>> Major funding for Design Squad Nation is provided by: >> The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.

Series funding is provided in part by NASA-- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

>> Northrop Grumman Foundation, supporting innovative education experiences for students and educators.

>> And the Lemelson Foundation.

The Foundation sparks, sustains, and celebrates innovation and the inventive spirit in the U.S. and developing countries.

Additional funding is provided by: United Engineering Foundation... >> ...Motorola Foundation.... >> ...and IEEE.

>> I'm Judy.

>> And I'm Adam.

We're engineers.

>> We work with kids... >> This is so cool!

>> ...to make their dreams come true through engineering.

>> ( speaking in Spanish ) >> If you can dream it, you can build it.

>> I never really thought I could do something like this.

>> That was really fun.

( laughing ) >> On Design Squad Nation.

>> I'm Juan Motta, I'm from Yonkers, New York, and I'm an aspiring fashion designer.

>> My name's Eduarda Pereira, and I'm studying fashion design New York City.

>> This is one of my most inspirational places.

We're down on Madison Avenue, and we're looking at all the great designers and their stores.

>> We are in the Meatpacking District.

It's really inspiring to walk around all of these stores.

We have Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen; it's really great.

>> Here comes my favorite store in all of Madison-- Oscar de la Renta.

It's just sheer elegance, and I feel that that really represents the person I really want to dress one day.

>> The architecture is really a big thing that I'm inspired by with my designs.

I like structure and just the sense of lines, almost.

But what's really interesting to me is being able to design an outfit that someone would willingly pick and just feel great about themselves.

>> Fashion moves, fashion lives, it never dies, and I feel that I want to be a part of that.

And if there's no dedication, there's just not success in fashion.

>> That's a lot of it, but also the big thing in fashion, you do need your chance, and being able to get that is really, I think, what everyone dreams of.

>> Working with any designer, I believe, would get me one step closer to my dream of becoming a famous fashion designer.

>> Getting the chance to really work with a... with a big designer-- now, that's a dream, because you just don't get that.

>> So you guys have two years left in fashion design school?

>> Yes, we do.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah?

Are you excited?

>> Very excited just to graduate and work out there, make our dreams come true.

>> How long are we talking here?

Because we... we may know someone who can make this happen a little sooner than you think.

>> You mean within the hour?

>> ( laughing ) >> Potentially, yes.

>> We know someone.

>> I'll take any challenge within the hour.

>> Let's go.

>> All right, let's go.

>> You ready to meet this person?

>> Yeah, we are.

>> Are you excited?

>> Very.

>> All right, this is the place.

>> Come on, okay, well, we have to end this torture now.

Just tell us.

>> All right, can't wait any longer?

It's Christian Siriano.

>> No way!

>> Designer Christian Siriano is here with me.

He has taken the fashion world by storm ever since winning Project Runway.

>> Hey, Christian.

>> Hi, how are you?

>> How do you do?

>> Young, aspiring designers, I'm guessing?

>> Yes.

>> Amazing, amazing.

I wanted to really come up with some type of challenge that was going to really push you as younger, new, fresh designers.

And you know, I don't know, for me, it's all about the inspiration, and I thought you can be inspired by kind of what I do.

And I feel like you can just pick through, like, you know, we have the spring, fall collection.

Just make one dress.

I mean, really important is to have that kind of engineering quality in it, but make them cool and they can be functional.

I don't know, if they tear off, whatever they do, but something... something interesting I think will be really what the challenge should be.

>> Okay.

>> So Christian, who's going to work with who here?

We've got... >> I'm kind of feeling a little bit of boys versus girls in this little world.

>> Oh!

>> Suckers!

>> Because I think that that...

I think I kind of like that.

So I'll leave you.

Look around the studio and I'll check back in a minute.

>> Cool.

>> Cool?

>> All right.

>> Good luck.

>> In all the fabrics, like the textures... >> Oh, wow, feel that!

>> I feel like we really... >> Can you just imagine this coming down the runway?

It just moves on its own.

>> I know, it's amazing.

>> Yeah.

>> I feel like this is like, totally engineered fabric.

>> Yeah.

>> What do you think we could put into this, like, engineer-wise?

>> I don't know.

Imagine if there was lighting, like, in the side of one of these, and then you could program it so that like, the color could change.

So it could like... >> That would be awesome.

>> ...it could kind of flow up and down it.

>> That would be awesome.

>> I love how the colors descend.

Just all the details.

>> But I think we could totally do something that transforms.

You know, like the length of it changes.

>> I think we can do a whole look.

>> Do you think we can do it in five days?

>> Yes, I think we can... >> Okay.

>> ...if we... if we really try, we can pull this off.

>> Are we going with the Fuchsia Mother?

( laughing ) >> Fuchsia... is that what it's called?

Is that the mother?

>> I don't know what she's called, but... >> It's gorgeous.

I've never made something of like, this magnitude, but I'm really...

I'm looking forward to it.

>> I don't even expect it to look like that, you know?

It can be anything.

You know, you build that sister for her that's inspired by her, and that's all it's about.

>> Yeah, for sure.

>> Bye, guys.

Good luck.

>> Thank you.

>> So I think we're pretty excited about this dress.

We're kind of curious as to how much wiggle room we have.

>> I like more wiggle the better.

( laughing ) I think you can't take it literally, because what's the point?

You know, it's already been done.

So I think the more interesting, the better.

>> Yeah.

>> Well, good luck.

>> I mean, I believe this was all done by hand, just to get this effect.

>> Really?

>> Can we get a couple close-ups of you two?

>> I think the teams are really going to be amazing.

I love boys versus girls, because I think definitely, when it comes to fashion, men and women have different ideas of what is fabulous and what isn't fabulous.

And I feel, just meeting them quickly, that they have very different aesthetics as designers and as engineers, so I think in that way, it'll be a great kind of mix.

>> So we're going to have a long talk about stuff we can do.

>> We really need to like, start sketching.

Okay, so we have a short dress, originally, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And then we expand it, so then side panels can come down.

Is there a way that it would just come down, so it would be almost like you didn't even touch... like, you didn't really touch the dress and it just happened on its own?

>> So it just releases?

>> Yeah.

Is there a way?

>> Can I just show you a couple things?

>> Yeah, let me see.

>> One of the things that I've been kind of interested in is art of paper folding and origami.

It goes from this really flat sheet of paper, and if you fold it right, like, you can actually start this collapse.

>> Really cool.

How did you make the folding pattern?

>> The simplest way is to use a knife and a ruler.

If we're careful to score-- or cut only part way through the paper-- we can make a hinge.

That will make the paper much easier to fold.

But unless the pattern is very simple, like a paper airplane, it's a very slow process.

So to make a more complicated folding pattern, we can use a laser cutter to score the paper.

A laser is a high-intensity beam of light that can be strong enough to burn paper.

If we control the intensity of the laser beam and focus it to a tiny dot, it only burns away a tiny amount of paper.

When the cutter moves this focused laser beam over the paper, it scores very precise lines so it's easy to fold the paper into a complex pattern.

>> I don't know, maybe it starts off short, and then suddenly, that's our long gown.

>> Yeah, we can somehow manage to get it to collapse.

>> I think we've got a good starting point.

>> Yeah.

>> I have some sketches that I did.

I stopped here.

>> Talk me... talk me through it.

>> So what if we put like, a flap that's up like this, then reveals all these crystals?

>> And then they would like, turn on at some point?

>> Yeah, so you can see that they're crystals, but then all of a sudden, they start blinking in your eye and blinding you.

>> Yeah.

( laughing ) >> Another thing that I was looking at...

I was looking at a dress that it's a simple skirt, and you could just transform the dress and make it like, into a cocktail dress.

But I didn't know where to take it in terms of having it engineered.

>> Yeah, so the ways that we can make fabric move is we can pull on it, like with a cable.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> We attach a wire to it or a line to it and pull on it.

>> Almost like window drapes, to like, to pull them up almost like blinds?

>> Mm-hmm, that's smart.

I feel pretty good about making that work.

>> Cool.

Let's start getting this whole dress in motion.

>> I really think we need to find a fabric.

>> We know all the pieces.

Now we have to all the fabric.

>> I think we can start off at Mood.

>> It's a fabric store.

So here we are.

>> Holy... >> ( laughing ) Whoa, look at this!

>> Yeah, overwhelmed.

>> What do you think about the blue?

>> I love it.

That's the one we have to go with.

>> Yeah.

>> This is silk charmeuse.

It feels like a baby's bottom.

( laughing ) >> Okay, I'm going to follow you.

>> All right.

It's definitely overwhelming, just because it is something completely new.

It's not just about fashion, it's fashion incorporated with engineering, which I think a lot of people don't put the two together automatically, so I think this will be really interesting to show what we can come up with.

We want something kind of see-through.

>> What is this made of?

>> I really like this color.

There's also this clear material, it's almost like a plastic, for the bodice part.

>> Okay.

>> So that would be really cool.

>> All right, let's go check out.

>> So we got our bling for the garment.

I don't know if it's blinding you, but I know it's blinding me.

>> That's crazy.

That's why I got my glasses on, my summer shades on.

>> All right, so now we're just heading to the workroom, right... >> Yeah.

>> ...to get started on all of this.

I'm going to start draping now.

Draping is a three-dimensional form of making patterns.

>> You get a much more personalized fit, and it's great, because that's really when you can start playing with shapes and just the structure of a garment, really.

>> It's just a matter of keep going until I get to the point where we're actually cutting fabric.

>> That was super fast.

>> ( laughing ) That was pretty fast.

>> I think it looks great-- it's really good.

>> I really like the idea of just revealing this side.

>> On just one side?

>> Then they bodice that's underneath it is going to show some crystals.

>> Kind of a sort of like, flower power, pedal-opening effect.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> And then maybe we could...

I'd like it if we could do something like that.

Honestly, mechanically, with strings and pulleys and motors, it's easy to do.

I think...

I think it's okay.

>> I'm a little worried.

I'm trying to locate his vision in terms of how the garment is going to be executed.

What I'm confused about is exactly how the technology would be fit into the garment itself and make it wearable.

>> So you can see I've been going a little crazy with some folding techniques.

This will be the skirt, and it's basically going to lift up like this, and then when you want the long dress, you basically release it and it'll become a gown, and hopefully, it'll actually go down to the ground.

So we're going to try it out on the same type of fabric.

>> Right.

>> It's just a different color.

I think I'm going to tape them all together so it's one, big sheet.

>> Yeah.

>> Spray adhesive on here, and then we're going to lay it flat and then bunch it up and then iron it.

>> So we managed to compact that whole, entire, almost... almost three yards of fabric into this, which is not even like, a foot.

>> Not even.

>> Which is pretty great, like... >> So we're going to save the ironing for tomorrow... >> Yes.

>> ...because that could take a while.

>> It's... yeah, it's getting pretty late.

>> I decided to stay at home.

It's more relaxing.

Good night.

>> I'll see you tomorrow, Juan.

>> All right, bye.

>> Awesome, good night.

That's kind of an ugly prototype in process.

Yeah, I'm pretty...

I'm pretty anxious about the mechanical stuff on this thing, because I'm...

I'm definitely kind of going out on a limb here.

It's tough, right?

So that's like, if you look at it, these pieces lay on here, and then underneath them, there's going to be all these crystals.

So we want them to roll back, and the trick then, is to make it go back to flat.

Not easy.

I think Juan is nervous, and I can understand why he would be a little nervous, just thinking, like, "Man, I hope this guy has got his stuff together with the engineering."

So I'm...

I'm really anxious to kind of put a couple pieces together here and make a couple things connect, so I can show to Juan, "Hey, look, look; I'm not totally making this up; I'm not pulling your leg; we can actually do this stuff."

I glued some extra fabric on here to stiffen that up a little bit, and then some wire.

So what I can do now is at least look at what I want this to look like.

That's sort of what we're looking for.

I mean, I guess one option could be that we just have it sculpted open, and the sculpt would kind of lower the way we want.

I don't know.

I think it's just about time to go to bed.

>> We're so excited that I'm actually staying over.

We're having a slumber party.

>> Slumber party!

Girls slumber party!

>> No boys allowed... >> Yes.

>> ...for our slumber party.

>> Yay!

>> And now we can go to sleep.

>> Good night.

>> Good night.

Hey, Eduarda.

We should get up.

It kind of looks like something blew up here.

It's chaotic in here.

We... ( laughing ) >> ( laughing ) >> Okay, that fabric is really slippery.

Christian is coming in tomorrow to see what we're working on, so I'm pinning the pattern pieces for the bodice.

That's with the liquid vinyl PVC.

I'm going to cut them out, and then just sew it together so we have a prototype for Christian tomorrow.

>> So I'm basically ironing each one of these creases, and when we heat it, it's actually going to take this material, which is polyester, and melt it.

When it melts it, it will actually put a permanent crease.

It would really be devastating if it didn't work, because this is... right now, we're kind of banking on it.

I mean, I think it worse comes to worse, we'd just iron it again, which is not what I want to be doing.

Are you serious?

>> Yeah.

>> Shoot, let's send it off!

( laughing ) >> Good morning, Adam.

>> Juan, good morning.

So let me tell you what I'm thinking.

So this is just a prototype.

>> That's pretty good.

I like this a lot.

>> I think it's going to be trickier than I thought to make these things fold back.

>> Oh.

>> That's actually tough to do, so... >> It will have the lights, right?

>> It's going to light up, we can definitely do that.

We can play a lot with that so it can still kind of be dynamic.

>> Mm-hmm.

I like that you looped it like that, that's perfect because that looks good.

>> So that's... okay, good, that's... ( laughing ) that's exactly what I wanted to hear-- that you liked the look of that I think Juan is nervous.

We're making a pretty technical dress, and he's never done anything like this before.

>> I feel pressure, definitely, to execute it correct and definitely satisfy the challenge that he's given us.

>> So what I'm going to do is work on figuring out how to make the dress come up.

Okay.

>> So I'll get started on the bodice.

>> Drum roll, please.

( imitating drum roll ) >> ( laughing ) So wow, this is awesome.

It's kind of suspenseful.

>> It should be okay, yeah.

>> Oh, wow!

>> I feel like when it's on this side... >> Wow, look at that!

( laughing ) It works!

>> I'm so excited.

>> Okay, that was worth all the ironing.

>> I'm nervous as to what Christian will say about what we've done so far.

As of right now, we don't really have anything in terms of our design concept sewn up, and I feel that if we don't show him any of that, we can't really prove to him that we actually have the skill to make a garment.

So I'm really going to get as far as I can.

>> I'm really nervous of Christian.

He seems very opinionated, and so I guess having him look at our design for the first time and really look at the form and everything, I...

I don't know what to expect.

Like, what is he going to say?

>> Oh, that's really, really pretty.

>> Thank you.

I think for Christian, I mean, this is a really good prototype.

>> Hey, Juan, this is my like, my dress prototype.

So the trick now is how are we going to make this dress lift up?

I have to do this with tiny, little wires that are going to run through hoses so they can like, route through the fabric and pull smoothly.

And then we're going to hook it up to a motor, so we're going to have a couple of them in there, and they're going to be pulling on these cables.

And the effect is that the dress is just going to come up.

>> Do you think that's enough to show Christian tomorrow?

Because if we show him this, then he's going to think that, "Oh, so the designer we chose doesn't know how to sew."

>> No, no, no, we should show him this and be like, "Adam made this."

>> Yeah, but then these going to say, "So what have you been working on lately," you know?

>> No, but you... yeah, you have great stuff to show him.

I think your stuff is awesome.

>> Well, hopefully.

Hopefully, he'll be understanding like you said.

>> Yeah, I think so.

>> All right, so I'm out of here.

>> All right, man.

>> Good night.

>> I'll see you tomorrow, Juan.

I really want this dress to rise up.

I don't think the motors are going to be able to pull hard enough to lift that up.

It's taking a lot of force.

( sighing ) Juan is not going to like that.

It's got me a little concerned.

>> So we've come up with a really fun prank.

>> Hi, Adam!

( giggling ) >> I thought I heard something.

>> Hello?

>> Hey, good morning.

>> Apparently, we smell.

>> What?

>> I found this on our doorknob, and I don't think that's very nice.

>> This is not cool.

>> Yeah, I think... >> This cannot... cannot continue.

>> We should definitely do something, yeah.

>> All right.

We're going to... we're going to take care of this real quick.

>> This will do.

>> Boys... boys what?

Boom!

How do you like it now, Judy?

Who needs fancy embroidering?

We got... we got markers.

>> This is amazing.

I really like it.

>> Well, it's amazingly bad.

>> I can't wait to cut it out in real fabric and get it sewn properly.

>> I can't wait... yeah.

That's what I was going to say.

So the one... so the thing, though, that I'm scared of is that I think the motor should be strong enough to pull it up, but eh, I don't know.

I'm...

I'm nervous about it.

Then the other thing I'm doing is I'm making a little prototype of the lights... >> Yeah.

>> ...so I sewed a couple of LEDs into here.

What do you think?

>> That's pretty awesome.

>> I'm pretty nervous.

This is kind of nerve-wracking.

>> There's probably traffic.

>> Ah!

Juan, makes some noise.

>> Boys rule.

What's happening?

>> ( laughing ) Hey, Christian.

>> Hey, guys.

>> How are you?

>> Look at your little home!

>> Yeah, this is our little... >> I love it.

>> What do you... what do you think?

>> Look at your little board.

Amazing.

>> So we... we tried bending most of the rules in terms of like, how we would construct this garment.

>> Yeah, what is all this?

>> Yeah, and we were definitely inspired by more than one look in your collection, not just necessarily one.

>> Yeah.

>> And if you'll come this way, I could show you... >> Yeah, we've got something to show you.

>> ...almost like a mock-up of what we're working on.

>> Everything from the waist down, by the way, I sewed and it's horrible looking, so just don't... don't look closely.

>> I love it.

>> You want to see how it works?

>> Yeah, I want to see.

>> Yeah?

So this lifts up.

>> Oh, that's amazing.

>> So it can go from a ball gown to a cocktail dress.

>> So like, a cocktail?

>> Yeah.

>> Fabulous.

So will this be cut away, kind of like it is now?

>> Yeah, it's almost like the bodice underneath is is full of diamonds.

>> Right.

>> And we're putting some lighting and stuff in here.

Do you want to see?

We have a prototype of it.

>> Yeah.

>> Want to check it out?

>> That's gorgeous.

Oh, and then it changes?

So will how will that be?

Will she control this, or will it be kind of an instantaneous process of the lighting effect?

>> That's a good question.

>> I mean, I would say she'd want to control it, because what if she's not in the mood for blue?

She might want fuchsia.

Or she doesn't want fuchsia, she wants white.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah, we need interaction with it.

>> I'm excited to see!

I think it's going to be really, really great.

I have one special surprise.

We're going to do a fun, little collaboration with Teen Vogue.

It's going to be amazing... >> Oh, wow, that's pretty hot.

>> ...for both of you.

And it's going to be on teenvogue.com; it's going to be amazing.

>> Are you making that up?

>> So... no!

That's going to be really fabulous.

>> That's pretty amazing.

>> It's going to be a photo shoot, do a little feature story.

You guys are going to have a model.

>> Hello.

>> Hey!

>> She's going to come, give you a fitting, you're going to have time to see what it'll be like on her.

>> Very nice.

>> So I'll leave you to it.

>> All right.

>> Cool.

>> Thanks, Christian.

>> Good luck, guys.

>> Say hi to the ladies for us.

>> I will.

I'm excited!

Oh!

What's happening?

What are all these little things?

>> We wanted to something really structured, and so the origami kind of worked out perfectly.

>> Yeah, it's amazing.

I'm just going to wear this... >> ( laughing ) >> ...as like a little bustier.

And it's very precise.

I mean, whoa!

That's a lot of work.

>> Exactly.

>> And this is just a prototype, so that's why we have it in blue.

Those are the actual swatches.

>> Okay.

Oh, so so it's going to be more this silver... >> Yeah.

>> Okay.

>> And the trick of the dress is that it'll start off short, actually, like that... >> Oh, amazing.

>> ...and then from here, we're going to collapse... we're going to open that, and it'll fall, and then this will be there.

>> That's quite cool.

I love it.

Also, we have a special prize.

So teenvogue.com has decided to feature both of your designs, both of your collaboration.

It's going to be amazing.

>> That's going to be so awesome.

>> You'll have your model, you're going to have you fitting, of course.

How fabulous!

So good luck.

>> Thank you so much.

>> Get cracking.

Bye, girls.

>> Bye.

>> We're going to test out... >> Right now?

>> ...whether or not this little motor is strong enough to lift up the dress.

So I...

I'm pretty worried, actually, because it... it's when I pull it, like when I just pull on it like that, you can see if lift up, but it takes kind of a lot of force, so I'm a little anxious that it's going to work.

>> Ah!

We're heading to this company that actually does pleating services, and the reason we're in a rush is the guy who I've been talking to, he's got a short day today.

And the reason we're going there, because they have a steam oven so that we can get a really nice, sharp crease.

We really need to have a pressurized steam oven to keep the folds.

If we don't get this today, we're done.

We won't really be able to get our dress finished in time.

>> Should I go for it?

>> Yeah, go for it.

>> This keeps slipping.

Oh, am I ruining it?

>> This is just... this is like a disaster.

I need a machine shop to do this like, properly, but I'm going to have to see how I can get clever since I don't have a machine shop.

>> What about when we show Christian, because don't you fear that it'll tangle?

>> Yes, I do.

>> It just didn't work.

We didn't get here on time.

So I...

I mean, it's our fault we were late, but suddenly, like, he was not willing to help out, so we're kind of in a bind.

>> Right before Teen Vogue, and we have to... might have to change our concept, so that's not good.

>> Major funding for Design Squad Nation is provided by: >> The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.

Series funding is provided in part by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

>> Northrop Grumman Foundation, supporting innovative education experiences for students and educators.

>> And the Lemelson Foundation.

The Foundation sparks, sustains, and celebrates innovation and the inventive spirit in the U.S. and developing countries.

Additional funding is provided by: United Engineering Foundation.

>> Motorola Foundation.

>> And IEEE.

>> Hey, Adam, check this out.

It's the Design Squad Nation Web site.

You can play games on it.

>> Whoa, sweet!

Hey, look at this.

You can watch videos from the show and you can sketch your own neat designs.

>> And there's a ton of amazing designs on here from kids at home.

Here's a suit that has special pockets for your lunch food.

>> This belt has an aquarium built in.

>> And this dress changes color based on your mood.

>> So join the Design Squad Nation at pbskidsgo.org.