The Cognitive Dress from Marchesa. The dress changes colors based on fan sentiment. Worn by Karolina Kurkova at the Met Gala 2016.

Remember the dress that literally lit up the Met Gala in 2016? The dress had lights that changed color depending on social sentiment. The dress was designed by Marchesa Fashion, with an interesting twist. The designers worked with technology from IBM Watson. Yesterday, Marchesa designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig appeared at IBM’s World of Watson show to explain the story behind the creation of the dress. As you might expect, there was more behind the dress than the exquisite design.

The Cognitive Dress on display at IBM’s World of Watson Show in Las Vegas.

Marchesa and IBM Watson: Fashionable Tech

In the world of fashion, Marchesa is a red carpet favorite, renowned for their romantic gowns with exquisite details and embellishments. When you think of a Marchesa gown, you’re more likely to think of beautiful embroidery and lace overlays than LED lights.  So how did Marchesa met Watson?   According to designer Georgina Chapman although Marchesa is a very “feminine brand,” an “artisan ” brand, the idea of working with technology appealed to them.  When IBM Watson reached out to Marchesa, the designers were eager to collaborate.

A look at the color analysis done by IBM Watson for fashions by Marchesa.

Marchesa designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig realize that color is a unique part of their design aesthetic.  So their work with IBM Watson started with a color analysis.  With its knowledge database and cognitive capabilities, IBM Watson was able to look at gowns from previous Marchesa collections, and red carpet appearances, to discover which colors were most appealing to the viewing audience. “Fashion is emotional, color plays a part, so we were interested in how Watson would see color, ” Georgina Chapman told the audience at the IBM event. From analyzing past Marchesa designs, IBM Watson was able to compute a color palette for the cognitive dress that conveyed emotions like joy, passion, excitement and curiosity.  IBM Watson was hen able to make connections between past Marchesa dresses and emotions.  Working together, IBM Watson and Marchesa determined that the dress would change in color along with social sentiment during the high-impact  Met Gala event to reflect the sentiment of social media users watching the Met Gala.

A look at the technology behind the cognitive dress by Marchesa Fashion.

Even though the dress was conceived as being technical, it was a design imperative that the dress reflect the vision of Marchesa.  The designers were able to create a dress with the romantic, feminine touches that Marchesa is known for like cascading chiffon, tulle, ethereal layers,  floral embellishments and even a train.  The technology portion with the LED light control was embedded in a garter worn by model Karolina Kurkova.  Using a special fabric sourced for this specific technical purpose, along with special programming from the IBM team, the dress design was created. Programming was designed for social response, so the “cognitive dress” could respond in real time to user feedback.

The beautiful Marchesa designers Keren Craig (left) and Georgina Chapman (right).

Shortly after the gala, Marchesa heard from other customer that the dress was something they were interested in wearing.  “This is something we would one day love to sell,” says Georgina Chapman of Marchesa.   With the holiday party season just around the corner, it’s an interesting thought that the cognitive dress could literally light up the holiday party season.  The Marchesa cognitive dress is wearable tech at its finest.