Atton Conrad Creates His Dazzling Dresses Entirely Out of Light

Here’s a new textile we bet you’ve never tried: photons. Atton Conrad, an art photographer based in London, created a series of luminous gowns using nothing but light. Conrad adapted a technique known as “light painting” to capture trails of light on a long-exposure camera. Using a remote trigger and custom “light brushes,” Conrad achieved a level of control few have managed, allowing him to cloak his models in garments of pure fluorescence. Like most light painters, Conrad started out with basic swoops and spirals. His methodology evolved, however, when he realized the craft’s potential. “I realized that the techniques could give me incredibly fine control over light and texture, to an unique, almost hyperreal result,” he told io9. “I have always been known for my classic lighting, and still take great pleasure in it, but this took it in a completely fresh direction.”

Thought not real in the physical sense, Conrad’s light dresses dazzle on film.

Thought not real in the physical sense, Conrad’s light dresses dazzle on film. And who knows where technology might lead us? Clotheshorses of the future may very well parade in clothing derived from electromagnetic waves and particles. It’d certainly be sustainable: waste-free, completely renewable, and changeable at a moment’s whim.