MakeFashion Showcase:
Motion-Activated Light Up Dress
Laura Dempsey’s motion-activated dress was a breakout hit of the early MakeFashion runway.
When we founded MakeFashion in 2012, there weren’t many designers working with fashion and technology. When we organized our first fashiontech gala in 2012, we had little experience and expectation for the event.
When Laura Dempsey’s motion-activated dress took the runway, modeled by a leaping dancer, there was an overwhelming energy in the room. Since that day we’ve grown exponentially and have produced over 100 garments and events all over the world, but the dress has remained one of MakeFashion’s most iconic pieces.
The dress features traditional embroidery techniques combined with LED e-textile technology. Soft circuits run along the surface of the garment, becoming a part of the design. As described by designer Laura Dempsey, the garment explores ideas of light, movement and performance and highlights the unique nature of wearable art and the connection that inevitably forms between the art and its wearer.
About the Author: Chelsea Klukas has had a career working at the intersection of fashion and technology. She was the Creative Director for social shopping startup BeauCoo that aimed to solve problems of fit and sizing through technology. Later, she became the Product Design manager for projects including the Amazon Echo Look ai-enabled fashion assistant. She is the co-inventor of the Lumen Couture projection hat, her own wearable technology fashion line, and the Co-Founder of MakeFashion producing fashiontech runway shows around the world.
