Will 2014 be remembered as the year fashion got nerdy? From the Apple Watch (which debuted during New York Fashion Week) and the MICA bracelet (a collaboration between Opening Ceremony and Intel) to Ralph Lauren's biometric polo shirt and the world's first 4D — 4D! — printed dress, the biggest style trends of the past few months have had more to do with science and math than with Kendall Jenner. You may, however, have missed this inspiring geek-chic story: Neuroscientist May-Britt Moser, PhD, wore a gown inspired by her work when she picked up her Nobel Prize. Talk about badass.
Dr. Moser — along with her partners, husband Edvard Moser, PhD, and colleague John O’Keefe, PhD — won the Nobel Prize for discovering the grid cells that make up the brain's "inner GPS" and allow us to navigate through the world. May-Britt's story proved so inspiring to U.K.-based fashion designer Matthew Hubble (whose science-y last name is a total coincidence) that he reached out to Dr. Moser about creating a dress for her to wear to the Nobel ceremony. Hubble, a former engineer himself, based the outfit on Moser's research, creating a grid-like pattern and adorning the silk-and-leather gown with shiny, beaded representations of the neurons that May-Britt helped discover.
The dress showcases the brilliant accomplishments of a brilliant woman, and Hubble — who has designed science-based clothing before — hopes it will introduce Moser's work to a wider audience and get more young women into the fields of science and engineering. "If we can get more fashion communicating more science to more people," Hubble told Scientific American, "[and] widen the talent pool of people who might be interested in a career in science or engineering, that [would be] a great thing." (The Mary Sue)