Textiles as Material Gestalt: Cloth as a Catalyst in the Co-designing Process

Abstract Textiles is the common language within Emotional Fit, a collaborative research project investigating a person-centred, sustainable approach to fashion for an ageing female demographic (55+). Through the co-designing of a collection of research tools, textiles have acted as a material gestalt for exploring our research participants’ identities by tracing their embodied knowledge of fashionable dress. The methodology merges interpretative phenomenological analysis, co-design and a simultaneous approach to textile and garment design. Based on an enhanced understanding of our participants textile preferences, particular fabric qualities have catalysed silhouettes, through live draping and geometric pattern cutting to accommodate multiple body shapes and customisation. Printed textiles have also been digitally crafted in response to the contours of the garment and body and personal narratives of wear. Sensorial and tactile interactions have informed the engineering and scaling of patterns within zero-waste volumes. The article considers the functional and aesthetic role of textiles through the co-creative development of printed garment prototypes that explore the physical and emotional aspects of fashion and ageing. Within the practice-led research, emphasis is placed on the participants involvement through manipulating and animating emerging textile and dress objects. The collaborative exchange draws on fundamental connections between dress and personal identity, utilizing cloth to mediate material and individual agency. The methodology seeks to capture and enact values attributed to material engagement through body-cloth dialogue. By reflecting on the longevity of particular items of dress we investigate how textile attachment can inform emotionally durable fashion solutions.