A glimpse into a possible future of garment manufacturing technology (an industry that needs materials innovation with increasingly obvious desperation) came this week courtesy of stage designer Michael Schmidt and model Dita Von Teese, who debuted the design at none other than the NYC outpost of the Ace Hotel:

Dita_Von_Teese_in_Michael_Schmidt_by_Albert_Sanchez.jpg
  • Albert Sanchez

I think it's pretty hot, personally, but now for the science!: "The dress is made of powdered nylon, a flexible, fabric-like substance that's most often used for architectural modeling... The dress was then polished and lacquered black and covered with 12,000 black Swarovski crystals."