RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH
You need to be passionate about what you do, in order to endure it and push it to perfection. So this time I'm making it personal. What problems do I see? What can we change about fashion? Everything that is done from now on has to have a valid reason.
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Watching Sinead Burke's talk at Business of Fashion's Voices about "It's time for adaptive fashion" really inspired me to explore this new and relevant change in fashion. From the accessibility of clothes and stores, to movement possibilities, and additional expense for those with the non-normal body shape. Many people are confined to wheelchairs, have dwarfism, or even have aches and pains, bad backs, broken legs. There is a large market for people who want good quality and beautiful clothing that is accessible and adaptive.
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As stated previously:
I have grown up with my brother and twin sister. The fashion system is designed for my sister and I, as we are able bodied. It is not designed for my brother. He has cerebral palsy, meaning he does not move, walk, or talk like a "normal" person, and is confined to a wheelchair or crawling. I know it is harder for him and his friends to get dressed, even when others so it for him, and be comfortable and move easy in garments. This confines him to a limited number of outfits, mainly leisure wear such as tracksuits and hoodies which have larger holes, elastic elements, and are comfortable when seated for long periods. Whilst he loves wearing them, especially with a Newcastle United Football club logo attached, and is a happy person, he is very restricted with other areas of clothing. The formal shirts are hard to fasten, fiddly, and do not allow a lot of movement. Especially since peter crawls when he is not in his wheelchair. He does not want velcro and kaftans; that is not a solution. So let's find one.
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Design
From this initial research I have discovered some key pieces of information. Right now there is a push and passion for inclusion and fashion for all. Top design focuses include: movement, getting on and off, seated comfortably, spread of body when moving and seating, higher back waist for seating and crawling, adjustability, uncomfortable fabric bunching.
In class I was given a grey woolen blazer jacket with blue polyester lining. This gave me a lot of fabric to work with. The focus of this 3D-sketch was: how can I reconstruct with the maximum about of movement ability.
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Evalution
This initial research and focus was eye-opening and has helped me create meaning in every stitch I make. The woolen blazer given to me was very thick and uncomfortable on the skin. Therefore i tried to line everything i had done with soft found fabrics. At first I focus on the sleeves and focusing on the idea of movement. I added panels of elasticated soft fabrics that allowed for movement, and padding on the elbows for resting arms on chairs or for crawling. With one i added slits filled with elasticated fabric that would only show when bending the arm. Although the elbow point is too high for an average male. The triangular shape above also allows movement, and has a strip underneath to help. The neck hole is wide for easier access, and closes with press buttons which is easy to to, but the press studs need to be a lot larger to be accessible. The arms are also added with press studs which allow modularity and ease of access. All fabrics were scraps, found, or from the garment given to me.
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Although this was a nice introduction, there is many things to focus on next. My main feedback is that the idea is good but really needs work in realisation. I am to start with the technical and end with design. I am going to focus on the hyper functional and accessible elements, and then think of the overall silhouette. Colour and fabrics also need to be thought of more.
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ALTERING EXISTING GARMENTS TO SHOW WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE! AND EXTEND THE LIFESPAN OF UNWANTED CLOTHES!
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