Clothing

Wondering whether the $50 Armani suit you bought in that alley in Hong Kong is the genuine article? Soon, there may be a definitive way of knowing. A new system has been developed, in which designer-specific invisible patterns can be woven into fabric.  Read More

A good wool shirt is awesome, but would you wear one for 100 days straight without washing it? Kickstarter startup Wool & Prince claims that you can do exactly that with its buttondown shirts, which it handed out to 15 “wear testers” who wore them while engaging in such activities as backpacking in the Andes and dancing in "Tropical" NYC clubs. According to the makers, the shirts not only proved durable, but still looked – and smelled – fresh after over three months of straight wear.  Read More

Over the years, we've seen a number of worthy attempts at turning our clothes into electronic instruments, from drum kits built into shirts and pants to a motion-activated MIDI controller concealed in a jacket. The latest addition to the wearable instrument ensemble is "Drop The Beat" from industrial design student Wesley Chau, a vest outfitted with pads for a drum kit that musicians can rearrange and reprogram to their liking.  Read More

Michelle McDonell, a Bachelor of Design graduate from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia, has come up with an innovative way to recycle old clothing into DIY furniture pieces. Dubbed The Fabricate Project, the concept, which aims to save no longer usable garments from ending up in landfills, won her first prize of the RMIT Green Inventors Competition.  Read More

Sportswear giant PUMA is pushing its sustainability credentials with a new range of products that are either recyclable or biodegradable. Called InCycle, the "closed-loop" collection includes footwear, apparel and accessories that, rather than being tossed in the garbage at the end of their life-cycle, can be returned under the company's "Bring Me Back Program."  Read More

As technology becomes more integrated into our lives, it's reaching a point where the only fodder left for electronic enhancement will be the clothes on our backs. For design group Machina, that notion represents a world of possibilities for how we interact with each other and even create art. The team of anonymous designers recently developed the MJ v01 MIDI Controller jacket, which conceals a variety of sensors that sync to iOS and Android devices to produce electronic music through the wearer's movements.  Read More

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones") are fast becoming an ever-present eye in the sky, potentially granting governments greater strike and surveillance capabilities than even Orwell’s fictional Big Brother could hope to wield. In response, NYC artist Adam Harvey has created a series of garments which claim to reduce the effectiveness of UAVs.  Read More

Gadget-friendly clothing firm SCOTTeVEST showed off a new concept smart-coat at this year’s CES. Looking like a standard windbreaker from the outside, the SCOTTeVEST TEC Jacket 2.0 actually contains serious technology in the form of adapters, accessories, and enough pockets to safely house the majority of mobile devices.  Read More

The causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) aren’t entirely understood, but its consequences are definitely tragic. According to recent figures, approximately 2,500 infants with the disorder cease breathing and subsequently perish every year, in the U.S. alone. While devices such as skin tone-monitoring cameras have been put to use to warn parents when their sleeping babies stop breathing, now researchers are looking into something else – a romper with an integrated stretchable circuit board.  Read More