Wearable Technology, Fashion and Design: Raising awareness for animal cruelty

I initially planned to model my piece myself, however, once it was finished I was unhappy with how the garment looked on me. Luckily, my beautiful friend Nerea was volunteering to be in the show. Nerea was originally going to wear a piece of Galina’s, however, my piece was much more fitting on Nerea’s petite frame, as was Galina’s piece on me. Nerea and I switched garments less than 24 hours before the final fashion show, and I couldn’t be happier about her being the model for my piece.

Our makeup looks:

Nerea’s photoshoot: her makeup was meant to resemble a dead animal, with the bold red eyes, freckles, and pale skin.

Visual video of the garment on her body, lighting up:

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My inspiration for my project, and the overall mood I wanted to convey:

Moodboard

Tryophobia is an aversion to the sight of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps. Tryophobia inspired me to use anti-fashion to display my discomfort with animal cruelty and meat production. My piece is not beautiful or appealing to the eye, it is intended to have viewers think about the repercussions of meat production, mainly on animals and humans.

Beginning stages:

I experimented with latex and silicon to replicate pieces of meat. This was a trial and error process. It took me three times to perfect the ratio between silicon, latex, and paint. Time was also a stress; it took two weeks for each experiment to dry.

Below are the stages of completing my meat: from left to right were the three attempts to create the meat. Attempts 2 and 3 were used in the garment, both having a different texture, thickness and colour to represent diverse range of meat flesh.

Experimented with thread, different colour paints, the ratio of glue vs. silicon to achieve my desired meat.

Fabric: nude, thin mesh to replicate pale human skin

My classmate Bella and I drawing out our fabrics before cutting and sewing. Bella was a large contribution to my enjoyment of the course:

Galina giving me her opinion as to where I should sew the meat onto the garment:

Every few weeks, students would display their project in front of the class to share progress and give suggestions to one another. My classmates were more than willing to share their opinion with me and genuinely wanted to help me in any way possible. Engineering students provided me with insight where to purchase the tools and technology I needed. Design students suggested ways I could make my garment seem more surreal. And I, assisted others in any way I could, despite not being an engineering or computer science student. We all collaborated together to produce our best work.

 

I soldered LED’s for the first time. It took me 15+ hours to complete, until a kind computer science spent his evening with me, putting together my Lilipad, code, and LED’s. It was true teamwork and I could not have done it without him.

–> I never thought I would ever solder wires. I had not even heard the term prior to this course.

   

After having the LEDs successfully work with a portable battery charger, I planned where I would sew my wires, wanting to place them not only behind the meat but visibly in the garment to replicate human veins. I placed my garment inside out and began to sew.

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This was the first time I watched the LED’s light up in my garment! It was very satisfying, seeing as I was nervous it would not work and my hard work would go to waste. Needless to say, Galina always reassured me that my project would work and not to give up.

 

 

The intent of this course was to create a wearable garment that included technology. Not knowing where to start, I began brainstorming topics and feelings that are personal to me…

I first made a list:

• Family
• Friends
• Exploring
• Dance
• Anxiety
• Animals
• Meat production

I discussed my list with Galina, and she was instantly drawn to the idea of me creating a garment based around animal cruelty/meat production.

I have been a Pescetarian for 3 years, and as time goes on, I further become invested in raising awareness for the negative outcomes global meat production has on animals, humans, the environment, and the economy. There are serious impacts with meat production that not all are aware of. I have never spoken publicly about my feelings towards meat production because it is quite a bold topic, and when spoken of, there is the possibility of discourse. Despite this, I was prepared to go forward with my project and bring my idea to life.

I began with sketching my garment and experimenting with different textures.

I and 3 classmates (1 local student, and 2 other exchange students) took a day trip China town and Arab street to explore and find inspiration for our projects. This was my first time going to a garment store and purchasing fabric, scissors, needles, etc. In addition, having a local show me around contributed to my experience, it was a fun day I will cherish for a long time.

 

 

Hello, and welcome to my blog, dedicated to DR2014: Wearable Technology, Fashion, and Design.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study abroad at Nanyang Technological University, located in Singapore.

Prior to embarking on my 6-month journey, I had never visited Asia. Not knowing what to expect, I was excited, nervous, and every other emotion in between, but ultimately, I was ready to put myself out of my comfort zone and grow as both a student and young woman. And that I did.

Being a media communications major, wearable technology is not my area of expertise. I was drawn to this course for my love for fashion and my interest to learn the workings of the industry, specifically the work that goes into completing garments from start to finish. In addition to learning the basics to fashion design, I never thought I would have the opportunity to learn how to include technology into a wearable garment.

DR2014 is unlike to any courses at my home University, which also contributed to my interest to enroll. I was nervous at first, seeing as I had little to no experience in design, computer science and engineering. However, after attending my first lecture,  Professor Galina truly inspired me and motivated me throughout the course to work my hardest. Galina never once doubted my abilities, despite the course and my final project being a clear challenge for me. Her passion for fashion design and technology, along with her genuine desire for her students to succeed is truly inspiring. I will never forget Galina and am very grateful to have met her.

The design, computer science, and engineering students in DR2014 also contributed to my enjoyment of the course. They are each unique, intelligent and kind. Each is willing to help one another in any way possible, and I am thankful to have met them all as I would have never worked with these disciplines at my home University in Canada. I am now inspired to continue learning within the fields of fashion, design and technology, taking each lesson learnt inside and outside the classroom with me in my future endeavours.

Below is a photo of myself, Galina, and my model Nerea at DR2014’s fashion show:

 

 

It was truly an amazing experience and honour to participate in this course. Watching all of the students work diligently throughout the semester, and then finally seeing all of the pieces come together during the fashion show was breathtaking.