CraftTech: hybrid frameworks for textile-based practice

Growth in wearable technology is forecasted to grow from $30bn to $160bn over the next 10 years,1 suggesting consumers’ need and demand for smart wearables will be high. Smart apparel is not new, over the past decades, various technologies had been applied onto apparel, however most have received limited acceptance. In many existing products, the technology is applied as an add-on function onto garments creating obtrusive designs which are challenging to maintain in everyday lives. As noted by Dunne,2 existing products tend to be a culmination of apparel and technology practices instead of an integration of both. In contrast to fast evolving technologies, the fundamentals of creating and constructing a garment have remained the same since the invention of the sewing machine in the 1800s.

Using the data collected from a collaborative workshop between the Institute of Textiles & Clothing (ITC), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPolyU) and The Royal College of Art (RCA), this paper reports on the development of a hybrid design framework utilising interdisciplinary approaches to smart materials, methods and techniques to bridge the gap between design technologies. With a common focus on praxis, the teams tested, challenged and extended the affordances of polymeric optical fibre through experimental iteration, failure and reiteration.