Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere gave the inspiration for Canadian clothing designer Angella Mackey who resides currently in Gothenburg, Sweden for her first illuminated fashion design, the Vega One.
The Vega One is a medium to lightweight Spring dress coat made of a satin finish 60% cotton and 40% polyester fabric and to justify the name – includes two sets of 2 super bright LEDs, one on the front and one on the back.
The light elements are nicely discrete integrated into the coats’ design and offer solid or flashing modes selectable via a switch hidden on the front of the coat.
The power for the electronics and LEDs comes from two button cell batteries which are build into Light Strip forming a soft unit that can be removed when the coat needs a cleaning.
The front LED light color is white while the color of the back is red. This color scheme indicates one of the options Angella designed with the Vega One coat: for better visibility and safety. Or use the light elements for style/aesthetic purpose, adding sparkling, twinkling focus points to the coat.
To celebrate the launch of the Vega collection which will extend with the Vega cape and raincoat, Anglea Mackey’s shop offers a $100 discount from the full price of $449, valid until April 1st 2011!
It’s encouraging to see more and more products coming to the market that integrate some of the wearable technologies researchers, developers and innovators in the textile domain have been experimenting over the past decade.
The Vega One coat is made in Borås, Sweden, a small town just outside Gothenburg with a rich textile tradition and the University of Borås famous among wearable technologists for their activities in Smart Textile education and research.