Digitizing the Runway

In the process of perusing clothing websites and style networks, I came across this dress: 

Dress by Mary Katranzou

     After poking around a bit more, I found a few more dresses of the same strange but beautiful material from the designer Basso and Brooke : 

     The blog that I found both dresses on mentioned "digital printing". Curious, I shot over to the New York Times and did a search. 

     Apparently, digital printing (in the fashion world) is a way of making textiles that gives one prints that can't be made anywhere else. Mary Katrantzou, the designer of the first dress, is apparently spearheading this new trend. The trend began in London, and is making its way into top designer lines such as Alexander McQueen for the spring 2011. The Times quoted Katrantzou as saying that although she was trained in traditional screen printing, there is "no limitation" when one is working on a textile digitally. It seems that design is radically changing the fashion field, whether it's due to the relative speed of computers to handmade patterns or the fact that thousands of colors and effects can be achieved with a computer. 

     Some designers are worried that this new way of making patterns takes some of the traditional magic out of the process, but have to admit that if it takes less time to make the clothing, it will cost less for the consumer and cause more people to  buy it. It's similar, as Susannah Hadley, a fabrics consultant for Louis Vuitton points out, to the argument in the 1800's that photography killed painting. You can only wait and see.

Buzzword! 

Server Farm: hundreds of thousands of pcs joined together to basically do the one task of providing service to the masses.