Edinburgh Napier University

  Invitation by the Materials KTN, Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK Network) to exhibit Inner Light: Programmable Stripes, digitally-activated colour-change textiles as part of the UK showcase of designers within smart fashion and textiles. The two piece textile exhibit was one of twenty-six demonstrator products. The image of the work was used for all publicity.

Made in Future was organized by the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Materials KTN. In the dedicated publication, Laurence Bristow-Smith, the HM Consul General and Director General for Trade and Investment in Milan acknowledged the event as a showcase of excellence demonstrating UK technology innovation applied to fashion and textiles and the revolutionary impact of these smart materials.

The exhibit explored dynamic rhythms of colour and novel colour mixing as distinct time-based lighting effects and colour moods as consistent and patterned light across each textile. Research questioned the design potential of duel-functional aesthetics across individual textiles and, the use of additive colour mixing to create dynamic moods and effects through programmable means. Optical fibre and pre-treated paper-based, light-emitting yarn (Taylor 2007©) were used as the weft threads and nylon monofilament and paper yarn as the warp. The paper-based yarn, created by Taylor, housed pre-treated optical fibre and was designed to create light loss in pre-determined states. A unique colour design was activated by micro-controlled LEDs using a digital mix (DMX) interface replay system, devised for previous design work by Taylor (Circatron Ltd©).

The work was done in collaboration with Circatron Ltd (electronics) and Richard Horley Lighting (DMX design) and highlights research work initially funded by a Scottish Arts Council, Creative Development Award and an Arts and Humanities Research Council, Research Leave Award.

A follow up reception was held at the House of Lords, June 2010 as part of a launch by Materials UK in June 2010. The event was publicised in Focus, Materials at the House of Lords, October 2009, Issue 13, cover page & p13. Images of the textiles were featured in Warp & Weft: Woven Textiles in Fashion and Art and Interiors, Ch 2 All Kinds of Light, J Hemmings, 2012.