TECHNO FASHION
Men's baggy jeans embedded with a fully functional wireless keyboard and mouse.
Keyboard jeans for men
The Dutch design duo behind the brand Nieuwe Heren (New Gents) devised the perfect gadget for the contemporary man on the go.
The jeans are facetiously named Beauty and the Geek and are embedded with a wireless mouse, keyboard, and speakers. The orange stitching also resembles a Printed Circuit Board (CRB) pattern.
The jeans can also be tethered to your computer using either a bluetooth connection, or a cable that wraps around your waist like a belt.
iSuit
German menswear manufacturer Digel launched its first Techno Fashion suit that charges your phones, is wrinkle resistant, and protects you from harmful phone radiation. And, naturally, it's called the i-Suit.
Aegis Parka
The Dutch design duo Erik De Nijs and Tim Smit a.k.a. Nieuwe Heren (New Gents) address the issue of urban air pollution.
They draw their inspiration from Greek mythology. In Homer's Iliad, Aegis is the shield of Zeus, possessing great powers, forged by Hephaestus with a surface of gold like, scaly snake-skin. The Aegis parka is a vision of how the modern individual could shield (in this case) himself from one of the great threats of urban living.
A sensor in the parka registers hazardous molecules and signals their intensity. The more LEDs illuminate, the worse the air quality. A built in respirator with an active carbon filter helps you inhale fresh air. The mere presence of the wearer of the Aegis in the city contributes to the air quality, as the suit is treated with a TiO2 (titaniumdioxide) solution, which cleanses the air due to it’s photocatalystic properties. The garment is created from schoeller®-Ceraspace™, a scaly fabric created out of ceramic particles, making it far more abrasiive and heat resistant than leather. The inner lining consists of schoeller®-PCM™ a special textile containing millions of microcapsules filled with Phase Change Materials (PCM). They balance out temperatures to achieve the body's optimal comfort climate.
Official description: "The ClickSneaks were conceived in the most pedestrian manner. Walking down a cobblestone street, wearing a comfortable pair of sneakers next to a friend wearing a stunning pair of high heels. The sound of the heels echoed through the night, each step producing a rich aural environment; what if the comfortable sneakers could partake in this world of poignant allusions?
Part fantasy, part irony, the ClickSneaks subvert both the traditional attributes of a pair of shoes, and expose the multi-layered relationship we have with our clothes and accessories.
For the ClickSneaks the sound of the inspirational high heels has been recorded, only to be activated on each step the revamped sneakers take. Surface mount technology makes it possible to fit the necessary components in the sneakers: the original “click” sound is recorded on a voice chip, while a speaker, amplifier and an accelerometer acting as a “switch”, transform these seemingly normal sneakers into a flighty performance.
The ClickSneaks were part of the Touch Me exhibiit (June 16th until August 29th 2005) at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
See the installation view of the HugJackets in Korea at the Gwangju Design Biennale 2005"
Official description: "A pair of jackets emits, and polls for a particular signal. Once the pair finds each other, in at least 10 feet distance, facing each other, the two beep – emitting a sound akin to crickets mating, and a pattern of LEDs blinks (light emitting diodes; small, bright, energy efficient lights). Each jacket responds only to its unique pair.
The technology used is basic: an infra-red receiver and transmitter, a PIC chip (programmable interrupt controller) that controls the LEDs and speaker output and sends out the “bits” of code that allows the pairs to find each other. The components are all surface mount which means that the technology is as transparent as possible. Instead of wires, the components are attached to the circuit board via conductive fabric “conduits.”
While the project aims to explore social interactional patterns and institute new ones, it also elaborates ways in which technology can seamlessly be integrated in garments. The aim of the project is not to create “cyber” garments, but use technology in surprising and innovative ways and place emphasis not on the technology but on its uses.
Infra-red is used both to accentuate the possibility of communication through an invisible spectrum and because of its inherent limitation: infra-red only works in “line-of-sight.” The two wearers have to literally “see” each other in order for the jackets to be activated. The fact that infra-red technology is most commonly used in remote controls adds its own layer of irony.
The LoveJackets were part of the Pattern Language show, organized by the Tufts University Art Gallery, curated by Judith Fox, and Traveling Summer 2005-Winter 2008."