Innovative Skirts Made of Mobile Phones–Who's Calling, Please?

As geek-chic leaves its indelible mark on the digital age, the wearable tech phenomenon has expanded into other unexpected realms. The worlds of fashion and technology have already collided, leaving a vast, unexplored territory as wide open as the American West was in the 19th century. This is no better exemplifed than in the surge of products, challenges and ideas flooding today's innovative wearable tech marketplace.

The mobile phone industry fuses with the world of fashion

Somerset House-Site of London Fashion Week: Source: Londonfashionweek.co.uk

While there may be little or no whistling while they work, the powers-that-be in the mobile phone industry, particularly Nokia, are furiously experimenting with gadgets being sewn into clothing. In keeping with this theme, the most recent London Fashion Week showcased  the world's first skirt made from smart phones. The designer showrooms featured more than 170 diverse brands and this year alone displayed the works of 84 new designers.

The world's first interactive skirt made from 35 smartphones

Nokia Interactive Skirt: Source: Damngeeky.com

The very first skirt of its kind, this garment is comprised of 35 Nokia Lumia 1520 smart phones and 1020 handsets. The skirt represents  a unique synthesis between fashion designer, Fyodor Golan and creative design house KIn. The movement of the skirt creates  a burst of kinetic color and a gleaming, synchronized effect. The appearnce of this fabulous garment at the recent showing was a home run for Nokia who was also able to equip industry leaders with the latest Nokia phones.

How does this amazing skirt work?

Nokia Lumio 1520 phone: Source: Microsoft.com

The cold, deft hand of technology  is behind it all. The GPS positioning in the smart phones align the wearer's movements with the skirt's dazzling shimmer. A camera in the model's cap allows for  an an even more amazing array of effects in the form of changing mosaic-style imagery and a "visual representation" of the model's surroundings. According to UK's Kin Design, the skirt is "a wearable and experimental piece of technology, which employed a combination of sketches, 3-D printing and programming languages to build."

The Nokia brand reputation

Lumio 1020 handsets: Source: Oneclickroot.com

The Nokia Brand Lab is known for its long association with the world of fashion and this particular project represents three challenging months of finding a way to effectively combine a heavy Nokia 1520 smart phone with materials that are fragile. Other problems included turning the phones on once they became integrated with the skirt and how to monitor and maintain battery life.

In the words of Nokia's Annie Kearney: "The skirt is a technical work of art...We wanted to experiment with the possibilities between fashion and technology. It's so much more than a skirt made of phones; it's playing with the idea of how tech can influence and be influenced by the world around it."

Nokia Lumio Skirt-Front view: Source: BBC.co.uk

Conclusion

The world might be fascinated by and yet not actually need a skirt made from smart phones, but its creation represents an intersection of thought, creativity, fashion and design that exposes by its very nature the impact technology has on every aspect of  our daily lives.

Final thoughts about technology:

For a list of all the ways technology  has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.~ Alice Kahn