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Clothes that are good on the eye - and tasty, too
Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor7 Sep 2010
It gives a new meaning to being a fashion consumer. A university student has designed dresses and jewellery you can eat once they've been worn.
The student hopes to shake up London Fashion Week with her invention, which you can make at home.
Emily Crane, 22, is studying for an MA in fashion and her recipes will be part of Kingston University's display at Vauxhall Fashion Scout on September 17.
To hone her skills, she worked with chefs at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant, the Fat Duck at Bray. There chefs seemed “slightly confused at first, but suddenly there were pots and pans flying everywhere — it was amazing. Everyone chipped in, saying try this', taste this', and there was a frenzy of activity.”
Fashion items are created using a mix of gelatine, seaweed and food dyes. That mixture is placed on “scaffolds” to give each item its shape, then frozen and dried out.
Miss Crane said: “It takes a couple of days, although mixing is only a 10-minute process — the rest is freezing it overnight and waiting for it to defrost and dry.
“I can create everything from jewellery that is solid and long-lasting to dresses that drape over the body. People always ask whether I did chemistry at A-level but I hated science.”
She discovered accidentally how her garments could drape over a body, finding glycerol in food dye had completely changed the texture. She has worked with pork, chicken, vanilla, raspberry and grape and hopes to sell grow-your-own kits.
Nancy Tilbury, her course director, said: “We encourage our designers to look over the horizon, to a world we don't yet know.
“Partnerships are crucial for the designer of the future and Emily has teamed up with chemists, culinary experts and futuristic couturiers to underpin the scientific nature of the work she creates.”
Reader views (1)
Bonkers. Who would want to eat dirty clothes?
- Adam, Harrow, uk, 07/09/2010 11:44
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