If ‘The New Nomads‘ was our first book review and our first book in our Wearable Electronic books library that has cult status, ‘Fashioning the Future – Tomorrows Wardrobe‘ is the latest and most comprehensive ‘up-to-date’ book about Wearable Electronic and Textile technology innovation.
The author of ‘Fashioning The Future‘, Suzanne Lee, is a Senior Research Fellow in Fashion at Central Saint Martins. The book was published by Thames & Hudson in 2005.
Fashioning the Future gives an excellent overview of the state of the art in fashion and textile innovation. Works from the big names of today’s fashion avant-garde such as Walter Van Beirendonck, Hussein Chalayan (his recent work has been covered in our Blog), and a peek into the research labs around the world.
The book is very well designed in a high glossy, black page layout and the different chapters that cover the many aspects of the Wearable Electronic and Fashion world are very well organized. This makes browsing forth and back easy like on Websites.
One of the statements from Suzanne Lee as an example of the ’spirit’ and content for this book:
‘Fashion needs to adapt and evolve, and the technological work is going on in research laboratories. The integration of electronics into cloth for example, promises eveningwear that changes colour based on mood, dresses that subtly change shape, and coats that display downloadable designs. Until now, electric fashion existed only in science fiction, but fiction is becoming fact. Far from the runway, researchers at the intersection of materials science, electrical engineering, chemistry and biotechnology are designing the foundations for the haute-tech couture of tomorrow.’
What makes this books stand out from the other books written about the same subject are stories and information on Wearable Electronic that go back to the very early times of Wearable Electronics, describes the different stages Wearable Electronic went through and rounds up with the latest developments up to and including early 2005.
The glossary of the book contains a huge list of resources and links to many, if not all, relevant institutions, companies and individuals in the Wearable Electronic world.
All this together makes if a definite Must Read book for every Wearable Electronic and Fashion enthusiast.
Fashioning the Future is available for purchase at Amazon/a> and in many other online and offline book stores.
