‘Somewhat robot, somewhat human’: designer used 12,000ft fiber optic cable to weave a striking 50lb dress that will turn heads – and no, you can’t buy it

by DTM | Posted on
  • “Internet dress” blends human and robotic elements
  • Designer Maximilian Raynor spent almost a month making this dress
  • No, it’s not for sale

In a fusion of technology and haute couture, fashion designer Maximilian Raynor has unveiled a dress unlike any other.

Crafted from 12,000 feet of repurposed fiber optic cable, the 50-pound dress is a striking representation of the internet’s physical form.

The dress was created through a collaboration between Raynor and web hosting firm Equinix.

Following in the footsteps of Chanel’s 2016 data center-themed runway show and IBM’s recent project transforming chip fab sounds into music, the dress, codenamed ProjectMax, made its debut ahead of London Fashion Week, turning heads with its intricate and futuristic design.

A dress “made of the Internet”

Raynor, known for designing avant-garde pieces for celebrities like Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan, described the dress as the “personification of the internet herself.”

He explained, “I imagined a character that is the embodiment of data—somewhat robot, somewhat human—emerging from a pile of wires to create this dramatic look.”

In addition to discarded internet cables, the dress uses metal nuts, and bolts sourced from Equinix’s 260 data centers across 33 countries.

Raynor spent 640 hours weaving together the stretchable, 25kg garment, but it’s not for sale and won’t be reproduced, only serving as a statement piece.

“By bridging the gap between physical and virtual, we wanted to create something tangible that works as a unique talking point to highlight the many thousands of connections that are created by Equinix to support economies and societies every day,” Bruce Owen, Equinix’s EMEA president, told Data Center Dynamics.

“The design pays homage to the physicality of the vital infrastructure that makes up the Internet,” he added.

“Rather than some sort of weird magic or unexplainable force that just happens to work, it’s a physical, intricate network of cables, traversing land and sea and creating physical connections housed in Equinix data centers worldwide.”

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