Chromosonic Fabric Changes Color With Heat and Sound

If you find yourself intrigued by tech fashion, you’ll need to check this out. A new textile designed by Budapest-based artists Judit Eszter Karpati is able to interact with its surroundings, producing incredible visuals.

This innovation, named Chromosonic, is aptly referred to as the “Chamelon fabric.” Able to sense its surroundings such as temperature and sound, Chromosonic changes color based on this information, and can even blend itself into the background.

So how does it work?

The fabric, which is handmade, has several elements that generate its color combinations. It is woven with nichrome wires, which generate heat, and screenprinted with thermochromatic dye. When the wires are heated up the dye senses it, turning the fabric a different color.

Karpati has shown several ways in which the fabric can generate the heat necessary to change color.

The first is basic: human touch. Much like novelty t-shirts from the 90’s, the fabric can sense and utilize body heat to get the desired results.

The second, more complex way generates more interesting results. By connecting the wires to an Arduino microcomputer, Karpati is able to feed specific patterns and color combinations into the fabric, designing the results herself.

Realizing the potential the computer could bring to the designs, Karpati decided to take it a step further: making the color “dance” to music. Using the computer to process audio files, the computer broke down the sounds, generating heat based on the information produced by each song. The heat created a range of beautiful results in corresponding colors and patterns.

While a fabric this complex might not be feasible for mass-production, there is potential to see it walking down the runway of a haute couture show.

5 Ways To Begin Branding Yourself and Your Business

Guest post by Sheida Moheb, founder of Amerai Consulting which is focused on helping startup fashion brands with business development. 

We all know that branding is one of the most important drivers to sales and higher profit. The most profitable and successful global companies are instantly recognizable through their brand.

If you’re a new start-up or small business, starting with clear and defined brand strategy, and strong brand identity, are both essential for success.

5 Ways To Begin Branding Yourself and Your Business

1. Create a solid brand concept and story. Who are you and who is your brand. Why do you do what you do?  How did it all come about? You need to understand this in a way that matters to your customer.
2. Create a customer profile. If you don’t know who they are and what matters to them, you can never sell to them.
3. Create an experience. You need to focus on developing moments of delight for your customer. Think about this in terms of product design, marketing initiatives, retail strategy, and eCommerce.
4. Create consistency. Prior to every decision for you make for your business, make sure it is consistent with who your brand is.
5. Create the ‘WOW Factor’.  The ‘WOW factor’ goes above and beyond customer expectations in delivering a great product and experience.

Creativity + Ingenuity + Attention to Details = WOW Factor

In every aspect of your business from the design of your product to marketing and communicating your brand, you need to ask yourself if you have the ‘WOW factor’. Apply this formula in every to your branding and your business model to achieve higher success.

Textile Spotlight: Ingeo, Fabric Made from Corn

We’re all familiar with corn as a staple in our meals, but what about in our clothing? If you’re looking for a veggie-friendly, sustainable textile that can serve as a unique addition to your collection, you might want to consider Ingeo- a fabric made from corn.

Ingeo is an awesome fiber innovation that’s packed with a ton of ecological benefits.

For starters, this textile does not require oil as an ingredient. Instead, the fiber is derived from the dextrose in field corn. The corn used is taken from crops already grown for other purposes (Ingeo requires less than 0.5% of these crops, leaving no impact on food availability or prices) so there is no need to grow all-new crops for the fabric.

The manufacturing process for Ingeo is green as well.

The dextrose (sugar) that is taken from corn is used as fuel for the creation of the polymer this fiber is made up of. Unused sugars can be stored for later use. The polymer is formed into Ingeo “pellets” that can be used to make a wide range of products, from electronics to apparel.

When an Ingeo item reaches the end of its life, it can be disposed of with zero impact on the environment. There are several options, including composting and clean incineration.

If you’re more about aesthetics and performance than ecological benefits, Ingeo is still definitely worth checking out!

This fabric is beautiful, soft, and has plenty of performance benefits for all your sportswear designers. The fabric is anti-bacterial, combats odors and sweat, and dries very quickly making it ideal for active wear.

It is hypoallergenic for those with sensitive skin, and anti-wrinkle for those that hate to haul out the iron.

Indian fashion event in Dubai from September

If Bollywood flicks premiering in Dubai have become the norm, then fashionistas couldn’t be far behind. Beginning September 4, the biggest names of India’s fashion industry will dazzle the ramp in the emirate.

India Fashion Week [IFW] will be held for the first time in Dubai from September 4 to 6, 2014, at the Jumeirah Emirates Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road.

The three-day fashion extravaganza will bring together fashionistas and glitterati from all over the region to pay homage to the monarchy of Indian fashion. It will be the first time that so many Indian fashion gurus will showcase together in Dubai in one event.

The catwalk presentations will include the best bridal, couture and ready-to-wear pieces that designers from India and Dubai have to offer.

An exclusive exhibition which will run simultaneously with the event will give shoppers a chance to pick the creations of some of the finest designers from India. There will also be surprise Bollywood celebrity appearances to add to the glamour and mayhem.

Some of the biggest names from the Indian fashion industry such as  Ritu Beri, JJ Valaya, Vikram Phadnis, Shane and Falguni Peacock, Ashima Leena, Archana Kochhar, Pria Kataria Puri, Jaya Misra apart from 30 other leading designers will set the stage for the biggest Indian fashion event in Dubai.

IFW will also pay special tribute to young and upcoming local designers.

Dream Advertising, Ministry of Events and Z-Haus will present the event