resources page that lists the who's who and who's upcoming in the wearable technology and eTextile field. She has even grouped designers and organizations into very interesting categories such as "Context as Prerequisite", "The Garment as Amplifier of Fantasy", and "Material Witness". For anyone interested in this field, this is definitely one for delicious. Thank you Valérie!

Visit her resource page.

CuteCircuit's wearable line-up

[gallery] London-based CuteCircuit has been leading the wearable technology field from the getgo. They have found success in many of their projects and research initiatives over the years including the hug shirt and Katy Perry light-up couture, to name a few. They are also one of the few wearable tech companies who are bringing their ideas to market! Here are some exciting new products that are now available to purchase:

Twirkle shirt and leggings The more you move the more it glows and sparkles and twinkles. It runs on basic coin cell batteries (included), and reacts to your movement. Everything about this shirt and leggings is magical and wonderful. A powder-keg of scintillating pixie-dust. Cost: £55.00-£125.00

Armour dress Digitally printed armour pattern on 100% silk jersey knit with hand-embroidered crystals. Comes in two colours, purple and green, which are both perfect for you. The Armour dress is designed to create a gorgeous body shape and it features soft heat bonded details. Cost: £125.00

Star scarf Digitally printed Star design on 100% silk twill. A wonderfully soft silk scarf completely hand hemmed. The star pattern comes in many delicious colors. Cost: £65.00

And coming soon...

The hug shirt The Hug Shirt™ is a shirt that makes people send hugs over distance! Sending hugs is as easy as sending an SMS and you will be able to send hugs while you are on the move, in the same way and to the same places you are able to make phone calls (Rome to Tokyo, New York to Paris).

The M-dress The M-Dress is an elegant silk jersey dress that is also a functional soft electronics mobile phone. The M-Dress accepts a standard SIM card and allows the wearer to receive and make calls without carrying a cellular phone in their pocket or purse. Simplicity is elegance.

For more info, visit CuteCircuit. Image source.