Who would’ve thought that, in the 40-billion dollar (read: gargantuan) fashion industry, it would be rocket scientists and surgeons who are reinventing the high heel? That’s exactly what Dolly Singh, formerly at SpaceX, and her team of compassionate geniuses have set out to do at their LA-based startup, Thesis Couture.
“There is nobody driving innovation [in the fashion industry],” says Dolly. “In the world of fashion, I don’t think an R&D (research and development) entity actually exists.” But at Thesis Couture, the team is working hard to develop a stiletto that makes sense for today’s busy woman. Classically, heels have been made with a thin metal bar as the base. Thesis Couture’s heels will be based on advanced polymer structures which, unlike their metal counterparts, will allow the engineers to control the strength and stiffness of the base. Dolly says standing on a metal plate all day “is a physics problem,” and these scientists are out to solve it.
The team consists of an astronaut, a rocket scientist, a software developer and a fashion scientist, as well as the more expected orthopedist, creative director, fabricator, operator and of course, Dolly herself. It is this incredible synergy of industries that makes Thesis Couture a unique breed of fashion house, one I hope we’ll be seeing more of as the lines between technology and classic industries blurs ever more.
Photo and quote credit to Bloomberg Business.
