The world’s first interactive skirt made up of smart phones
Last Friday, Nokia has partnered with exciting design duo, Fyodor Golan, for London Fashion Week to create the world’s first interactive skirt made up of Nokia Lumina 1520 smart phones
The innovative skirt was designed by the Fashion Fringe winners and created by Kin and uses static pictures captured by the phone, or live feeds on the 80 screens that adorn it, allowing it to change around the wearer and their day.
Images on the screens change colour as the skirt moves, creating a shimmer effect simulating the realistic tactile character of actual fabric. This is achieved through a purpose built app that utilises global positioning, to ensure the shimmer happens in line with the models movement. It is believed that this is the first time a skirt of this kind was created.
Annie Kearney, Nokia Brand Lab, stated: “This unique project is about exploring the possibilities of smart technology and fashion coming together, as well as supporting new talent to create something special using the beautifully designed Nokia Lumia 1520 smart phone.
To build the skirt, Kin worked interactively with a combination of software such as Python and C#. Initial drawings were sketched alongside Fyodor Golan. The sketches were then developed using engineering tools and rapid prototyping tools such as 3D Printing (see TextileFuture Newsletter issue February 18, 2014) and laser cutting to evolve the initial design.
Of their new collection and working with Nokia Golan stated “This Autumn/Winter 20 14 Season we toyed with tradition against technology. We believe that you can create almost anything that is not influenced by gravity. The colour changes as the skirt moves and the idea of making the screens react to the world around it via photographs and video is something that we do not think has been done before.”
Speaking of their experience creating this skirt, Matt Wade from Kin said: “This is exciting new territory that pushes the boundaries of what is possible in fashion, designing and programming.”
Nokia have a long history of working within fashion, bringing David Bailey and Bruce Weber together to shoot together for the first time in history using the 41 megapixel Nokia Lumia 1020. Smart phones play an increasingly integral role within fashion, and more specifically on the front row of global fashion week shows, with designs online before they hit the end of the runway. The leading functionality, design and imaging capabilities of the Nokia Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520 make them the perfect tool for the fashion world.