Internal Collection

Silk, polyester, cotton, natural and synthetic fibers.

Switching up conventions about the body and beauty, this series of garments based on anatomy shows representations of internal systems in wearable form. Merging fashion, biology and technology, artist and designer Amy Karle created these wearable art garments inspired by the human nervous system, lung, and ligaments. Each piece is created in a different method incorporating reality capture, 3D scans of the body, anatomical style drawings into digital designs (CAD), and laser cut pattern pieces which are then hand and machine sewn into the final garment.

Each piece had a unique design approach. The “Breathe” dress based on lung anatomy and jumpsuit based on the nervous system were created from anatomical style drawings that were hand drawn by the artist and then rendered into a pattern in the CAD modeling environment; the dress inspired by ligaments was derived from Verlan Dress from New Skins with Francis Bitonti Studio workshop at the Digital Arts and Humanities Research Centre of the Pratt Institute in New York that wrapped form around the body in 3D digital environment which Karle custom fit to a 3D body scan and flattened into flat pattern pieces in order to laser cut and construct out of soft material.

In the process of making these pieces, Artist Amy Karle addressed current industrial challenges of: utilizing 3D scanning to create custom fit patterns and garments, unwrapping and flattening complex CAD patterns in the digital environment, advanced pattern making in 3D digital environments into real-world soft goods, and creating zero and low-waste fashion designs.