Culture

A Wrinkle in Time

Enlightened Self-Interest
| 7 years ago

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That's all one dress.

It's not just wearables – 7 ways tech is transforming textiles

There are few technologies in this world older than textiles – hell, even the cavemen walked around wearing stylized loincloths (at least if The Flintstones is to be believed). So it might come as some surprise to discover just how much new technologies are transforming the craft. Check out seven of the most amazing updates to the art of sewing, weaving, and knitting that we’ve seen.

	Moving Runway Turkish designer Hussein Chalayan has become famous for his computerized couture – high fashion dresses that radically transform in style thanks to motorized fabrics. Check out his 2007 show here and his 2013 show here for some serious mind-bending visuals.
	Musical Carpets The London-based studio Beatwoven uses a custom-made software program to transform music into visual patterns, creating textiles based on unique audio compositions. (The piece to the left is Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.)
	The Exit Elle Luna was a designer at Mailbox when the company was acquired by Dropbox. Rather than stay on at the company, Luna launched Bulan Project, creating scarves that double as moon-phase calendars and more unique pieces designed by an artist’s collective.
	Walk on Earth Austrian designer Florian Pulcher transforms Google Earth satellite imagery into limited edition wool rugs for his Landcarpet line, based on images from the U.S., Europe, and Africa.
	Krampus My Style While they might not be technical innovators, per se, the folks behind Middle of Beyond are definitely jumping on the meme bandwagon, offering holiday-themed sweaters featuring Cthulu, the Yeti, and Krampus.
	Bed Talks Famed digital artist Cory Arcangel has created Arcangel Surfware, a line of “inactivewear”, bedding, and iPhone cases, based on his line of Photoshop Gradient art pieces.
	Beach Where Netherlands-based fashion collective Solar Fiber has created a flexible photovoltaic cloth that will convert sunlight into electrical energy, via a knittable yarn.