Fashion Science

Applied science and the body

At the periphery of a wider conversation about FashionTech, in both digital/web-based and hardware/wearable based technologies is the integration of multi-disciplinary sciences into product concepts.

Science Fashion is a realm that combines principles of design, specifically for the body, and incorporates one or several of many scientific disciplines including psychology, materials science, engineering, ergonomics, physiology and biology. Unique and unprecedented applications of different fields of science are being integrated into products to address specific societal needs or as commentary on our current and speculative future state.

With diverse examples from around the world, and with different motivations and intentions, these designs speak to a broader narrative reflecting global culture and how our feelings about the environments we live in (physical and psychological, private and public) impact the way we interact with the world.

Images, from top left to bottom right: Iris Van Herpen, 2017; Hussen Chalayain, 2000; Behnaz Farhani, Iridescence, 2019; Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, 1999; Annouk Wiprecht x Victoria Modesta, Smokification 2016; Behnaz Farhani, Caress of the Gaze, 2015, Hussein Chalayan anamatronics, 2000; Jasna Rokegen, Sensewear, 2019; Hussein Chalayan x Adam Wright, Animatronics, 2007

Fashion exists uniquely at this physical barrier between ourselves and these environments, and thus has become a medium for discussing and commenting on the dynamic.

Fashion technology has become a blanket term for too much of the work being created today. By distinguishing this subset of Fashion Science, the goal is to create a…