Wearables at Maker Faire NYC

Maker Faire is that giant science fair you dreamed of as a child.  The sprawling festival of crafts, DIY, science and geekery took place at the New York Hall of Science this past weekend.  Wearable tech had a major presence at New York Fashion week and many of the original concepts got their start from places like Maker Faire.

iLuminate is a dance troupe whose signature look is the light up costumes the performers wear

onstage.  Guests could try on helmets and shoes tricked out with the glowing El-wires stitched to the base pieces.  A few cast members were on hand to demonstrate the effect in close-up.

Ezgi Ucar is a graduate student at Parsons School of Design in technology.  Her focus is on multi-sensory experience design.  Her necklace and jewelry pieces double as a musical instrument.  The contrast "beads" are actually keys for different musical notes.  For someone like me who loves to play with her accessories, being able to play my favorite tune with my idle fingers could be a blessing (or curse) to whoever gets to stand next to me on the subway...

Do you want to be a mermaid? Pearlie Mae took mermaid culture to new heights with her beautiful hand-crafted costumes.  She created molds for different sized scales and hand-poured the glitter rich silicone individually.  The end result is as close to a real mermaid tail as can exist in our realm.  The tails are functional and Pearlie Mae goes swimming in them.

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Makerfaire - Wearable Tech Fashion

Taking a break from runway reports today to indulge my nerd side.  I visited Makefaire at the New York Hall of Science over the weekend to check out fashion as interpreted by scientists and artists.

Amber Lundy, MFA student at UC San Diego (above) created a fashionable jacket she hand tailored and engineered with interactive lights.  She intended it to be a dance costume for the stage.  Individual LEDs and wires would allow the bulbs to light up when the dancer was touched.

Other projects (below) included a sexy bustier by Erin Lewis that could show stock market quotes as the wearer undressed.  It used conductive fabric, electronic circuitry and Xbee radio.  Is that every Wall Streeter's fantasy or what?

Erin Lewis also created a skirt of wood, metal and fabric (housing debris) that would actually vibrate in response to seismological data it gathered around the planet.  Erin is a Canadian artist whose medium includes wearable technology and new media.

There was an entire section on 3D printing at MakerFaire.  I am amazed at the possibilities that this new technology brings.  I saw makers use it to create jewelry, parts for gloves, shoes, bikinis and much more.  Materials originally started with a type of plastic, but now include things like metal and ceramic.

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Diana Eng's Maker Faire Fashion Show

Hackers, Geeks, Mad Scientists....Not your usual front-row guests at a highly-anticipated fashion show.  The Maker Faire festival held at the New York Hall of Science was home to massive gathering of inventors this weekend.  Robots of all kinds mingled with jet-propelled rides.  

Diana Eng, originally of Project Runway fame is now a superstar among the hacker and tech community.  Last fashion season, she presented a small collection of fairy-tale inspired fashion works at Eyebeam Studios.  For this presentation, she brought a few of the favorites as well as works inspired by underwater creatures.  

Her signature hacker fashion is a cross between science-experiment and runway couture. A light-framed layered organza collar was embellished with an over-sized cameo (that doubled as battery pack). What starts as a stylish bubble skirt inflates to a balloon-like sculpture. Statement necklace takes on a whole new meaning when the jewels light up and glow.  

Diana Eng is the author of Fashion Geek: Clothes Accessories Tech.  I purchased the book right after seeing her last show.  It has a bunch of projects accessible to the average person for making wearable tech accessories.  The techniques are applicable for any designer looking to make their Geek flag really fly.

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