Artistic statement from Ms. Whyte-Anigboro:
Project Title: Fashionable Tech
Summary: This project is ALMOST the perfect combination of my love for fashion and creative technology. I have always wanted to do light up clothing because it reminds me of my LA Gear light up sneakers as a child but better. So instead of getting too complicated and going into eveningwear, I decided to create a coat using LED lights as well as other machinery I really enjoy and am curious about. Like the laser cutter and the vinyl cutter. I am excited about the final product.
Inspiration: This project idea pretty much came from myself, but I do recall seeing LED fashions on YouTube and in articles over the past few years. For me my idea is practical and the next step in fashion. It also shows how technology can be used to help create fashion and not only used in conjunction with fashion.
Research: For this project, the only thing I really needed to research was what type of LED LIGHTS to use. My major is creative technology, so I had experience using the laser cutter for cutting and etching but not on leather only on wood and acrylic. In my original design I also wanted to etch on denim because I saw videos with the laser cutter doing this but ultimately this type of use wasn’t approved by the managers of Thing Space. At 1stI thought, I’d work with the mini LED’s we have in Thingspace but after talking to Erin and doing some internet research I learned about the rope LEDs that come with a battery pack. In the end, I came to the conclusion that these would be the easiest to use in sewing as well as when it comes to powering them because it has a standard battery pack.
Process: I have extensive sewing experience and did all the sewing at home. The process of making the stencils and etching was done in Adobe Illustrator. The details of how things progressed with my project can be seen in my blog postings.
Visual Documentation: See images of my final project below.
