Textile Visonaires by Bradley Quinn

Technologized textiles and sustainable fabrics are among the most innovative designed today, and together they are driving the rest of the industry dramatically forward. Many designers are now integrating hi-tech fabrics, such as protective and impact-resistant textiles, or cellulose fabrics, with groundbreaking results. Embracing new processes such as biomimicry, they bridge the gap between art, design, technology, and sustainability more than any other material. This book showcases new work from over 35 of today’s most forward-thinking textile designers, featuring surface designs, highly-structured textures, and striking silhouettes. Each will be presented through inspirational text and striking visual spreads to include design sketches, work-in-progress photographs, and digital drawings alongside images of cutting-edge furniture, interior textiles, and fashion. This book shows how the development of fabrics today is immersed in technology, sustainability, and innovation. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in contemporary textile design.

Eunjeong Jeon’s textile designs are intended to meet a specific need. They can be made into garments capable of giving the wearer a sense of security in a threatening situation.

From her base in Western Australia, Korean designer and researcher Eunjeong Jeon engineers wearable fabrics to have sensing, adapting and reacting capabilities. Embedded with sensory technology, Jeon’s textiles move and change shape. They respond to the wearer’s actions by changing texture and reconfiguring their position on the body.

The kinaesthetic experiences that fabrics have when worn make them dynamic and interactive as they flex and bend on the body. Jeon’s research is tracking the

extent to which fabrics can also reflect the space around them, as they move in response to how the wearer engages with the environments around them. ‘My research investigates the roles that textiles play in women’s experiences of their bodies and the spaces around them,’ Jeon explains. ‘Human actions and perceptions of the spaces they move within evoke different emotions. To create my fabrics, I develop designs based on movement-based interactions that respond to emotions. By using wool as a base material within which I can incorporate technology, I design textiles that

interact with the wearer.’ Jeon calls the project ‘Trans- For-M-otion’, and in the course of her research, has developed prototypes that react to the way the body moves as it travels through transitional spaces, such as airports, roads and the underground.

‘I chose places where we encounter sudden temperature changes, noise and pollution, as well as stress and even crime,’ Jeon says. ‘My prototypes are made to respond to these spaces and they have performances capabilities that make the wearer feel more comfortable when inhabiting those spaces.’ The prototypes were developed in conjunction with a group of women who Jeon interviewed about their experiences of transitional spaces. Many of them gave accounts of feeling insecure

at times. ‘My textiles are designed to detect feelings such as fear and react by closing around the wearer to foster a greater sense of security.’ The textile contains

small cells that trap air within them. When positioned at the neck or along the shoulders of a garment, they reinforce the sense of protection the design affords.

‘The air unit structures can create a garment that works like a cushion,’ Jeon explained. ‘It helps the wearer protect their body if they are attacked.’

Embedding the garment with LED light technology enhances its function as a mask to hide, protect, reassure and distort the self when the wearer is in danger of attack. ‘The wearer can move the garment themselves to position it in a way that makes

them feel protected,’ Jeon explains. ‘Some of the women I interviewed wanted to be able to disguise themselves or hide their identity, so I designed the garment to also be pulled upwards so that the collar can conceal part of the face.’ Jeon is further experimenting with embedded sensors that monitor the wearer’s muscle tension, breathing, heart rate and body temperature to detect when they feel uncomfortable. As the garment is triggered to close around the wearer, the shape of its silhouette relates directly to the wearer’s sense of emotional and physical well-being, literally enabling them to wear their heart on their sleeve. Apart from Trans-For-M-otion’s protective function, the textile is also endowed with the means of

facilitating personal expression and whimsy. ‘The textile is an interactive tool,’ Jeon says. ‘It can be worn in a playful way. It was interesting to note that the women I interviewed used the question and answer session to describe how garment forms could foster a sense of security in an insecure situation. Yet, when I observed how they wore the textile, I could clearly see how much the women enjoyed manipulating it and interacting with it.’

Trans-For-M-otion’s unique sensory abilities enable it to simulate a wide range of

responses, making Jeon a leader in the emerging field of sensory textiles. As a new generation of fabric unfolds, the complex surfaces, sophisticated structures and reactive technologies they feature promises to transform how garments are made and

worn. In future, fashion textiles may do more than just cover the body. They may even provide the wearer with the means of interacting with the spaces.

surrounding them.