What’s the first thing that comes up when you think about thermal imaging? Most people agree in associating it with something practical, like a scan at a hospital or night vision goggles, but what if I told you people are taking thermal images of their bodies, screen printing them onto dresses, calling it fashion, and doing a damn good job at it?
Thermal imaging is when infrared radiation—a fancy term for something that detects warmth– is converted into rainbow-esque images you see through a camera scan. This results in an image where the warmest parts of your body temperature are red and the coldest are blue—-everything else in between varies between green and yellow. What this is typically used for is for things like security surveillance, building inspections, and medical scans. So why clothes?
The design can be backtracked to a TikTok trend that was alive during the pandemic in 2020. People were stuck at home indulging in a lot more creative realms. A result that came out of this creativity was a TikTok sensation of people painting thermal images of their bodies for themselves, or more typically, for their significant others. The videos would show a girl painting on the back of her legs, sitting on a poster board, and then completing her silhouette using thermal imaging colors. This little art project is what opened Pandora’s box.
Thermal imaging was solidified as the latest trend after a viral hit following a Vogue US cover shoot. Bella Hadid wore a thermal body printed dress alongside Adut Akech. The dress was a play on thermal imaging, instead of the typical colors, the designer used yellow, blue, and orange to outline a beautiful silhouette on her body. The dress was a collaboration between Jean Paul Gaultier and Y/Project. These designs are being taken forward by other brands such as Sinead Gorey who have embellished the thermal imaging with polka dots or swirls that fit perfectly with the springtime.
I think this introduction of thermal imaging opens an avenue for new possibilities in the fashion sphere. One thing I noted was this similar trait was present in Olivia Rodrigo’s Grammy look where her silhouette was emphasized and outlined with a series of little diamond embellishments. I think thermal imaging designs are interesting as well as easy to recreate at home; we might be seeing a lot of creators painting with polka dots on their clothes pretty soon.