Fashion Meets Sceience

This past week science and design came together in honor of artweek to create the first ever DESCIENCE at MIT.

Research on the Runway was proof positive that Boston Fashion is SMART! Yuly Fuentes-Medel, Patricia Torregrosa, and Claire Jarvis creators of the event brought creative talent and brainpower together. However the night was whisked away by 9 year-old Junior Sartorialist Toby Otting who presented throughout the show.

I am sure many of you are a bit confused as to what the event was all about. It was a special edition to Boston Fashion Week and the first ever so let me bring you up to speed on Descience.

It is a project in which the world of scientific discovery offers inspiration for the innovative minds of fashion designers. Descience creates collaborations between designers and scientists and brings research to the runway, providing a platform both for emerging designers and for science.

"The difference between science and the arts is not that they are different sides of the same coin… or even different parts of the same continuum, but rather, they are manifestations of the same thing. The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity." – Mae Jemison (doctor, dancer, first African American in space)

The breakdown of how this fabulous event unfolds is as follows; Scientists provide ideas and images of their scientific research. Scientists' submissions include images taken from their discoveries and descriptions of their research, noting the greater implications of their findings. Scientists describe what makes them passionate about science and why they are interested in participating in Descience.

Next the designers “shop” for inspiration from scientist profiles, choosing their top three collaborator choices. Designers are inspired by the strong ideas and images provided by scientists. If a scientist receives more than one request, they create their own designer ranking. Descience creates the final teams of one scientist and one designer.

Then the designers and scientists collaborate to create a runway look, inspired by science. Teams brainstorm and agree upon a creative vision and execution for the project. The designer creates a sketch or visual representation of the team’s concept, to be approved by the scientist and submitted to Descience. Designers then create a research-inspired garment through continued collaboration. Teams submit photographs of completed looks to the website, where they compete for votes.

The design with the most votes will be named “People’s Choice,” featured in the runway show as a finalist, and receive a $500 cash prize. Descience showcases submitted looks at Descience Runway, the capstone fashion show event. Final teams are chosen by a panel of advisors to be part of the Descience Runway Collection.

The 15 runway finalists are featured in a final runway walk, displayed by models during a reception following Descience Runway, and showcased in a second runway show at the Liberty Hotel’s Fashionably Late Thursdays event which Socially Scene will keep you updated as to when. An Overall Winner is chosen, and a cash prize of $1,500 is awarded to each member of the winning team.

Did you get all that? What an amazing and innovative event but what else can you expect from the creative minds at MIT.

Back to the show itself, The big winner of the evening was Team Cytocouture: Carlos Villamil (design) and Laura Indolfi (science). People's Choice went to Team Orphacure: Candice Wu (design) and Christopher Gibson (science).

The panel of judges was so impressed with the collaborations that they had to single out two of the design teams for honorable mentions. Those honors went to Team Quorum54: Tatiana Tejedor (design) Tal Danino (science), and Team Interwoven: Margaret Jackson (design) and Pedro Parraguez Ruiz (science).

The night was filled with fashion, art and collaborated design. For a full listing of the winners or more on this fabulous event you can visit www.fashiodescience.com.

Photo Courtesy of BostonFashionWeek.com