She looked quite fierce all bondaged up with lasers shooting out of her shoulder pads.

Rihanna’s outfit follows Bono’s laser jacket and, of course, Hussein Chalayan’s Laser Dress.

I’m not sure who designed the costume yet. Will update if and when I find out.

The costume indeed is another marvelous creation by Moritz Waldemeyer in collaboration with Rihanna’s styling team and Simon Henwood.

You can watch her performance below.

via Iheartswitch

She is the talent behind the Batsuit, the Penguin and Catwoman costumes for Batman Returns. She has created creatures for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in London. She even wrote her own fabulous DIY book “Best Ever Kids Costumes” and has recently launched ‘The Little Costume Shop’, a collection of intricately detailed costume miniatures.

Catwoman/Michelle Pfeiffer – Batman Returns, Warner Bros

Darcey Bussell with costume miniature from The Little Costume Shop

: : In your body of work, you have created some magical and fantastical costumes for theater, film and television. How was designing the “Living Dress” for Lady Gaga different from your previous experiences?

Designing this dress was quite a different process to costume design for film, TV and theatre, even for a fantasy costume like this, as it was not for a scripted character. Normally I work with the actress on her character so that the costume helps describe that character and makes her feel right as that character.

Toad/Matt Lucas, Barge Woman/Imelda Staunton – Wind in the Willows. BBC TV

For Lady Gaga it was different because there was no scripted character. It was totally abstract, she wanted fashion – couture, not ‘costume’.

I loved it, because the design was not related to any particular period, although the shape was kind of Victorian with a corset, bustle and train. But this was not only for aesthetics, it was necessary to start with a strong base on which to build the animatronics and find places to house motors and cables, so this was going into the realms of engineering, not usually a costume making requirement!

: : Did you work with an engineer or technician to develop the electro-mechanical aspects of the costume? Could you describe your process and collaboration?

Gaga was very inspired by Hussein Chalayan’s moving dresses and she wanted something that would move too, only on a bigger scale.

Once I knew that, it needed an animatronic solution, and through my contacts in the “mechy’ world (I have worked a lot with ‘creature effects’ such as Aslan the Lion and Jim Henson characters), I was led to the team that mechanised the Hussein Chalayan dresses, animatronic designer Adam Wright.

Our paths had not crossed before, but his reputation was fantastic: it was a great opportunity to collaborate with him on this project. By the time he came on board, the dress was designed, and he was able to suggest ways to animate it and add elements to facilitate that.

We had a very tight schedule, and Adam’s word on whether something would work or not, was final. If it was too heavy to move or there weren’t clear lines for cables, it had to be changed, but the costume and mechanics team dovetailed together remarkably well. I think we were all excited about doing something none of us had done before, it was a real one off.

: : Many performers such as Bono with his laser jacket, OK GO with their scrolling LED coats, Imogen Heap with the “Twitter Dress” and now Lady Gaga with her kinetic “Living Dress” are employing technology into their costumes. What role do you envision technology playing in costume design in the near future? Or do see it as a fad?

I think it’s more of a trend than a fad, and I hope it will catch on. It’s fantastic to combine fashion with special effects, in-build lighting and engineering.

I love the idea of putting opposites together and seeing what happens.

In my book, anything is possible, or at least should be tried. Originality is a rare thing, it’s great to go out on a limb and try unlikely combinations. But it does have to be done to the highest standards for the best results, and by experts.

: : What advice would you give young designers interested in pursuing a career in costume design? Should they learn electronics?

Animatronics is such a specialised and complex subject, I don’t think it is necessary for a costume designer to be a fully fledged engineer as well, although a basic knowledge could be an asset.

The Diva/Maiwenn Le Beso – The Fifth Element, Columbia Pictures

Having said that, the more skills and knowledge, the better, but if I had to take ‘A level animatronics’ I think I would run a mile, I would much rather leave it up to the experts and get on with what I am best at. The result will be much better.

Thank you for such a great interview!

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I’ve been watching a lot of sci-fi films lately. Last night I watched THX 1138 —George Lucas’ first movie— for the the first time. Watching these futuristic films inspired me to write a post on how Hollywood visualizes wearable technologies and what we will be wearing in the near future. All the typical tropes — from wired headgear to large computers strapped like tumors to the body — are in play.

I’ve gathered a few movie stills from classics to new films that I thought I’d share with you. It’s really fascinating how far off some of these visualization are and how even in the newer films the signifiers of wearable tech really haven’t changed.

Enjoy the survey below and please feel free to add some films that I’ve missed!

The Computer Pack

Star Wars

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Wired Glove

Children of Men (2006)

Iron Man (2008)

Minority Report (2002)
Head-Up Display (HUD)

Star Trek

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
Illuminated Suit

TRON (1982)

Tron Legacy (2010)

Tron Legacy (2010)

Iron Man (2008)

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Cute Circuit has designed yet another illuminated dress for European pop star Safura. Embellished with a an underlay of light, this particular haute-tech frock is rather elegant and creates a beautifully draped silhouette.

Curious if this trend for illuminated gowns will continue and be embraced by pop-divas worldwide.

Comment

Comment by Maria E. Cosimano-Kohl on June 2, 2010 at 8:26pm I love the effect, and am intreged with the possibility of learning how to put together a battery pack so that upon exhibiting my creation I can bepositive that what I creat stay lightedfor a long period of time. This dress has created a magnificent ellusion. Congradulations. Maria Kohl

The theme this week is apparently performance wear enhanced with special lighting effects. Today’s featured wearable is an amazing stage costume made and designed by Wei-Chieh Shih.

The nylon suit is embedded with 200 laser diodes, transforming the performer into a mobile light show.

I love the punk aesthetics of the lasers themselves.

Also check out Shih’s beautiful outdoor LED light installation. Beautiful work!

Via Make

Often in these high-tech dance performances it is difficult to decipher the “cause and effect”, resulting in a seemingly superfluous use of technology.

Standing Waves, a performance system that uses wearable sensors allowing a dancer to control sound, is a rare example of a dance performance that poetically (and successfully) integrates wearable technology into the performance.

As the dancer ripples across the stage a la the modern balletic style of Merce Cunningham, she controls the sound by exposing or hiding the light sensors integrated in her costume.

The interplay between physical movement and acoustics is beautiful to watch.

Read more about the project here.

Cooperjay uses ordinary knobs to control the motors embedded in the skirt. The act of a twisting a knob is followed by the reaction of the skirt folding at the edges.

The material construction of the skirt is quite lovely although from the images I can not determine exactly what materials were used . Cooperjay used ironing board fabric in combination with thick cardboard paper to create the skirt.

Lianna Sheppard sculpts bold and beautiful sculptural forms anchored around the human body. In her recent project for her MA at Kingston University, she created origami-inspired costumes that fold, pleat and illuminate. The lighting projections add a poetic and ephemeral dimension to an otherwise minimal and severely architectural silhouette.

via Philippa Wagner

Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde creates a sensual, practically mischievous, wearables in his latest project Intimacy. Intimacyis about technology becoming intimate extensions of our skins.

Developed by his lab, Studio Roosegaarde, V2_Lab and fashion designer Maartje Dijkstra , Intimacy consists of high-tech garments that become transparent. The distance between the garments determines their level of transparency, creating an intimate experience and a sensual play of disclosure.

The garments are made with wireless, interactive technologies and smart foils, which can become transparent. The smart foils are a custom material Roosegaarde worked with a manufacturer to further develop. It has the capability of fading from transparent to white and vice versa.

I’m not sure what the illuminated globe is in the neck of the wearer. I will report back once I find out. The illuminated globe or “pearl” contains a wireless device which communicates with the dress using RF Transmission. When the “pearl” is brought closer to the dress, the dress slowly becomes more transparent.

I’d also love to see a video of the dress in the action.

Here’s a great interview with Roosegaarde regarding his thinking behind the Intimacy project.

Comment

Comment by alex steve on January 5, 2010 at 12:50am Comment by Simon de Bakker on December 24, 2009 at 6:41am The beginning of the new year we will have a ‘making of’ post. I’ll let you know by then. Comment by Syuzi on December 23, 2009 at 11:11am Thanks Simon! I just received an email from Daan regarding the globe…Comment by Simon de Bakker on December 23, 2009 at 4:29am The necklace indeed senses the distance to the ball using RF transmission. It also contains a microprocessor controlling the dimming of the foil.

A registration of the V2_ TestLab event Intimate Interfaces can be found at the V2_ website. The Intimacy dress is shown around 1:50.

Comment by ricardo O’Nascimento on December 23, 2009 at 2:04am I guess the ball in the neck might be the distance sensor. I am wondering what is the red ball on the someone’s hand. I found the dress very interesting but I am not sure if the necklace fits…

Designed by Thecla Schiphorst in collaboration with Jinsil Seo, Tendrils is an theatrical costume that commands to be touched. Squeeze the draping tentacle-like structures and the dress “shivers” in response causing the colorful petals or scales to subtly move.

Actuated by a series of small, inter-connected motors and lights, the biological response ” reflects the inner flow of the energetic nervous system of the garment.”

What I find unique and interesting about this project is that the garment can also be activated by “virtual” touch through touch-screen and mobile technology, taking the garment beyond the exhibition room and into virtual space.