Technology

Remarkable advancements in textile technology have altered or diminished the authority of traditional construction techniques. Thermoplastic fibers used heat instead of labor-intensive hand-pleating techniques to create pleats, gathers, and tucks, and thus encouraged a radical expansion of the vocabulary of form and the design of the garment as a whole.

Some designers explored new approaches to traditional methods of construction, reinterpreting time-honored techniques such as lace making. By featuring synthetic ornamentation, by combining incongruous materials, such as velvet and plastic, or by integrating traditional materials and practices with innovative ideas, designers assaulted conventional notions of luxury and elegance. The dictates of what was “suitable” or “appropriate” were sabotaged.

New textiles for fashion and interiors include three-dimensional structures designed by computer with sculpted surfaces that replace the traditional techniques of embroidery and beading. Topographical surfaces are achieved with such processes as chemical blistering, spatters and laminates of metallic particles, heat molding and treating, and various complex novelty weaves. With rapidly evolving technology, the potential for textile development will continue to change the look and perception of fashion.

donderdag 12 juni 2008

SoundSleeves

SoundSleeves
Vincent Leclerc & Joey Berzowska

These sleeves are sensitive to physical contacts. When users flex or cross their arms, a sound is synthesized within the sleeves and output through miniature flat speakers. The idea is pretty straightforward: using very simple elements (metallic organza and conductive yarns) we created a flex and touch sensor made of hundreds of switches.



The stripes of metallic organza are sequentially disposed so that they are connected either to ground or to a pin of the micro controlling unit. When a 'pin' stripe is grounded on a 'ground' stripe, it issues a signal to the mcu and the latter reacts accordingly.

The whole circuit is stitched on fabric. We had to conduct many experiments to figure out what type of stitches were the most solid and less electrically resistive. The approach We adopted is a combination of fine and loose stitches overlapped with wide and stretched ones. The stitched circuit board connects every element to the very few 'hard' parts of the system: a PIC16F84A, a 3V watch battery and speakers. The connections to the PIC are done using conductive epoxy so there are no (fragile) solder connections anywhere. Same goes for the miniature flat speakers and the battery.



We programmed the PIC using the CCSC compiler. Here is the C source of the program. It uses a library (v_tones.c) that I modified from CCS' tones.c. It also uses CCS' stdlib.h. We cannot distribute those due to copyright issues... Basically what the code does is sweeping from one frequency to another depending on the number of contacts made on the sleeves. There is an idle state (no sound) when the number of contacts doesn't change.


Bron: uttermatter
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The futurist of fabric



Experimental textile designer Jun-ichi Arai stands amid his metallic designs, which combine fine strands of aluminum and stainless steel with wool and polyester fibers.




Jun-ichi Arai isn’t a household name in the United States, but his work and reputation have made him a designer’s designer. For more than 40 years Arai has been rethinking what a fabric is: making three-dimensional scarves out of steel, reinterpreting ancient traditions like tie-dye, and developing flame-retardant fibers for theatrical and commercial drapery. His collaborations with Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons in the 1970s and ’80s—when he became known for combining the new technologies of the West with the ancient Japanese art of obi fabric weaving—have had a huge influence on interior, fashion, and textile designers. “His primary legacy is this belief in experimentation, which is embodied in all of his work, whether it is destroying surfaces to create something that is much more beautiful than the original textile or using traditional methods with new materials,” says Matilda McQuaid, exhibitions curator and head of textiles at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

In an exclusive interview for Metropolis, senior editor Paul Makovsky and Mary Murphy, vice president of design at Maharam, spoke to Arai at Gallery Gen, a new venue for Asian contemporary and traditional art in New York, which mounted a mini-retrospective of the designer’s work earlier this year.


Bron: metropolismag
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Impressive Line of LED Embeded Hats




Janet Cooke Hansen is President and Chief Fashion Engineer of Enlighted Designs, Inc. that create an excellent line of hats under the name EFHED. She founded the business to create her own “dream job” as a light-up clothing designer.

Janet’s eclectic designs combine her lifelong interests of fashion,art, and technology. She learned to sew at age 7, and installed miniature lights in her own dollhouse. Over the years, her costume-making hobby began to incorporate electronics, with illuminating results.

With more than eight years of experience in this newly-emerging field, Janet is well known as a pioneer and innovator, creating unique apparel for a variety of international clients.


Bron: ledlightray
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Inovative and Original Fiber Optic Fabric



Based on inovative LUMNIEX, LumiGram developed the technology that allows to wave plastic optical fibers alongside synthetic fibers, forming a luminous fabric. This innovation can be used in many fields: fashion and clothing
(bags, accessories, clothes), decoration (pillows, tablecloths, curtains, furnitures, etc.)

Unlike standard optical fibers, the fiber optic fabric emits light along the full lenght of the fibers. The luminous effect is simply stunning, dazzling, and wonderfully original.
Depending on the type of electronic module used with the fabric, several colors are possible (the most common and the most luminous being blue, red, green, yellow and white).

The Fiber Optic Fabric can be hand washed with water up to 70°C and natural soap (the battery must be removed prior to washing).
The Fiber Optic Fabric shouldn’t be washed in washing machine, folded (pressed) or ironed.


Bron: ledlightray
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donderdag 5 juni 2008

Forms and Design













Bron: lacma
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LumiGram

Nieuwe technologie op stoffen gebied.

Remember the Philips Lumalive technology? Paris based LumiGram’s fiber optic clothing and gear is similair.

They have created fabrics and clothing embedded with fiber optics. They also do handbags, decor, and fiber optic hair. Contact LumiGram for pricing. As CrunchGear states, “it looks like some madman designed their site,” and I agree.




Bron: ministryoftech
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Philips Research Shows Off Technology That Displays Electronic Images On Clothes

ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2006) — Philips Research intends to impress the visitors at this year's IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) with a world-first demonstration of promotional jackets and furniture featuring its innovative Lumalive technology. Lumalive textiles make it possible to create fabrics that carry dynamic advertisements, graphics and constantly changing color surfaces. The Philips stand will act as a showcase for the Lumalive textile products that will be worn by Philips' hostesses and embedded into booth furniture of the Future Zone.


Bron: sciencedaily
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