Introduction
Overview of Essay and Concept
Fashion technology is a hot subject in the fashion industry. It invokes images of
wires and lights strung through fabrics, computer watches, futuristic silhouettes, and
superhuman power suits. Although technology is continuously increasing in its level of
sophistication, its ability to translate successfully into fashionable clothing is not an easy
task. The challenges of wearable technology stem from its two inherently different
components. Fashion designers begin the design of a collection with an inspiration or
mood and pull imagery, text, observation, and culture into different elements that make
up the framework of a collection. Design composition is always considered from the
start. By contrast, technology engineers focus on functionality. As a result of this
dichotomy, wearable tech design often yields garments or accessories that will be either
artistically crafted or technically useful, but not both.
Based on the problem as outlined, the solution to crafting a successful collection
of tech wearables would be to conscientiously merge the two design approaches. Having
an undergraduate background in the sciences, I am considerate of having a procedural,
scientific approach to incorporating technological components into fashion design.
However, pursuing my MFA in Fashion Design has expanded my mind around the
artistic design process. As a result, I aim to design a fashion collection that solves the
challenge by applying a methodical approach to incorporate technological components
and a conceptual design approach to maintain my fashion aesthetic of luxury sportswear.
This paper outlines my research in the field of wearable technology and results in
a production plan to develop a collection. It begins with my background as a designer
and how I have developed an interest in the subject of technology in design. Secondly, it
provides supportive research in the form of a literature review to show the academic
research I have done, an interview with a graduate student researching technology in
fashion to learn more about how to approach designing clothing integrated with
technology, and a survey to determine potential customers’ interests and concerns. The
last part of the paper outlines my plans for implementing the project. It includes a
deliverables section that contains my initial design sketches and a timeline of the 3D
design development. It may be a challenging and innovative project that could result in
new concepts for the fashion industry.
Statement of Interest
As an industry where there is pressure to be fresh and new, but seemingly
everything has been done already, technology is a means to innovate fashion. However,
my interest in the subject stems from my personal experience. I received a Bachelors of
Science in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. At the time, I was very
analytical, and I saw myself going to medical school for physical therapy to compliment
my lifelong interest in dance. As an advocate for strong technique as the foundation of
good artistic work, I felt scientific knowledge of the human body would benefit in
making my dancing stronger.
Breaking my back in the last months of my degree catalyzed my decision to
become a fashion designer. Up to that point, I had utilized dance as my creative outlet.
When I broke my back, I was unable to walk for some time, and I found that I needed
creativity to cope with the subsequent difficulties. For obvious reasons, dance was not an
ideal creative medium for me anymore. I shifted my focus away from dance and science
altogether and found fashion design to be what I was meant to do.
Even as a MFA Fashion Design student, what I learned in my undergraduate
degree has never left me. Molecular science translates closely to wearable tech in that
much of the hardware and science behind smart fabrics is based on nanotechnology and
biology, both subjects I understand from my undergraduate studies. As I learn more about
the design process, I see what was lacking from my own former scientific perspective and
how much that expanded. Culturally, that is the case as well – technology companies may
benefit in being considerate of design in order to produce an appealing product.
Therefore, my combined artistic and logical mindset makes me a qualified candidate to
embark on this type of project.
As I have mentioned, the collection would only be successful if a quality standard
of design development was implemented, so I would want the collection to be relevant to
my distinct style. My dance background is always in the forefront of my designs in terms
of movability and flexibility of the garments. Therefore, my current aesthetic is largely
influenced by sports, but my love for embellishment gives my designs a unique
combination that I term luxury sportswear. I admire the resilience of others in their work,
especially athletes, dancers, artists, or survivors of rough circumstances. I would want my
collection to reflect the qualities of sporty and luxurious while catering to a customer who
is tough and forward thinking.
Background
Overview of Section
When merging fashion and technology, one must be aware of all aspects involved
in order to produce a garment that is both attractive, functional, and balanced between the
engineering of the garment and its overall design. As an individual with a background in
both science and fashion design, I plan to implement this dual design process to create a
collection of wearable technology. Theoretically, a collection of dazzling tech wearables
sounds groundbreaking and trendy. However, in order to produce the proposed collection,
I needed to conduct extensive research.
This section outlines all aspects of my research in the order in which it was
executed. It will outline specific possibilities and ways of thinking that offer support to
the goals of the collection. The section begins with my problems regarding the topic and
my purpose or solution to these problems. To better understand these problems, I provide
a support section that starts with a literature review covering academic research on
advances made in sustainability, technology textiles, integration of sensors into garments,
and gadget-like accessories. Second, I interviewed a PhD candidate in technology textiles
who is undertaking several interesting projects to contribute to technology clothing.
Lastly, I conducted a survey to connect with my potential customers to determine their
interests in wearable tech. The goal of the section is to provide support and direction for
the 3-D design segment of my project.
Problem and Purpose
Though high profile and glamorous, the fashion industry hosts significant
problems that will need to be considered especially when incorporating technology into
the design. At the forefront of the issue is sustainability. As observed through working in
the retail industry, the fashion industry is driven by production and consumerism where
many of the most successful retailers thrive on quantity of sales and continuously
developing new products. It is unclear if technology would help improve sustainability or
exacerbate the problem. It could improve the longevity of clothing, but it could also
contribute to the high volume of waste that the fashion industry already produces. As an
up-and-coming fashion designer, I recognize the responsibility I have in considering the
sustainability of my designs.
A less catastrophic problem, but still applicable, is the lack of balance between a
technologically functional product and a garment that is aesthetically pleasing. For
example, a smart watch or interactive textile may have the ability to streamline one’s life,
but if it is awkward to wear or looks too futuristic, then no one would want to wear it.
One reason for this problem is the difference in approach taken by a fashion designer and
an engineer, technician, or programmer. A fashion designer’s approach is generally more
conceptual and based off collecting inspirational imagery or text, sketching out ideas, and
3-D experimenting. On the other hand, technical researchers have better knowledge of
how technology functions and plan around that. It may work, but they do not have the eye
a designer has when it comes to silhouettes and prints.
My goal for the project is to approach this problem from the perspective of a
designer, but incorporate a procedural-based approach to better include different aspects
of technology. The result will be a collection that features functional and artistic wearable
technology. Elaborating on my plan, I aim to begin the design process with sustainability
in mind in terms of production to some extent, but primarily through the longevity and
value of the product to the consumer. Essentially, the customer would be more inclined to
take better care of and pay attention to a wearable tech garment because it is a specialized
garment and less likely to through it in a landfill at the end of the season but instead keep
it as a investment piece. Secondly, in the development process I will analyze from all
perspectives different aspects of wearable technology from smart textiles that offer
protection to the wearer, sensors that respond to emotion or body temperature to create
artistic color changes, smart gadgets that are more convenient than cell phones, and
robotics. Through my support, I will determine the extent of wearable tech that I want to
explore and narrow it down based on design aesthetic and the interest of the consumers as
tallied in my survey.
Lastly, I will incorporate my aesthetic as a designer to create a collection that
caters to my customer. In conjunction with my aesthetic, my customer is modern and
luxurious. She has an eye for classic detail and quality, but her fast-paced lifestyle
requires mobility and subtle trendiness in her style. The collection will reflect who I am
as a designer in that I simultaneously strive for opulence and functionality. In other
words, it will combine luxury with wearable tech to aim for a forward-thinking,
innovative product.
Literature review
What quantifies an item of clothing as higher quality are the details of the fit,
quality of fabrics, style of stitching, and tailoring. These qualities are important to me as a
designer because I value craftsmanship. However, developing wearable tech is
challenging in that it provides additional factors that need to be considered in terms of
how to incorporate a gadget seamlessly without added bulk, loss of integrity of the
garment, or lack of functionality. In order to determine what has potential in the world of
wearable technology, I conducted research around the subject of wearable tech to further
understand what others were finding successful or promising. I focused my research
around two considerations: the types of technology being created today that are
successful and appealing, and the mindset around wearable tech in terms of concerns,
design approach, and future goals. I found that much of my research encompassed both
topics simultaneously, so I combined the presentation of my research as one section.
Re-visioning the Interface: Technological Fashion as Critical Media by Susan
Elizabeth Ryan included various viewpoints regarding technology fashion. She said there
were two perspectives: the positivist, who embraces the benefits of technology, and the
critical, who feared control and ethics of integrating technology. Positivists revolve
around the concept of anti-fashion, the idea that there is one appropriate way to dress
based on functionality. This perspective describes the ideal of technology fashion as
having “responsive and computationally controllable fabrics, including shape-changing
polymers, e-textiles, and nano-scale electronics that would resolve awkward, clumsy, and
prohibitive problems of hardware vs. body” (Elizabeth 308). An example of the positivist
perspective was the Philips Skin project, in which they created dresses that “show
emotive technology and how the body and the near environment can use pattern and color
change to interact and predict the emotional state.” [...] Continuing, she describes, “in this
view, a modernist and techno-futurist one, the realm of human emotions is equally
measurable and manipulable, even predictable, and can be configured for an expanding
array of communication products” (Elizabeth 309).
The second viewpoint she describes, the critical, brought about questions of the
creativity of smart fabrics. Elizabeth compared wearable tech to other historical events
where technology evolved to change how things were done. Elizabeth’s main point in
outlining this perspective was that many implications can come from incorporating
technology, the most feared being social control, and with that we must be considerate of
the balance between positive and negative aspects of creativity.
Continuing with the inclusion of technology directly into items of clothing, Tech
Wearables, by Abernathy and Donna Allerton describes the future of computer
wearables. It says that incorporating "computing into clothing opens a new ear in how we
interact with each other” (Abernathy and Allerton 32). Different possibilities are
highlighted including cell phones, fabrics that deliver vitamin supplements through the
skin, and clothing to regulate body temperature. The authors predict a day where
everyone will have a wearable computer. This article shows a fusion between the search
for a functional product that appeals to a social need and the fashion designer’s creative
design process to create a stylish and relevant item of clothing.
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