Rachel Bagley, a Fashion design student at South East Essex College (UK) created for her degree in Fashion Design a wearable electronic collection with a twist: all fabrics used are either organic cotton or environmentally friendly peace silk.

The aim of her collection is to show how wearable electronics, combined with the insightful selection of fabrics can contribute to environmental conscious fashion design.

Her wearable electronic designs provide the wearer with renewable energy for personal electronic devices by integrating solar panels into clothing.

She incorporated the ElekTex touch pad which provides an additional dimension of convenience for the wearer in the use of personal electronic devices.

Rachel’s first model, the Yellow Strapless dress, fuses style with wearable technologies inspired by sustainable architecture and the climate change.

The dress uses style elements of an umbrella symbolizing the climate change – which makes the weather more unpredictable – hence the umbrella inspired style.

She decided to use organic fabrics to emphasize the positive effect on the environment. Her love for fusing fashion with technology comes in the form of solar panels distributed in the dress to catch the sunlight from different angles as the dress flutters and moves with the body.

The solar panels collect renewable energy which can be used to power personal electronic devices.

As a final twist, Rachel incorporated in a unique and beautiful way the touch pad buttons as she observed many people these days are listening to their iPod on the way to work / during the day.

She says: ‘Why not embrace this and allow the clothing to make listening to music easier‘.

The second model Rachel designed for her wearable electronic collection is the Solar Dress-Jacket which takes its inspiration from sustainable architecture, in particular from columns and wooden window shutters.

Rachel loves the silhouette of the columns with their stone work and intricate detail and the idea that shutters protect the building from sunlight through strips of wood really inspired the pleats of fabric used as surface pattern on the jacket.

Driven by her love to technology which is as strong and for fashion she decided to include solar panels to transform the protection from sunlight into a renewable energy source. and ipod buttons as before with the dress.

The fabric used for the jacket is environmentally friendly Peace silk which does not kill the silk worm but allows it to naturally break free from the cocoon which is then harvested and spun into silk.

With the generous support and sample supply from Fran Tattersall from www.selectsolar.co.uk and Anita Mistry from QIO Systems, Rachel cleverly integrated iPod controls that do not have to be always in a jacket sleeve and Solar panels that do not have to be in a bag. Let Rachel’s inspirational design be a inspiration for the big brand designer out there

The fabric has a unique soft quality with a shine and luster as well as being extremely soft which is in harmony with the style of the jacket yet in contrast with the shiny sleek surface of the solar panels.

Rachel’s work is pure in its aesthetic and style with a deep insight into todays trends of environmental awareness, sustainability and technology.

The most remarkable wearable electronic fashion design we came across so far in our restless search for the perfect wearable electronic design.

We are preparing a interview with Rachel Bagley to learn more about her outstanding Eco-Techno-Fashion designs. Check back soon, I promise you it will be a highly inspirational and interesting talk.

We get into the sun again and have a look to another UV related product from Solestrom.

Solestrom’s main product line is swim wear, specifically bikinis and the Solar Tote we have introduced recently is a ‘one-off’ product using their love for sun.

Why? – The unique feature of the solar bag, a UV indicator can be found in one of Solestrom’s Bikinis as well, the SmartSwim™ UV Intensity Bikini.

There is actually no electronic involved in this UV indicator bikini but the use of simple technology like Photo-chromatic material for the beads which are used as decorative styling element and as UV indicator is terrific.

Photo-chromatic material changes it’s color when, like in this application, it is exposed to UV light and back to it’s initial color tone when out of UV radiation.

This creative use of technology for clothing justifies a coverage under our Wearable Electronic topic.

And if this justification is not enough reason for to include in our Interactive Fashion reviews, Solestorm has had actually the ‘all over the internet famous’ UV Meter Bikini in their program. Unfortunately this one is already sold out.

A LED display integrated into the bikini bottom part showed the UV intensity via a professional grade UV meter with .01 steps.

The UV Meter Bikini was a more high-tech bikini and for some a bit too much tech on the beach therefore lets go back to the SmartSwim™ UV Intensity Bikini.

The Photo-chromatic technology takes out the guessing around how much and how often you need to apply your sun blocker while on the beach to protect your skin from damage. You can see on the color of the beads how strong the UV light is.

Sure it’s not the professional grade ready out but by far better than having too little protection or cover up yourself in the thick layer of sun lotion.

I love the simplicity and practicality combined in a smart way = interactive fashion in it’s basics. Before you hit next time the beach get first the Solestrom SmartSwim™ UV Intensity Bikini for $98.99 from their online store.

All right, it’s again Solar Bags today, please don’t shoot the messenger (bag). Our mission is to inform of all products in the clothing and soft goods arena that merge technology into clothing and, in this case bags, in a smart and seamless way.

Solar bags are everywhere this year and Picard, a German based high end bag company has just launched their Fall/Winter 2007 bag collection including 3 models with Solar power charging functionality for the environmental minded traveler.

Picard bags are on the higher end of the price scale put also on the quality scale as they proofed in their more 100 years of being in the bag business. This high quality standard is also visible in the solar charging capabilities.

The ‘on-board’ Li-ion battery of the Picard Solar bags provide up to 14.4V and 4,500mAh, powerful enough to charge your laptop. With this power bags in your hands you have plenty of power to be charged up even on the longest long distance flights. No excuse anymore you didn’t have power in your seat on the plane.

But before you have access to so much power you (or at least your Picard Solar bag) needs to be around 21 hours in the sun. To help you in your planning, go for a weekend to the beach, relax, recharge and then up to your long trip for your business conference, eh – like Prague for example?

If you do not have time for the beach part in our planning, you can charge the Picard Solar bags in just 5 hours via mains or via car adapter.

All three Picard Solar bags can be ordered online by Sunload. The Picard Solar Messenger and Business Backpack goes for $ 1,100.- and the Solar Trolley for $ 1,375.-

If those prices are a bit too steep you can look around for solar Messenger bags from Sunload, who offer even customization of colors to match your outfit or style taste. The cost for Sunload’s bags is $ 660.-

Hobby photographer and professionals alike have next to their power hungry cameras plenty of other gear in their camera bags for making the perfect shot to get famous.

Eclipse Solar Gear has a new camera bag that gives power to the Shutterbugs among our readers, the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag.

Next to the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag, Eclipse Solar Gear has a large range of solar power bags spanning Backpacks, Messenger Bags, Camera Bags and Bike Bags. All of them are ready to collect the sun light and convert it for the power hungry gadgets in our bags.

The Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag looks very good and has all the features a photographer expects from such a bag: Made of durable 1680 Denier Nylon, the large main cavity can handle a digital camcorder and a digital SLR camera with room left for accessories. It has internal dividers adjustable to fit snugly around any camera model. Side pockets with internal webbing help organizing memory cards, batteries, or other equipment.

What makes the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag different to ‘normal’ camera bags is the integrated flexible solar panel on the top cover that provides power to trickle charge rechargeable batteries, camera batteries, or other electronic device like cellphone, MP3 player, …

The solar charging solution can be utilized by using the common 12V automotive adapter made for your device. No other special adapters are needed.

With the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag you can recharge your camera while racing from one photo shot to another and have not to worry about running out of power while having all the celebrities lining up in front of your camera lens.

Amazing is the cost of the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag, just $ 84.99 by RitzCamera.com. This price makes the Ion Camera/Video Gear Bag the cheapest solar power bag I have seen so far.

Asking: “What is in your Bag?” seems to be a trend judging on the many blogs that have this line as topic.

For us the answer is: Solar Power and other other stuff of course. Having solar power in the bag is fairly easy nowadays.

You can either make a solar bag yourself or get one of the many solar bags on the market like the one form Imaginenergy, a Portland, Oregon based company that is in the consulting and contracting business about and around Solar energy.

Imaginenergy is not a typical bag brand but their Fusionbag looks quite good. It’s a durable and comfortable messenger bag, with an integrated flexible and waterproof solar panel.

The Fusionbag comes with a power module that can be charged via the Solar panels and on rainy days via AC power. This option provides power from your bag anytime. The power module is strong enough to handle even your laptop.

The Fusionbag comes in four different colors with a price tag of $ 350.- and can be ordered online by Imaginenergy.

If this price is a bit too hefty, you can always consider following our DIY Solar Bag project and make your own or you grab the one and only one we have left from our Etsy shop. The choice is yours to charge up your bag.

Traveling around the world – virtually on the Internet – I came across a solar power bag from South Africa.

Gwiz, a online shop from South Africa offers a power station in computer bag form, the FlexoPower Flex Top. The solar panel of this bag operates between 4.2V – 24V by 80W. That is lot of juice for any cell phone, PDA, smart phone and even laptop.

The on-board Lithium Polymer battery will take 11.1V by 6000 mAh. That’s roughly 10 full loads for a G5 iPod or a couple of hours for your laptop.

To load this power station will need lots of sunshine but this should not be a problem with the 300 sunny days South Africa has on average a year. For the reaming 65 days of the year, the Flex Top bag’s battery can be charged via mains or car cigarette lighter to give you almost unlimited portable power.

The FlexoPower Flex Top bag costs around US$ 350.- Unfortunately Gwiz does not ship internationally. A big price tag but with so much power and sun shine in south Africa it might pay for itself over time.

Flexible Solar cells are a useful invention and the development in higher efficiency flexible solar cells is a top priority for many research institutes and private companies. Considering the large amount of Solar bags coming up this year, the integration of electricity generating solar panels to compliment the power hungry gadgets of our modern life might be a useful product concept with a bright future – in every aspect.

G-Tech added to their massive range of Wearable Electronic bags of all types and functions a new model, the Solar Backpack.

Catching sunlight and convert to power for the many electronic gadgets of the road warriors is the trend in 2007.

The Solar Charging System (SCS) from G-Tech is a module that is detachable which can also be also charged by an A/C adaptor and used on its own as a regular charger. A unique twist to the solar charging function with practical value.

The charging system will work with electronic devices such as cellphone, PDA, digital camera & iPod. 5 adaptors are included for Motorola mini USB, Nokia, Samsung, LG & Sony Ericsson.

Unfortunately there is no iPod adaptor (the standard size USB type) which means you will need another adaptor from mini USB to standard USB connector. I would have liked to have an iPod adaptor in the accessory list considering the high probability that potential consumers will own an iPod.

One word to the styling: the integration of the solar cell is not the most creative and seamless solution I have seen so far. It also looks like the solar panel is from the stiffer type and not the soft, flexible version used in many bags nowadays.

Having said this, the Solar Backpack will give you the extra power on the road when no power socket is near you.

The G-Tech Solar Backpack sales for $ 138.4 and can be ordered online for example by getabag.com

I can’t help looking around for Wearable Solar products when the sun is shining all day long. Is it not obvious to make use of our bags and cover some of the surface with those flexible solar cells.

Catching sunlight in this way is completely free, does not change much on the way I carry my bag and having some extra juice gives a little peace of environmental mind.

Especially now when many look forward to have some days off and enjoy the outdoors and get the vacation adventure kick, looking around for a solar power bag might be a good idea.

Clear Blue Hawaii for example offers the Solarpac Series which consists of a Backpack, a Solar module that can be fitted to many other Backpacks and a waterproof Bag for the water enthusiasts.

The Solarpac range is featuring a lightweight, weather proof and flexible solar panel which they claim is derived from military origins and is so robust that if a bullet were to pass through the panel, it would still work by drawing power from surrounding cells.

Now I hope your are not going that close to the action but it gives some assurance that those solar power bags are made to last for rough and rugged activities.

The Solar cells are designed to generate 6 Watt which can power almost all of your essential electronic action gadgets like Cell Phones, Digital Cameras, Camcorders, MP3 Players and GPS Units.

The Blue Sun Solar Backpack goes for $ 369.98, the Solar Claw (module) for 275.98 and the Waterproof Bag for 319.98

You can order them directly by Clear Blue Hawaii.

We Will Become Silhouettes is a collection of fashion accesories from Elena Corchero that explore delicate ways of incorporating organic solar cells into textiles in which technology meets tradition.

Flexible solar cells become precious stones and jewels in her current project, a touching collection of delicate embroideries and lace inspired by endangered species.

The pieces are charged while used outdoors during the day. When brought indoors in the evening they transform into a decorative ambient light display for the home, powered only by energy stored earlier.

Electronic components like solar cells, resistors, and LEDs are integrated directly into the textile and wired together into working circuits using conductive thread. Organic prints and embroidery motifs recall endangered birds.

Elena Corchero is an experienced fashion and interaction designer with a fine arts background and specialist knowledge in smart textiles through work on wearable technologies as a research associate in MIT Media Lab Europe Human Connectedness.

A very unique approach to combine technology and fashion with a large portion of creativity. Catching light to create atmosphere in the evening, a nice way to replace candle light.

Elena planes to offer a selected range of hand crafted, limited edition products on her Website. We will keep on eye on her boutique and give you an update when the first creations are up for sale.

[via: twenty1f]