Edible Dresses Made From Chocolate at Salon du Chocolat in Switzerland

The opening of the first Salon du Chocolat in Switzerland is taking place in Zurich from March 30 through April 1.

The Salon du Chocolat took place in Paris for the first time in 1994, and has since branched out to 20 cities around the world. The Salon offers chocolate tastings and the possibility to watch chocolatiers at work: a whole education in chocolate. But there’s an extra treat: a fashion show with clothes made from chocolates.

There is no fabric whatsoever between the chocolate and model’s skin. In the way henna is applied in ornamental motifs to skin in some cultures, designers apply the chocolate swirls to the model’s legs, arms, shoulders and neck. The human body temperature being 37° Celsius, this represents quite a challenge since the melting point for chocolate is 33 ° Celsius, and white chocolate melts even faster than brown chocolate. “We had to figure out a way to raise the melting temperature,” designer Renggli says. They managed by adding pectin, a binder, among other things. “You have to make the patterns on a body much bigger than you would on a cake,” stresses Jordi, another artist participating at Salon du Chocolat.

Also see: Salon du Chocolat 2010 Paris

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