Yesterday was the first day in a looooong time I felt totally, 100% SPENT.
I stared at my desk at work, covered with file folders and to-do lists and at my inbox for this site filled with invites to amazing fashion shows and parties (I really am trying to make the VS thing work) and just kinda had a melt down. I trudged home on the subway and was forced to sit next to some hipster talking about how her favorite organic cereal is up to $12 a box, “but like… it’s sooo worth it… I think about it all day. I mean… it’s soooo good.” I fumbled through my bag which was full of case files, gym clothes and (to my annoyance) exploded MAC eye-shadow for my iPod. I figured I drown out the hipster with The Roots (you were right about that song, J).
Of course my battery was dead so I was forced to listen to her incessant high-pitched whining the whole way home (she talked about that damn cereal for 6 stops… I mean… was she serious!?)
I finally got home and resigned myself to a bubble bath, followed by a sexy nighty and wine. The ritual is a really great remedy for just about anything (make sure you have scented candles for the bath). It’s also somewhat depressing, I know. Thank goodness Lauren kidnapped me and took me out for some much needed Indian Food and conversation! Anyway, not like you needed the blow-by-blow of my day from hell…
The important part is, I’m better now. Ready to face the day… what better way to start than with some innovative, fun, fashion?
Today’s designer is not your typical fashion designer. Elena Corchero’s amazing collections work by melding craft and technology to celebrate these two commonly opposed mediums and explore their meaning and relevance for today’s society. By evoking the beauty and melancholy of craft, she challenges the aesthetics and function of smart fabrics emphasizing the emotional value of keepsakes and garments. Her research involves technologies that mediate social interaction, and the ways in which alternative energies sources become key for their expansion and availability in remote locations.
Take, for example, her collection “we will become silhouettes” (inspired by the song of the day posted below!) which explores delicate ways of incorporating solar cells into textiles in which technology meets tradition. Ornate fashion accessories like a hand-held fan and a parasol are charged while used outdoors during the day. When brought indoors in the evening they transform into a decorative ambient light display for the home, powered only by energy stored earlier. Electronic components like solar cells, resistors, and LEDs are integrated directly into the textile and wired together into working circuits using conductive thread. Organic prints and embroidery motifs recall endangered birds.
So-called “wearable computing” products on the market today shout “technology”, are often crudely designed and have a male-oriented sport focus. Because of this, fashion-oriented people, particularly women, may not choose to wear the typical solar jacket or backpack. This collection aims not to hide technology but to disguise it in a beautiful and stylistic way, making it appealing to a new clientele.
Be sure to check out her other collections on her website. She’s definitely on the cutting edge! I mean, how cool is her solar paneled dress??
