Andrea Lauer is a costume, set designer and stylist with Broadway credits like ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Bring it On: The Musical.’ Andrea’s also a multimedia artist working with clothing and interactive and responsive technologies. Her recent fashion meets tech credits include the Museum of Mathematics and NYU’s Poly Tech Game Lab. She’s been nominated for an NAACP Award, honored at the Rock ‘n’Roll Hall of Fame and styled for everyone from ‘Saturday Night Live’ to ‘Sesame Street.’ So how does one go from Broadway to mathematics and back again? Andrea sat down with Randi on today’s ‘Dot Complicated’ to discuss it all!
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“Data is everywhere—it can be scary.”
“I’d always been curious about tech and always into fashion. I wanted to be a priest because of the Catholic garments.”
“The way sound moves through the air is fascinating when you break it down.”
“I had this thought about going from presentation to the real world and find the same amount of delight.”
“Tech is all around us? What’s the best way to enhance the experience of clothes?”’
“My first piece was a true story about a woman in asylum with no communication who used her corset and bedsprings to weave the story of her life.”
“I worked with conductive threads and touch sensors to tell the story of the past interweaved with the future.”
“Clothing is all sort of living vessels. To tell the story of a garment and how it was made is my dream.”
“Storytelling is a huge part of the fashion industry. The way someone walks or how a gown is worn is storytelling.”
“I’ve been told that I’m most inspired in the morning. I think it’s because the noise of the world hasn’t started yet.”
“There’s a period of hibernation in the morning if you want it.”
“Most of my ideas come from a place of the past. I’m constantly trying to reimagine telling the stories of the past.”
“Music and research are two parts of my process.”
“I look for someone to collaborate with who’s ready to dream. Someone who throws out all the ideas even if they don’t know how to pull them off.”
“When you can get in the room with people who can throw out anything and not be afraid to look silly or fail is who I want to work with.”
“I was asked to create an apparatus at the Museum of Mathematics on 25th Street. We came up with an infrared device on a child’s safety vest.”
“Material science, shape of the body and how the clothing feels is all a part of creating fashion tech.”
“I became obsessed with the idea that touch could dictate how you feel. It can translate fear or love.”
“I created gloves that had a pulse system and the pulse would be broadcast through surround sound.”
“Tech couture is something I can up with from watching YouTube and reinventing patterns so you couldn’t see the tech inside.”
“I was blown away when I first started using conductive fabric.”
“People were pushing the boundaries of sensors. They were getting active feedback. I thought, ‘Why not invent my own?’”
“I wanted to create a space of whimsy in fashion technology and wearable tech.”
“Fashion tech isn’t just about what you put on the body. It’s the experience.”
“I wanted to tell a story about women in the past in today’s world. I started with the first toolbelt women had in Edwardian times.”
“I started trying to create a place of joy from tech and beauty. I created a business called Risen From the Thread.”
“I am a tech and material science nerd.”
“I’ve been doing prototypes with my beta products for 9 months.”
“I work with all women right now. We’re recreating stories of the past for women of the future.”
“My digital dance card came from passing along info between two people.”
“I work with Meow Meow who’s really my muse.”
“My lace collar is laser and cut and etched and has tiny LEDs embedded in so it responds to sound.”
“I love the subtly of wearable tech in classical music.”
“Elizabeth Streb has been my longtime collaborator. She’s my artistic incubator.”
“STREB does extreme action events. In London during the 2012 Olympics I wanted to create a suit that fit the body of the type of STREB dancer.”
“I had to go to DuPont and figure out who was working in nanotechnology for garments.”
“When people took pictures of the dancers there would be these streaks of light that would enhance the experience.”
“The way I think of myself is a creative technologist and artist even those they aren’t part of my training.”
“Wearable tech and fashion tech is a world where no one is an expert. It requires hybrid skills and collaboration.”
“Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.”
“Don’t look back, forge ahead.”
“I admire people who are artists who create immersive spaces.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckeberg’ next Wednesday when she sits down with Brian Little. Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET!
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