When Science Is at the Service of Style

Online, May 16, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Origami dress textile wood coat "communicating" that changes color to express the emotions of the wearer; jacket Crabyon (cellulose fiber derived from crab) funeral suit "enriched" in fungus spores to accelerate decomposition ... This inventory often poetic strangeness is not taken from a science fiction movie, but the exhibition "Futurotextiles 3", which runs until July 14 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Paris. On the other side of the Atlantic, the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) proposed until May 8, exposure to a close, "Fashion and Technology" theme. Complement (involuntary) of the Paris event, it invites to observe 250 years of relations between style and technology to measure the impact on production, materials, aesthetics or function of fashion.

The links between science and style not new, but the phenomenon has not yet expected of a twenty-first century steeped in culture geek scale. "In terms of experimental textiles, fashion is not the most innovative industry," admits Catherine David, curator of "Futurotextiles 3" which relates more broadly, the development of new fiber in areas as diverse as architecture, furniture or well-being. The high-tech mode, it remains in an embryonic state, even if curiosity, the desire and the possibilities are endless. The Commissioner, who is working to develop scientific and creative relationship, measurement each day with them the difficulty of the process. No wonder that, from the pioneers of the 1960s as Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin, designers are reluctant to push the door laboratories.

The Cardine, this dress made from a nonwoven material that takes the form of the body, invented by Pierre Cardin in 1968, remains a curiosity. All hopes are allowed, however. "We see more and more designers are turning to a wide spectrum of technologies to produce and distribute fashion show Ariele Elia and Emma McClendon, curators of FIT. This is very advanced formulas, as 3D printing or integration of microchips, to more subtle forms such as printing of digital images, the use of new synthetic fibers and the use of social media strategy brands. "

Those who enter are among the most talented designers like Hussein Chalayan, avant-garde designer and concept that pushes the boundaries of fashion, especially with Remote Control Dresses that change shape with a remote control, or the young Dutch Iris van Herpen. "Since everything has already been done in fashion, the use of technology is the only way to produce something new," asserts Hussein Chalayan.

Difficult, however, to imagine that the technology could not fully take on the traditional culture of fashion. These two processes work together. "My job is not only technology, said Hussein Chalayan. It involves the interaction of technology and luxury. "From this union were born today the most amazing creations such as microchips LilyPad Arduino in sewing clothes and can be connected to sensors, or new fiber Piezo developed at the University of Bolton, Great Britain, which will store energy. Or accessories glow in the dark treated leather to shine in the darkness, designed by American Alexander Wang. Everything is possible. Especially surprises. "You never know how a new tissue will react or how you will be able to sew," says Hussein Chalayan, whose latest invention can recreate the garment effect peeling wall.