FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

MBTV: Janet Hansen: Fashion Engineer for Daft Punk, MIA and Kanye

Some of the world's biggest superstars have realized that, these days, simply performing under the bright lights isn't enough. Instead, artists like "Daft Punk":http://enlighted.com/pages/daftpunk2007.shtml, "M.I.A":http://enlighted.com/pages/mia0...

Some of the world’s biggest superstars have realized that, these days, simply performing under the bright lights isn’t enough. Instead, artists like Daft Punk, M.I.A, Rihanna and Katy Perry have done something altogether more striking: become the lights themselves with the help of Janet Hansen.

Janet is the founder and Chief Fashion Engineer (what an awesome title) of Enlighted Designs, Inc. She’s knit her passion for fashion, art and technology into some of the most spectacular lighted costumes ever. She’s also put together pieces for Dancing with the Stars and made those shades Kanye got silly with.

In May 2010, Motherboard visited Janet for a tour at her San Diego studio. She took us deep into her creative process and elaborated on her background: She started sewing at age 7 and has been adding tech to the mix ever since. She’s also a multimedia painter and sculptor, studied engineering, and picked up a PhD in biomechanics.

Janet herself admits that lighted clothing may not be in the cards as the future of fashion. But with Halloween right around the corner, let us say one thing: can’t it be, pretty please?