MakeFashion FashionTech Showcase: Motion-Sensitive Dress

By Chelsea Klukas, Founder — Lumen Couture

Laura Dempsey's motion-activated dress was a breakout hit of the early MakeFashion runway.

When we founded MakeFashion in 2012, there weren't many designers working with fashion and technology. When we organized our first fashiontech gala in 2012, we had little experience and expectation for the event.

When Laura Dempsey's motion-activated dress took the runway, modeled by a leaping dancer, there was an overwhelming energy in the room. Since that day we've grown exponentially and have produced over 100 garments and events all over the world, but the dress has remained one of MakeFashion's most iconic pieces.

The dress features traditional embroidery techniques combined with LED e-textile technology. Soft circuits run along the surface of the garment, becoming a part of the design. As described by designer Laura Dempsey, the garment explores ideas of light, movement and performance and highlights the unique nature of wearable art and the connection that inevitably forms between the art and its wearer.

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.