Future Fashion Inspiration: Fiber Optic Shoes

By Chelsea Klukas, Founder — Lumen Couture

Italian designer brings traditional design sensibilities to illuminated wearable tech shoes.

Italian-born fashion designer Francesca Castagnacci latest collection includes shoes and headpieces that feature fiber optic fibers. Based in Tuscany and working between Florence and Prato and a graduate of the accessory design course at the Polimoda Institute, her work looks to the future, but keeps an eye on past traditions.

According to an interview, the designer looked at draping and pleating techniques created using special presses, and was inspired by architecture and sculpture.

About the Author: Chelsea Klukas is an award-winning interdisciplinary technology artist and design leader. She has founded two companies exploring the intersection of fashion and technology (Lumen Couture and MakeFashion) and was recently granted her Doctorate of Fine Arts (h.c.) in 2019. Her Lumen Couture projector hat, a hat that includes real-time projection mapping and visual inputs to display video on a dress, has gained international attention as the first of its kind. She is an advocate for diversity and women in tech.

Lumen Couture is fashion that illuminates for unexpected elegance and drama. The designs are informed by the international fashiontech shows hosted by MakeFashion, an organization that introduces youth to STEM through hands-on fashion technology workshops.