Fashion

Exchanging ideas on open fashion and tech at MeshCon: podcasts are online!

How to reap the benefits of participatory production in the textile industry was the topic of the first edition of MeshCon taking place in Berlin last October from 10 to 15, 2014: We are developing concepts and Free and Open Source technologies for fair and environment friendly production of garments and textiles at home and in the industry. MeshCon Berlin brings together industry representatives, fashion designers, pattern creators, knitters, textile manipulators, FOSS developers and DIY hardware makers. The event offers a place to exchange new ideas in personalized fashion and technologies in the garment production. I was invited to give a talk, but I couldn’t travel in those days. I suggest to listen to the recorded files in 13 podcasts of the event, and especially: Open Tools for Computational Craft Glitchaus Project: Between pixel art, textile design, and digital techniques with knitting machines Digital Patternmaking with Project Valentina on PCs

Maker al femminile, la tecnologia è un affare da donne

(articolo pubblicato su Linkiesta) Prendi una borsa o una maglia di lana. Puoi farle a mano con ferri e gomitolo, o usando la tecnologia con una macchina a controllo numerico e una tagliatrice laser, e magari confezionarle con un bel circuito o microchip da collegare allo smartphone. «Basta puntare sulla realizzazione di un oggetto finale concreto e anche le donne possono essere interessante al mondo dei maker», dice Zoe Romano, fondatrice del laboratorio WeMake e protagonista della due giorni “Makers al femminile-Fashion goes interactive” al Museo della scienza di Milano (8 e 9 novembre). «Se organizzo incontri in cui si dice “impara a usare questa tecnologia”, mi ritrovo solo maschi. Se dico “impariamo a costruire una lampada con una stampante 3d”, mi trovo anche le donne». Cambia l’approccio, ma la tecnologia resta, contro ogni stereotipo di genere che vuole le donne poco inclini alla scienza e gli uomini poco abili nel saper fare manuale.

ItaliaDesign series visited Milan (and WeMake) last june

Italia Design is an undergraduate field school and research program offered by the School of Interactive Arts + Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. The most significant contribution to the field are interviews conducted with emergent and established players in the Italian design community. Each year, a new team builds on the previous year’s research. Gruppo Nove, the ninth group of senior design students to embark on this adventure together with Prof.Russell Taylor , came and visit me in May 2014  to discuss around design and what I do at Arduino and WeMake, the makerspace I recently founded in Milan. Here’s the result of that meeting and at this link you can find all the other interviews (don’t miss Giorgio Olivero, Enrico Bassi and Giulio Iacchetti videos!):