Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly



Megan Geuss

Megan Geuss



Tiffany Kelly



Megan Geuss

When Marty McFly traveled to 2015 in Back to the Future Part II, one of the most enviable aspects of a 1980s-envisioned future was the high-tech clothing. He slipped on a jacket that auto adjusted to his body and dried in seconds after being emerged in water. His shoelaces automatically tied.

It all seemed very novel and exciting. Who wants boring clothes made out of cotton when you can have clothing that talks to you and has a function besides covering your skin? Well, Back to the Future’s prediction of our current day fashion wasn’t too far off from reality—at least that's reality in San Francisco.

Silicon Valley Fashion Week?, a three-day event held this week in the city’s Mission District, showcased some of the latest futuristic apparel. There was a fiber optic dress. There were 3D-printed jewelry and hats. There were turn signal gloves. There was a hydration pack “reimagined for desert dancing” (really).

Betabrand, the San Francisco-based company behind such innovations as yoga work pants and a onesie suit, announced that they were holding the event three weeks ago. The lead image for the event showed a drone flying down the catwalk above a woman with robotic legs. Naturally, Ars RSVP’ed with hopes that we’d be seated next to an AI (alas, just fellow reporters for tech pubs.)

Each night had a different theme, from commuter gear to wearable tech to crowdfunded clothing. Most of the models were humans; a few of them were drones. In fact, the organizers claimed that it was the first fashion show to use drone models. The whole event had a tongue-in-cheek feel, but the designers seemed humbled to show off their products in front of 1,200 people each night. A few designers even stopped by the press area to talk to reporters individually. It was clear that as the market for 3D-printed clothing and wearable tech grows, we may see more events like SVFW.

Chris Lindland, founder of Betabrand, called the event a “grand experiment.”

“This was just an idea I had,” he told Ars. “It was very much, ‘I think I can make this work.’ In the short amount of time, it came together beautifully. “

It's hard to say if the runway fashion featured in the show will trickle down into the streets. Some items, like a messenger bag that charges electronic devices with solar power, seemed practical. A 3D-printed hat with holes at the top or a glowing vest straight out of Tron? Not really. Still, some of the more impractical designs were the most inspiring, particularly clothing that can track heart rates and moods. Not exactly like an auto adjusting jacket, but still pretty cool.

In the gallery (above) and the video (below) you can see some of the designs we saw on the runway.

Video footage by Megan Geuss and Tiffany Kelly. Edited by Jennifer Hahn.

Listing image by Tiffany Kelly