A mix of fashion and technology

There is a lab in North London that is actively developing what they themselves call the digital couture expirience (high digital fashion experience). The essence of the idea is to create interactive and engaging pieces of clothing. The CW studio is divided into three parts: in one part they do coding and programming, in the second part there are more traditional elements of fashion production, like sewing machines, and in the third part there are 3-D printers.

Creative Director Nancy Tilbury shares her vision: "At the very beginning of a project, we create a narrative in our imagination, inspired by science fiction and futuristic visions, but we are also interested in designing fashion objects. We are among the pioneers of new technologies in the fashion industry. For us, being a designer has meant working with technology for 15 years."

The ultimate goal of the team: to bring the idea of digital couture expirience to the street (this is the trickle-down effect). The first step towards this dream was to collaborate with celebrities and create extravagant outfits for stars such as Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas.

Here is a real case (a business situation): a studio produced a dress for Lady Gaga, and its trick was that it released soap bubbles, they seemed to appear out of nowhere, bursting and forming structures. Fans applauded, camera clicks could be heard everywhere.

Even the sound that the outfit makes is interesting. It is an indicator that inside the dress there is a machine that creates soap bubbles. In addition, all the elements that make up the dress were printed on a 3-D printer. It's essentially a mechanical device with an internal architecture that transforms fluid. Here's some pure design engineering that can be worn as clothing.

Nancy Tilbury: "We explore different technical techniques, which then become our methodology that defines the authenticity of Studio XO. This is exactly what makes our studio special: we start with an effect, build a narrative around it, and then look at how to make our fantasies real with technical devices. In the end this process becomes a game.

It's great, because our projects have a philosophy: we want to bring to people's understanding not only the idea of transformation in textiles and technology, but also in the fashion industry in general. Our team creates machines that transform the way we dress, it's fun and interesting at the same time."