Events

With the fashion back on hangers, the runway disassembled and the fire poofers put away (for now), we wanted to take a moment and thank The Crucible community for helping make our second Hot Couture fashion show even hotter, more creative and dynamic than we dared imagine.

We could not have put on two sold-out nights of fashion, fire and industry without the talents of our featured design teams including Alex Glowaski, Annamarta Dostourian, Avant Vouge, Bonde, Erin Mahoney and O’Lover Hats, Coyote Counter Collective, Heather Wakefield, Jeaneen Brunck, Latex Fashionistas, and SENSOREE Design Lab. Thanks to Bianca Starr Productions there was a method to our madness which showed off beautifully on the recycled aluminum stage donated by CASS.

We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from the press which included a front page feature of the San Francisco Chronicle Style Section. Hot Couture was also the Editor’s Pick at Diablo Magazine, East Bay Express and Flavorpill, and enjoyed positive reviews from Oakland Magazine, Oakland North, Oakland Local, Mercury News, Makezine Blog, Fecal Face, Examiner and Just Luxe Living.

Were you inspired by what you saw at Hot Couture? Want to learn sewing basics? We have a class for that! How about lighting up your wardrobe with LEDs for the summer party season? We can help you demystify that Light Emitting Diode. Want to make fashion forward jewelry? Learn to design, anneal and shape a special piece, which until now only existed in your imagination. Or perhaps you want to get up on stage and dance with fire? – You’ll want to sign up for a Fire Performance class where you can learn to hoop, spin and even eat fire.

Come and join the fun!

Photo on right by Chris Willis. Jeaneen Brunck design. 

In our final Designer Spotlight, staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with maker-artist Alex Glowaski to discuss brainwave-reactive headsets, internet-enabled pieces, and her huge dreams for Hot Couture and beyond. She will be showing two pieces at The Crucible’s Hot Couture: A Fusion of Fashion and Fire on January 11-12, 2013.

Alex Glowaski is a tech support tank and brainwave enthusiast. Before moving to San Francisco, she lived in Ann Arbor, where she received a Spanish degree and directed the city’s “All Hands Active” hacker space.  Now immersed in San Francisco, she works at Sauce Labs and has co-founded a hardware development group called ProtoTank.

Follow Alex on Twitter @glowascii.

Photo courtesy of Coyote Counter Collective.

Coyote Counter Collective is a cooperative art and design space in North Oakland formed by group of artists banded together to re-imagine structures on their own terms. The corner storefront is equal parts gallery, boutique, studio workspace, garment re-construction factory, style hub, and general one- stop waypoint for cultural re-fitting.

For Hot Couture 2013, Coyote developed a conceptual collection of smart garments with an eye towards integrating some of the newest technologies out there with some of the oldest.

Electroluminescence, LEDs, laser-cut shapes, 3D printed forms and conductive fabrics and threads are layered with stained glass, applique, dye, felt, quilting and silkscreen to lend illuminated and richly textured surfaces to these glowing, flickering creatures. The garments transfer information via simple touch or wireless radio signals, affecting each other in various ways.

Throughout the collection is evidence of an ongoing commitment to sustainability.  The garments are primarely either reconstruced or made from reclaimed materials, and the 3D printed parts use renewable corn plastic.  The underlying belief of Coyote Counter Collective is that we must also develop egalitarian models of working if we wish to be truly sustainable. The process is indeed part of the product, and Coyote believes that we must look to artists to show the way forward for society.

Visit Coyote Counter Collective on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @CoyoteCounter.

Coyote Counter Collective is:

• Medium Reality – design
• Lara Grant – design, electronics
• Rachel McConnell – design, electronics
• Rachel Lyra Hospodar – electronics, facilitation
• Sylvia Wood – stained glass
• Type A Machines – 3D printing

Coyote Counter Collective wishes to thank to Chris K Palmer (Shadowfolds), Miloh Alexander, Chartreuse Circle, Pants Interface, Noisebridge and Merchants of Reality.

Photos courtesy of SENSOREE.

To SENSOREE Design Lab, 2013 is the year of communication. At Hot Couture, SENSOREE will premier five new interactive designs that speak to the self, each other and the spacial environment. Under the theme “Home-aid” they craft future design couture from the DIY to bring awareness, interaction and health of the self.

Team lead and SENSOREE founder Kristin Neidlinger crafts phenomenal technology to enhance and expand physical embodiment. She is interested in how technology increases body awareness and to what extents. A classically trained ballerina, she holds an MFA in Interactive Design from CCA and has worked as a Dance Medicine Specialist and kinetic costume designer. She has performed and exhibited works from Berlin to Belgium to Brazil and for the next two years her work is touring with Futurotextiles 3.

Greg Ames is SENSOREE’s Electrical Sound Wizard. From his early pre-teen years, Greg has been involved with electronics and music. After college, he was involved in professional audio, building recording studios, traveling as an audio engineer and working for Disney. He later transitioned to a career in the computer industry, being fortunate enough to get involved with Apple Computer very early on, working there on and off for more than 17 years. He has expertise in internet and small embedded solutions including Atmel/Arduino and looks forward to providing technology solutions for art and education.

Anthony “Asterisk” Ambuehl handles wiring, programming and metal fabrication. As an active member with Sensoree, Flux Foundation and Flaming Lotus Girls, he does whatever necessary to make art happen.

David Dawson is a fashion sculptor and once upon a time, co-owner and creative collaborative leader of Asphalt Designs and partner in Phobos and Deimos. Currently he is awakening and stimulating the sensibilities of teenagers as a high-school art instructor.

Autumn Adamme established Dark Garden in 1989. Her vision and leadership have brought her company to the forefront of the world’s corset market. Using the finest fabrics, Autumn and her team of  talented craftspeople skillfully build each corset and couture garment from start to finish. Her gowns and corsets have been worn on Hollywood’s red carpets by Christina Aguilera, Pamela Anderson, Kelly Osbourne and Dita Von Teese. Autumn has participated in two great Crucible events – Firebird Fire Ballet and Machine, last year’s fire opera.

Stefanie Ku (a.k.a. Cosmic Cupcake, Kukie Matter, and silverslik), is a San Francisco based intermedia artist and divides her time between helping people achieve wellness through sound and vibrational healing, playing keyboard and synth in electronic rock band Beautiful Machines, and transmuting her visions from the dimensionless realm of pure thought into the more accessible language of light and sound.

Chris Jeffries (Tinaja Labs) is part of an ongoing DIY movement which builds upon the open software and now open hardware standards. This movement makes the use of technology more