Using Pauline van Dongen's 'Wearable Solar' project as a case study, the authors argue that materiality and embodiment should be taken into account both in the design of and the theoretical reflection on wearable technology. Bringing together a fashion designer and scholars from cultural studies, this interdisciplinary research aims at advancing the design and academic study of wearable technology. The interdisciplinary framework involves a mixed-method approach: a combination of research through design; interviews with wearers during fittings; and theoretical reflection. A theoretical and methodological focus on materiality allows for a sustained analysis of embodiment and embodied experience, while it also enables attention to the materiality of the textile and the technology involved. This 'embodied approach' is situated in 'new materialism' and more specifically in a reappraisal of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. Through the exploration of 'embodied design', the lived experience of the wearer is incorporated into design practice, research methods and theoretical analysis. The relevance of wearable technology for potential future users can only be advanced when new meanings and values are created through interaction with the design. Working through a phenomenologically driven research through design, solar technology is better integrated into fashion so as to make 'solar fashion' more wearable in the near future.
Fashion technology designs typically combine sensing technology and actuators to register and respond to information about the environment and/or the human body. The ways in which designers use and integrate these data into garments, however, varies on a scale from highly theatrical and outward-oriented designs to subtle and inward-oriented applications. This pictorial presents five garment designs created between 2013 and 2020, that occupy the more utilitarian and inwardoriented end of the fashion technology spectrum (Fig 1). We visualize and analyze how these five designs combine sensing and actuation, highlighting the benefits of direct biofeedback and of keeping the personal data within the garment. The pictorial aims to show that striking the right balance between sensing and actuation is pivotal to realizing the physical, functional, social and ethical wearability of fashion technology design.
Pauline van Dongen (1986, Amsterdam) is a fashion designer specialised in wearable technology. Through her design studio (founded in 2010) she focuses on developing alternatives for fashion by exploring how technology (i.e. electronics and digital materials) can add new value and meaning to clothing and can enhance the way we experience the world around us. Her studio received international recognition with projects such as the Solar Shirt, Phototrope and Issho. Pauline also received several nominations for her work: she was selected by Forbes for their list of 'Top 50 Women in Tech Europe' (2018) and as 'MIT Innovator under 35 Europe' (2017).Pauline is currently in the final stage of her PhD research that is part of the broader NWO-funded project 'Crafting Wearables' (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018). For her dissertation, she combines design research with the philosophy of postphenomenology to reframe the understanding of technology. The aim of her research is to better inform the practice of designing wearable technologies and their role in the daily context of fashion. Lianne ToussaintDr. Lianne Toussaint is a lecturer and researcher at the department of Cultural Studies of the Radboud University Nijmegen (until summer 2019) and at the department of Media and Culture studies at Utrecht University (as of summer 2019). She currently teaches courses in the BA and MA programmes of Arts and Culture Studies, including Working through Fashion, Thinking through Fashion and The Body in the Arts and Visual Culture. Lianne's research focuses on the socio-cultural implications of the integration of fashion and technology, which resulted in a PhD dissertation with the title 'Wearing Technology: When Fashion and Technology Entwine' (2018). Her PhD was part of the broader NWO-funded project 'Crafting Wearables' (2013-2018) that explored the properties, design, and application of fashionable technologies: www.craftingwearables.com.
Fashion technology designs typically combine sensing technology and actuators to register and respond to information about the environment and/or the human body. The ways in which designers use and integrate these data into garments, however, varies on a scale from highly theatrical and outward-oriented designs to subtle and inward-oriented applications. This pictorial presents five garment designs created between 2013 and 2020, that occupy the more utilitarian and inward-oriented end of the fashion technology spectrum. We demonstrate five designs that combine sensing and actuation, highlighting the benefits of direct biofeedback and of keeping the personal data within the garment. The selection of projects aims to search the right balance between sensing and actuation.
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