At first glance, fashion may seem technologically resistant. On the consumer level most of us have pretty much the same relationship with our clothes and accessories we always have, and we’re resistant to changing that—just look at what happened with Google Glass. But, as the minds behind the exhibit Coded_Couture point out, there is at least one massive similarity that fashion and tech share: both highly prize customization. We want our clothes to fit as though they were made for our bodies—or to be actually made for our bodies, if we can afford it—and we want our tech to feel as though it was made for our lives. “Coded_Couture has an exciting range of new tools and approaches that allow haute couture to be customizable and personalized far beyond what we’ve seen before in the fashion world,” co-curator Ginger Duggan tells The Creators Project.

Cute Circuit, iMiniskirts at AW 15. CuteCircuit RTW Fashion Show at NYFW; photo courtesy of CuteCircuit. Photo Credit:  Theodoros Chliapas

The exhibit features many designers that we’re big fans of at The Creators Project, including Ying Gao, Marloes ten Bhömer, and CuteCircuit. Ten Bhomer’s work focuses on shoes and the “absurd cultural expectations of women as expressed through mobility.” CuteCircuit offers programmable smart textiles that can change color in real time, and Amy Congdon presents her hyper-personalized accessories that imagine a future in which wearers’ cells are incorporated into their fashion.

Amy Congdon, Brooch from Biological Atelier SS 2082 ‘Extinct’  Collection, 2014. Embroidery, silicone, Swarovski crystals, enamel, glass crystals; courtesy of the designer. Photo credit: Lorna Jane Newman

“In couture, handwork is the traditional approach,” writes co-curtor Judith Hoos Fox. “The work in Coded_Couture changes the game from hands on to high tech through coding and technology.”  

Alison Tsai, Coding Non-Stop White Coat and Coding Non-Stop Black Coat, 2013; rayon and polyamide; courtesy of the designer. Photo credit: Paul Jung. 

Marloes ten Bhömer, installation view, A Measurable Factor Sets the Conditions of Its Operations, 2012-2015, courtesy of Stanley Picker Gallery. Photo credit:  Ellie Laycock

Melissa Coleman, Holy Dress, 2012. Gold plated metal dress,  commercial lie detector, collar for training dogs with shocks, LED lights, fabric dress, custom electronics, video. Credit: Melissa Coleman and Leonie Smelt. Photo credit:  Sanja Marusik

Ying Gao, No[Where] / Now [Here], 2013. Super organza, photoluminescent thread, PVDF, electronic devices; courtesy of the designer. Photo credit: Dominique Lafond

Coded_Couture is exhibited at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery until April 30th, and will later tour all around the world. For more information, click here.

Related: 

What You Staring At? Ying Gao’s Gaze-Activated Dresses

Future Fashion: 3D Printing

Designing Tech Couture For Katy Perry: A Q&A With CuteCircuit