Shipping Toohey, currently working as Design Tutor at the Victoria University of Wellington, designed a light animated dress inspired by alcohol – really, no kidding.
While studying different alcohols under a microscope she got fascinated by the geometric color pattern Tequila is exhibiting.
Tequila is made from the blue agave plant which grows in red volcanic soil surrounding the region of the city of Tequila in Mexico.
It seems this colorful ingredients produce an explosion of rainbow colors the Tequila exhibits under a microscope. Sure many of us don’t notice the colors of the Tequila before we hastily gulp down the shot.
Shipping went a great length to transfer the 2D microscopic Tequila observation into the three dimensional shape of the TeKila Dress using 122 super bright LEDs arranged into 5×6 matrices. She laser etched the geometric pattern observed under the microscope on clear acrylic segments to spread and guide the light pattern in the desired direction on the dress.
To reproduce the organic flow of color, Shipping added an accelerometer which translates movement of the wearer to gradually shift of color in sync with the body movement.
I am not sure what fascinates me more on the TeKila Dress – the light design or the Tequila inspiration. Oh well – I like both.