Nature as paradigm for sustainability in the textile and apparel industry

Imagine if clothing of the future would adapt, grow, self repair and change appearance. The relationship between wearer and garment would be that of symbiosis enabled by developments in material science that produce textiles able to imitate functionalities of living organisms rather than just the properties of natural fibres. We can expect clothing of the future to host an array of new properties that may interact or integrate with the body, self maintain, reproduce and self assemble to accommodate changes in our activity and environment. Materials and structures in nature already demonstrate these functions and can indicate ways of transferring the technology into clothing. Biomimetics can operate as a platform to accommodate these future requirements and provide a new perspective in the design and assembly of clothing systems

D-STEM: a Design led approach to STEM innovation

Advances in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines offer opportunities for designers to propose and make products with advanced, enhanced and engineered properties and functionalities. In turn, these advanced characteristics are becoming increasingly necessary as resources become ever more strained through 21st century demands, such as ageing populations, connected communities, depleting raw materials, waste management and energy supply. We need to make things that are smarter, make our lives easier, better and simpler. The products of tomorrow need to do more with less. The issue is how to maximize the potential for exploiting opportunities offered by STEM developments and how best to enable designers to strengthen their position within the innovation ecosystem. As a society, we need designers able to navigate emerging developments from the STEM community to a level that enables understanding and knowledge of the new material properties, the skill set to facilitate absorption into the design ‘toolbox’ and the agility to identify, manage and contextualise innovation opportunities emerging from STEM developments. This paper proposes the blueprint for a new design led approach to STEM innovation that begins to redefine studio culture for the 21st Century

Active Fibre

An active fibre comprising material activated by an external stimulus, wherein the fibre has a first configuration in an unactivated state, and in response to activation by the external stimulus the fibre adopts a second, increased twist, configuration, relative to the first configuration, and wherein the fibre can reversibly move between the active state and the unactivated state

D‐STEM: a Design led approach to STEM innovation

Abstract: Advances in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines offer opportunities for designers to propose and make products with advanced, enhanced and engineered properties and functionalities. In turn, these advanced characteristics are becoming increasingly necessary as resources become ever more strained through 21st century demands, such as ageing populations, connected communities, depleting raw materials, waste management and energy supply. We need to make things that are smarter, make our lives easier, better and simpler. The products of tomorrow need to do more with less. The issue is how to maximize the potential for exploiting opportunities offered by STEM developments and how best to enable designers to strengthen their position within the innovation ecosystem. As a society, we need designers able to navigate emerging developments from the STEM community to a level that enables understanding and knowledge of the new material properties, the skill set to facilitate absorption into the design ‘toolbox’ and the agility to identify, manage and contextualise innovation opportunities emerging from STEM developments. This paper proposes the blueprint for a new design led approach to STEM innovation that begins to redefine studio culture for the 21st Century

All things bio: A conceptual domain-based approach to mapping practice within the landscape of biologically informed disciplines

The research presented in this article tackles the problem of terminological disharmony within biologically informed disciplines (BID). Lexical semantic theories and methods are applied to corpus-based investigations to assess the scope of BID terminology. The results are analysed using statistical and qualitative methods and mapped against known academic domains. The resulting map is evaluated via the analysis and consequent positioning of biologically informed textile research. The findings suggest that the experimental framework embodies an alternative approach to mapping practice within BID landscape that overrides the need for broad, generic terms. Instead presents the work within an established network of theories and concepts with transparent interdisciplinary connections

Metropolitan Comfort: Biomimetic interpretation of hygroscopic botanical mechanisms into a smart textile for the management of physiological discomfort during urban travel.

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Biomimetic textiles: Design and development of moisture sensitive adaptive textile prototype for application in casual clothing systems

This project investigates the experience of physiological discomfort during travel through an urban environment such as London or New York in winter. The over and underground networks that lace a current metropolis, form vital passages that lead the traveller though a multitude of spaces each defined by unique temperature, humidity and activity level. It is impossible to predict possible eventualities and consequently accommodate in a selection of clothing to ensure physiological comfort. Modular clothing assemblies are currently employed for the management of physiological comfort to adjust the insulation and ventilation properties of a clothing system and rely on combinations of behavioural methods and textile properties. This method is compromised by factors such as limited availability of space and wearer’s ability to detect and respond to the onset of discomfort sensations. Current smart systems rely on temperature as a stimulus for actuation. Experimental work suggests that humidity is a more suitable trigger. Botanical mechanisms that employ hygroscopic expansion/contraction for seed and spore deployment were identified as paradigms for the development of a smart textile system. Biomimetic analysis of these natural mechanisms inspired the design of a textile prototype able to adapt its water vapour resistance in response to humidity changes in the microclimate of the clothing system. The resulting structure decreases its permeability to air by 20% gradually as relative humidity increases from 60% to 90%

From a Pinecone to Design of an Active Textile

Botanical nastic systems demonstrate non‐directional structural responses to stimuli such as pressure, light, chemicals or temperature; hygronasty refers to systems that respond specifically to moisture. Many seed dispersal mechanisms such as wheat awns, legume pods, spruce and pinecones fall within this classification. The variety of behaviours varies greatly from opening and closing to self‐digging, but the mechanism is based on differential hygroscopic swelling between two adjacent areas of tissue. We describe the application of hygronastic principles specifically within the framework of textiles via the lens of structural hierarchy. Two novel prototypes are presented. One is designed to increase its permeability to airflow in damp conditions and reduce permeability in the dry by 25–30%, a counterintuitive property compared to conventional cotton, wool and rayon textiles that decrease their permeability to airflow as their moisture content increases. The second prototype describes the design and development of a hygroscopic shape changing fibre capable of reducing its length in damp conditions by 40% when compared with dry

Creating translational knowledge: The role of visual communication design and prototyping methods in the research process

This paper explores the role visual prototyping by visual communication designers can play in the navigation and communication of textile design research. Typically, visual communication is only applied to dissemination of research activities – which happens at the end of a project. The authors argue that visual communication has more to offer when it is included as core element of the research process supported by visual prototyping. Using an illustrative case study of the Bio-Inspired Textile research project at University of the Arts London in collaboration with students from the Graduate Diploma Graphic Design course, the authors discuss how this was explored in practice and the benefits of such an approach. Here the project was conducted between textile design researchers and graphic design students who took on a student-as-researcher role. The Bio-Inspired Textiles research explores how eight different structures found in nature can be applied by textile designers. The communication designers were asked to explore these structures and communicate them through physical and digital typographical prototypes. Using an after-action review method, the paper discusses the insights of the project from both researchers and student perspectives. The authors conclude that visual communication designers can play a vital role within a research process and their methods, such as prototyping, enables the creation of new translational knowledge and its application into design practice

Creating translational knowledge: the role of visual communication design and prototyping methods in the research process

This paper explores the role visual prototyping by visual communication designers can play in the navigation and communication of textile design research. Typically, visual communication is only applied to dissemination of research activities – which happens at the end of a project. The authors argue that visual communication has more to offer when it is included as core element of the research process supported by visual prototyping. Using an illustrative case study of the Bio-Inspired Textile research project at University of the Arts London in collaboration with students from the Graduate Diploma Graphic Design course, the authors discuss how this was explored in practice and the benefits of such an approach. Here the project was conducted between textile design researchers and graphic design students who took on a student-as-researcher role. The Bio-Inspired Textiles research explores how eight different structures found in nature can be applied by textile designers. The communication designers were asked to explore these structures and communicate them through physical and digital typographical prototypes. Using an after-action review method, the paper discusses the insights of the project from both researchers and student perspectives. The authors conclude that visual communication designers can play a vital role within a research process and their methods, such as prototyping, enables the creation of new translational knowledge and its application into design practice