Fashion and Education Workshop

Light It Up! at the White House.

Light It Up! at the White House.

As part of the Reach Higher Initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a fashion and education workshop at the White House with 150 high school and college students. A full day of activities started with sessions focused on one of five core themes: technology, construction, entrepreneurship, inspiration and journalism, followed by a luncheon and panel discussion lead by Vogue’s Anna Wintour.

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman and a team of undergraduates from Pratt Institute led the technology workshop, which guided participants through the process of creating a customized piece of wearable technology: an LED-powered pin. Students created their own design, sewed the pin body and then programmed attached LEDs to light up in specific patterns. As a hands-on example of how easy it can be to sew, use electronics and start creating code, the workshop demonstrated the way fashion draws on disciplines from art and design to STEM.

The workshop highlighted the growing influence of the Maker Movement on the fashion industry and the creative economy as a whole, and explored new materials and technologies such as 3D printing, low-cost sensors and micro-controllers.