From the haute couture gown made by Magic Fabric which displays the masterpieces of museums, to the fabrics that light up or reply to a tweet, up to the interactive garments that recreate the feeling of every note of song into a tactile sensation on the skin. This is the new frontier of fashion established by CuteCircuit.
CuteCircuit is a pioneer in the wearable-technology fashion field. Founded in 2004 by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz, the London-based brand has relied on its cofounder’s different background to integrate emerging technologies and smart materials into edge designs. Francesca comes from an Italian heritage couture house, while Ryan comes from the field of Interaction Design and Anthropology, so the final result couldn't have been different from avant-garde pieces.
With the exclusive collaboration of Chanel's SS17 the brand has created a luminous handbag design in which colourful Micro-LEDs have been applied in the inner part of the bag creating animations feature patterns with the name of the brand that creates a fascinating play of lights and colours which makes the fabrics of the collection more alive especially with the contrasting colours of bright pink and acid green.
Their pieces are exhibited not only on the catwalks but also in museums. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts commissioned them to create an interactive dress that, because of the embedded lights, is able to create a dazzle display of images inspired by the masterpieces of the museum such as the “Great Wave Off Kanagawa” by the legendary artist Hokusai, and the marvellous multicoloured “Blue Green Yellow Orange Red” by Ellsworth Kelly.
Last but not least, they also thought of technology as a way of inclusion. The Soundshirt is a shirt which allows to convert the sounds into a haptic sensation, it's literally like feeling the music on the skin. Wearing this shirt, deafs can experience a musical performance through other senses. Probably you are now picturing a really complicated system full of wires and batteries, but actually it was designed with smart textiles, which which doesn’t require wires and makes it comfortable and soft.
CuteCircuit has been using technology in different fields and contexts, enhancing the beauty in of the pieces, visually enriching the users experience or making them more interactive. The question that remains is what is coming next ? It seems there are no barriers they cannot overcome.
To know more about the Cute Circuit, click here.
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