The London fashion week of 2014 witnessed a unique couture collection called “Air”. The collection was designed for Swarovski. The concept of this collection was conceived by the material exploration of an artist based in London. Lauren Bowker and her studio team ‘the Unseen” have managed to customize a special ink that reacts with the various fluctuations that occur in wind and the body. Naturally the wind or air around us consists of many unseen components moisture, gases and many other factors from our environment.
A color change occurs as a result of the bio-chemical technology that has been fused into the fabric that responds to change in pressure. The Nano compounds (ink and dyes) in “Air’ can detect seven stimuli ranging from heat to sound and include friction, moisture, gases and chemicals. Each of these stimuli inducing factors give off a different color. Gases for example tend to give a yellow to black range of colors. This unique color changing manifestation in response to environmental stimuli reminds one of the types we see in insects with rainbow like exoskeleton. THE UNSEEN website (h/t:designboom)
