TECH & FASHION

Talking about wearable technologies we mostly mean techs expressed in accessories as watches, glasses, jewelry, etc. Why would we never think about casual clothes or evening gowns?
This was the question that inspired Hussein Chalayan to create his magic collection, the performance of which reminds more illusionists’ than fashion show.
Collaborating with an engineering firm called 2d:3d, he created prototype dresses with embedded motors, microcontrollers and microswitches.
Thus the show hosted dresses that have a moving neckline, can become more revealing and dresses that can zip and unzip themselves in a variety of ways.

The director of 2d:3d commented the work on the collection:

“Basically, the dresses were driven electronically by controlled, geared motors. We made little pads for the models. Within these containers we had all the battery packs, controlling chips-the microcontrollers and microswitches - and little geared motors. The motors we used were tiny, about a third of the size of a pencil and nine millimeters in diameter. Each of the motors had a little pulley, and the pulley was then attached to this monofilament wire which was fed through hollow tubes. Running everywhere, carrying these little cables, each doing its little job, lifting things up or releasing little linked metallic plates. There was a huge amount of stuff going on beneath the clothes”.

Not yet wearable but already desirable by millions of women worlwide these dresses certainly changed the world of haute couture.