Wearing the Audi A4

Try this on for size, fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht has crafted dresses that draw inspiration from the advanced technological features of the Audi A4. To be more accurate, they were designed with more than just inspiration from the sedan, but actually pinched many of its bedazzling features. The dresses made their debut on the silver striped catwalk of the Berlin Fashiontech conference and are due to have a whirlwind tour that includes visits to fashion capitals of Berlin, Beijing, London and Milan.

Annouk Wipprecht, already famed for her production of 3D printed dresses that interact with the wearer and the world, embarked on this project in collaboration with the luxury car manufacturer Audi.  The showcase consists of four dresses that comprise a series, each incorporating design and technology elements siphoned from the Audi A4.

First of the rack is the Projection Map Dress, that is based on the Audi virtual cockpit, the surface of the dress is angled and faceted intended to replicate the diamond shapes on the front of the car. When modelled, a projector shines on the surfaces bringing it to an animated light.

The other two dresses, Wipprecht refers to as “shields”, whereby 3D printed breastplates are embedded with Audi’s Ultrasonic RangeFinder parking sensors. The dresses interact with the environment, whereby if someone gets into a certain proximity with the wearer the sensors will detect them and trigger a flash light, throwing an incandescent brightness over an unassuming, but now blinded, colleague. 

These dresses are perhaps only outdone by the “piece d’resistance”, the final of the series. Embedded with the same 60-watt high power LEDs that are used in the car’s headlights, when triggered, light is shone directly outwards in blinding beams throwing light in the face of bystanders, that Wipprecht anticipates will just blast them away.

A night out on the town in this dress, might be your only chance to go ‘lightclubbing’.