In some previous posts I looked at creations by contemporary designers that somehow echoed the work of Cinzia Ruggeri. A recent picture taken during LA Fashion Week actually made me think once again about Ruggeri's designs.
The picture in question is from the finale of the catwalk show by Victor Wilde's avant-garde fashion brand Bohemian Society and portrays two models wearing outfits in sheer fabrics punctuated by LED lights.
The designs are obviously supposed to be showpieces or aimed at an eccentric clientele of celebrities, but in the '80s Cinzia Ruggeri already came up with something along the same line that was slightly less theatrical and had very specific purposes: her LED dress (in a previous post I compared this dress to Hussein Chalayan's modern creations) integrated lights under the fabric to make the design look more futuristic, but also to give the wearer the chance to be able to send signals to other people and turn in this way the garment into an active tool to communicate a message.
Ruggeri also employed further innovative technologies for other designs: she incorporated for example in a suit liquid crystals that took on different tones of colour according to the environmental conditions and body temperature and she was actually among the very first designers not just in Italy, but in the world to experiment with clothes that could change forms and shapes thanks to the insertion of devices such as micro-ventilators that could make the sleeves puff out.
I wonder if Bohemian Society are somehow familiar with Cinzia Ruggeri's work through Amanda Brown's LA-based record label 100% Silk.
A while back the label released a split 12" by Magic Touch/Ital with a cover featuring designs by Cinzia Ruggeri, while one video for 100% Silk's artist Design features several vintage images of Ruggeri's creations mixed with Studio Alchimia's interior design pieces.
Who knows, maybe Wilde saw Ruggeri's stuff, maybe he didn't, what's interesting is that iconic designs by genuine maverick artists from the past are still very inspiring and - bizarrelly enough - they also feel fresher and much more fun than many contemporary pieces on the market at the moment.
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Its easy now to incorporate lights i design since LED is very light in weight.
Posted by: Jason Light | March 20, 2013 at 02:21 AM