funtional wear

Mystique
Mystique (the shape shifter): this dress changes shape and length during the course of an evening. While in the beginning the dress is pale gray, knee length and has a soft padded surface, at the end of the night it becomes long and smooth, revealing a new color.

The system
The Mystique dress reaches 5 main positions during the elongation process. In the morning is knee length, then the top half starts unfolding very slowly until the whole dress reaches the ground, that happens in 4 steps. The color change happens because the dress is a fabric cylinder folded inside-out. When is short and folded shows the grey side and when unfolds reveals the red side of the fabric. The fabric is embroidered with mother of pearl, metallic sequins and small magnets. When the dress is folded the magnets hold the metallic sequins, and when the timer reaches the specific hour these magnets release the sequin they were holding and the fabric unfolds.

Research
Mystique is part of the TransforMe collection developed for the NEMO Science Museum event How Smart Are You Dressed Tomorrow? held in Amsterdam on November 6th 2004. The Transfor-Me collection was developed to demonstrate how the combination of interaction design and smart textiles can change the field of fashion design adding meaning and playfulness to commonly used garments such as skirts and dresses. Additionally transformable and interactive garments changing their appearance through the day or during any activity of the wearer stimulates personal interaction and communication.
The aesthetic appearance of the Mystique dress is inspired by the fascinating long evening gowns from the 40s and 50s seen in black and white movies. It is really rare to see women wearing long dresses, there is this idea that the occasion must be exceedingly formal to dare wear one. With mystique we wanted to give women the opportunity to transform into a sophisticated lady without feeling “guilty” because the dress is preprogrammed and you cannot stop it!











Skirteleon
Skirteleon (skirt chameleon): this skirt changes color and pattern according to the wearer’s activities and mood.

The Skirteleon is manufactured with a context aware laminated textile that changes color on-demand, upon user interaction or alternatively during the course of a predefined time period. The Skirteleon primary color state is blue, but upon user interaction could present diverse colors and patterns. When a user interacts with the Skirteleon, through touch or preprogramming, the fabric color changes from blue to animal characters or geometric patterns both red on a white background. The garment is designed to allow a user to transform her style during the course of a day out, allowing for easily adapting to different contexts and situations, such as work meetings, a walk in the city, a night out, enhancing the style of the wearer.

Research
Skirteleon is part of the TransforMe collection developed for the NEMO Science Museum event How Smart Are You Dressed Tomorrow? held in Amsterdam on November 6th 2004. The Transfor-Me collection was developed to demonstrate how the combination of interaction design and smart textiles can change the field of fashion design adding meaning and playfulness to commonly used garments such as skirts and dresses. Additionally transformable and interactive garments changing their appearance through the day or during any activity of the wearer stimulates personal interaction and communication.

Process
The Skirteleon is a playful solution designed for busy and active women that need to rush between meetings and be efficient during the day, but also like to look stylish and fresh if an early dinner appointment does not allow to go home and change.






Kinetic Dress








The system
The KineticDress is sewn of an elastic textile embedded with sensors that follows closely the body of the wearer. The sensors are able to capture 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. Depending on the amount and speed of the wearer’s movement the electroluminescent embroidery changes pattern, displaying the wearer’s mood to the audience and creating a magic halo around her.The algorithmic program that controls the KineticDress is designed to follow the pace of the wearer: a still pose, when sitting alone shows a black dress, when the wearer starts moving and interacting with others the dress slowly lights up with a blue-circles pattern that moving creates a magic halo around the wearer.

Research
The KineticDress is part of the TransforMe collection developed for the NEMO Science Museum event How Smart Are You Dressed Tomorrow? held in Amsterdam on November 6th 2004. The Transfor-Me collection was developed to demonstrate how the combination of interaction design and smart textiles can change the field of fashion design adding meaning and playfulness to commonly used garments such as skirts and dresses. Additionally transformable and interactive garments changing their appearance through the day or during any activity of the wearer stimulates personal interaction and communication.
Process
Research, Concept, Prototype, user testing


pleat


PLEAT is a collection of garments featuring hand-made heat-formed textiles. The collection features a waterproof jacket, with a layer of pleated organza covering a sleeve and part of the front, a pleated dress where the pleats can be reversed to make the dress more or less tight on the body, and a skirt, embroidered with heat-formed pockets. The heat-formed textiles reatain their shape even when they are stressed by daily use of the garments or after


hug shirts

hug shirts : The Hug Shirt™ is a shirt that makes people send hugs over distance! Embedded in the shirt there are sensors that feel the strength of the touch, the skin warmth and the heartbeat rate of the sender and actuators that recreate the sensation of touch, warmth and emotion of the hug to the shirt of the distant loved one.
The Hug Shirt™ has been nominated as one of the best Inventions of 2006 by Time Magazine!
Here is a sneak preview of the new Hug Shirt™ that was presented at Wired NextFest in New York last month. Stay tuned on this page for a complete update and new images later this week!