The Little Slide Dress: new life for film

As a student at Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Design, Emily Steel found a way to reuse the dying film medium to create modern fashion. What gives her Little Slide Dress a special radiance is illumination from LED’s on the back of the slide film.  A sensor meausures the ambient light. The dress goes beyond fashion and is an interactive piece of art filled with nostalgia.

“The Little Slide Dress is a modern take on the classic Little Black Dress. It uses modern technology and blends it with a 100-year-old medium, film. The Dress draws inspiration from classic movies and the ‘magic of film’ to create a wearable piece of technology and art.  With film, light is so important in the creation and viewing of images and this was one of the driving forces behind the dress’s creation. With film we only see what really is going on once the lights go out. For this to work there needs to be a balance of projected and ambient light something the Little Slide Dress tries to emulate...”  — artist statement from Emily Steel 

 
When the dress is shining with purple rainbow iridescence, it would catch the eyes from across the room. Maybe this dress is ready to wear, but for the bold fashionista. For some one more conservative with their fashion, the dress could be the perfect little black cocktail dress, boasting a sophisticated texture made of cut film. It will be interesting to see what comes next from the New Zealand based Emily Steel.