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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
The Technology Programme: Design for life
 
The Super Modern Wardrobe
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The Super Modern Wardrobe

Programme Outline

 

The programme explores two exciting facets of fashion design for the early twenty-first century:

  • how the present day needs of urban youth culture (mobility, security and communication) have developed since the space-age 1960s
  • the design opportunities provided by the new technologies of 'smart' textiles and integrated electronic products

0.00-1.15
Andrew Bolton from the Victoria and Albert Museum describes how fashion designers in the 1960s embraced the space-age culture with an emphasis on youth and radicalism.

1.15-2.50
Designers Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation (a clothing company established in 1994) describe the innovative aspects of three of their products which integrate street cred, fashion and high-tech materials, with an emphasis on user mobility and movement.

2.50-3.40
Vexed parka - a jacket that incorporates:

  • a hood to mask identity
  • a sleeve pocket to hold a respirator
  • padding to protect the wearer in case of an assault
  • the use of high tech nylon with a neoprene internal coating making it waterproof and fireproof

3.40-5.45
Stealth utility - a coat for bikers incorporating the use of Outlast - a revolutionary heat-exchange material developed by NASA, which is a fine wax that stores and releases energy depending on skin temperature.

5.45-7.30
See and be seen (SABS), also for bikers, incorporating:

  • a transparent hood
  • reflective materials including a reflective thread developed with De la Rue to increase safety

7.30-9.10
This section on urban mobility clothing closes with a range of Italian inflatable clothing that pushes the boundaries of 'the super modern wardrobe'.

9.10-12.00
Denim clothing of the 1850s is brought into the 'information age' with a description of the Levis £600 ICD+ jacket, a product which merges electronics with fashion. The jacket incorporates an MP3 player, mobile phone, headphones/microphone and a remote control system! The jacket was developed in conjunction with the electronics company Philips.

12.00-15.00
The programme is concluded by Philippa Wagner who was trained as a textile designer but now works for Philips in a team investigating wearable electronics. Their aim is to produce the interactive clothing of the future through the integration of science, technology and design.