FashionTech Inspiration: ALLELES Design Studio

By Chelsea Klukas, Founder — Lumen Couture

Solving a style problem: not a limb problem.

Alleles Design Studio fashion prosthetics

The ALLELES design studio is a team who proudly describe themselves as artists, not prosthetists.

Founded by McCauley Wanner and Ryan Palibroda, the team defines their mission as "solving a style problem, not a limb one, and style and fashion are a major principle of all their work. Their mission statement is that shopping for prosthetic covers should be fun, fashionable, and affordable.

The ALLELES Design Studio has showcased with MakeFashion at several runways in Calgary, San Mateo, and Shenzhen.

About the Author: Chelsea Klukas is an award-winning interdisciplinary technology artist and design leader. She has founded two companies exploring the intersection of fashion and technology (Lumen Couture and MakeFashion) and was recently granted her Doctorate of Fine Arts (h.c.) in 2019. Her Lumen Couture projector hat, a hat that includes real-time projection mapping and visual inputs to display video on a dress, has gained international attention as the first of its kind. She is an advocate for diversity and women in tech.

Lumen Couture is fashion that illuminates for unexpected elegance and drama. The designs are informed by the international fashiontech shows hosted by MakeFashion, an organization that introduces youth to STEM through hands-on fashion technology workshops.