There are quite a few companies nowadays producing soft electronic technologies and components like iPod controls, wireless keypad system and data cables that can be integrated into clothing, soft goods and accessories.
Quite a few designers have been collaborating with such companies and manufacturers to create garments that can synthesise sounds and even play them through miniature flat speakers.
Kinetic
electronic garments, conductive textiles, wearable computing,
electronic textile innovations and fabrics with different
electro-mechanical properties are indeed the future of fashion.
I find this aspect rather intriguing but I’m also interested in artists and designers who have been developing projects and experiments mixing the craftsmanship of fashion with new and advanced technologies.
Nick Cave perfectly mixes different materials and objects with fabrics in his soundsuits. Made out of recycled materials such as vintage bags, ceramic objects, metal pieces, vintage toys, embroideries, beads, sequins and human hair, the suits can be considered as powerful and visual incarnations of our most bizarre dreams.
Cave’s suits are indeed complex multi-layered and towering armours inspired by African ceremonial rites, sculptures, the rag and bone man aesthetic and the craftsmanship of haute couture designs.
These bright and colourful fabric sculptures are characterised by a strong visual and audio tactile power through which the wearer tackles different issues and builds unique sound narratives.
Cave, who trained as a dancer under Alvin Ailey and uses the suits in his performances, is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Fashion Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has a master degree in textile design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
This aspect of his career actually fascinates me a lot because I’m sure in future there will be further experiments for what regards the integration of music and sounds into textiles.
A few months ago, two students from the Swedish Textile Academy created a very interesting avant-garde suit that may lead in future to further cutting edge experiments and applications.
Textile Design For A Nomad from Umlaut Brikauski on Vimeo.
Jeannine Han, a student from the second year of the master programme in textile and fashion design, teamed up with technician Dan Riley to develop a piece of clothing that plays music when someone touches it.
Textile Design For A Nomad (Testing) from Umlaut Brikauski on Vimeo.
The suit – exhibited at the Nordic Museum during the "Fashion - 300 Years of Clothes" event that featured futuristic yet functional designs – was made from fabrics created by Han in collaboration with Göteborg Remfabrik with integrated sensors developed by Riley that react when someone comes close or touches them.
The applications of such a project – entitled “Textile Design for a Nomad” – could be interesting as they may be used by bands and musicians playing with no instruments but through their suits.
If you're still not convinced by such experiments, but you like the fashion and music connection, check out the Mix Series launched by Oki-ni. Hoping to create an audio-visual collaboration, the online retailer has started pairing DJs with visual artists.
The first mix was created by Layo Paskin and Matthew Benjamin, from the Layo & Bushwacka! team. Inspired by the mix the Kai and Sunny design duo - involved in projects about advertising, fashion and music - created the artwork for a limited edition silk-screen printed T-shirt.
It may not be as experimental as sonic fabrics able to produce a variety of sounds in response to physical stimuli coming from the outer world, yet it's another intriguing example of where musical inspirations can take fashion.
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Very nice concepts. I really like the color usage and contrast.
Si Banglor, Seattle Wa
Posted by: Dentist Renton | August 24, 2010 at 01:03 AM