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Your Guitar Riffs Turn This Jacket Into A Disco Ball

Costume designer Christian Joy has invented a jacket that lights up when you shred.

Lots of rock stars have signature looks. KISS had those crazy silver and black lamé jumpsuits. Jimi Hendrix had the hair and marching band jacket. And I’m fairly certain that Slash must be balding under his ubiquitous top hat. But what if you had a signature look that constantly changed? Well, costumer (and Karen O’s stylist) Christian Joy has just unveiled her “Super Guitar Licks Rock Star Jacket,” a light-up denim jacket that changes with every note.

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The creation, made in collaboration with Intel UK, is a plain denim jacket outfitted with strips of LED lights. The LEDs are lit in patterns—determined by a custom computer program—that correspond to whatever the wearer’s guitar is playing. The lights flicker based on the vibrations of the guitar, as well as sound wave frequencies. The effect is like a miniature version of Purity Ring’s light cocoon display.

Initial sketch of the jacket

The video above tracks the jacket’s creation from inception to the final product, and for more info you can check out Ultrabook’s series of weekly videos, all posted on their Facebook page. You can watch Joy picking out the perfect jacket from Brooklyn’s Yellow Submarine vintage if my thrifter’s intuition is correct (it is), watch her discuss sound vibrations with Jason P. Grisell from the synth-pop outfit Bubbles, and ogle at her colorful, carnival-esque studio. The jacket is just a prototype as of now, but I’m sure that rock stars would be lining up for these.

Initial sketch of the jacket

Initial sketch of the jacket

A diagram of how the LEDs work

The jacket up-close

Images via Intel UK.

@creatorsproject

[via PSFK]