It started with an email. Chicago designer Anke Loh had been following the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration’s research over the years. She had a trip planned to Berlin over the winter break and asked if she could visit the institute’s lab.

It was there she found the material she was looking for—stretchable circuit polyurethane. Anke Loh took the material, developed by Fraunhofer IZM, and the two collaborated to create stretchable LED jewelry.