I recently saw a really fun talk by Amisha Gadani, an artist in residence here at UCLA in the Alfaro Lab. Her recent work is a playful exploration of animal self-defense mechanisms incorporated into fashionable cocktail dresses.

The Blowfish Dress inflates when she’s startled, creating a bright and threatening silhouette that can intimidate an attacker:

The Porcupine Dress raises scary spikes when the wearer crouches in a defensive position:

The Skink Dress is inspired by the blue tailed skink, a lizard with a bright blue amputatable tail that it can leave behind when it gets attacked:

The Cuttlefish Dress mimics the defensive behavior of cuttlefish, which squirt ink into the water to shield their escape. When the wearer raises her arms, helium balloons encased in the skirt are released and blown towards the attacker:

My work is most often focused on things that are invisible to the naked eye, and it’s always refreshing and exciting to see projects about macro-biology. I love how these dresses mix science and fashion, creating pieces that are educational, fun, and beautiful. Check out more of Amisha’s work in many other mediums on her website.