Another Side of Fashion | The Fashion for Smart Materials

Thursday 18 and Friday 19 September 2008

This is the second in a series of networking events, entitled Another Side of Fashion, a collaboration between Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and London College of Fashion, to explore the wider influence of fashion, and the potential synergies between fashion, materials science and digital technology. It is to be hosted by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the University of the Arts (UAL), the Creative Industries Technology Innovation Network (CITIN), SMART.mat and The Materials and Design Exchange (MADE) of the Materials KTN, and the Smart Materials and Systems Committee (SMASC) of the Institute of Materials (IOM3). (The first in this series, The Fashion Context, was held in December 2007 )

The overall aim of these networking events is to raise the profile and awareness of the value that fashion and design can bring to the development and commercialisation of new products and materials amongst the science and technology communities (HEIs and industry).

Fashion has a significant role to play in developing new markets and products that are fast emerging or on the horizon. Fashion is constantly on a quest for novelty in terms of aesthetics, technology, materials and garment construction, as well as extra benefits to the consumer to innovate products and address current issues.

A key concept is fashion as a vehicle to deliver greater functionality, satisfaction and delight to wearers across a spectrum of clothing areas. These include wearable technology for consumer electronics and mobile communications, sports; emotional wellbeing and health. All of these new product spaces share a common attribute in that they require cross-sectoral collaboration. Applications include consumer fashion and accessories; smart fashion combined with consumer electronics such as mobile comms and games, as well as web-based comms:

Aesthetics | There is a neuropsychological link between novel and new things and feelings of satisfaction. Fashion trends do create waste, but smart textiles and materials could facilitate a more sustainable future where garments can be updated and changed from internet sources. This would herald the creation of a new economic model.

Sensory mobile comms and gaming | Communication could extend to clothing through the exchange of sensory messages that complement visual and textual messaging capabilities. Social presence and sharing experiences, and location-based experiences facilitated by wearable technology could be linked to a whole host of activities such as digital gaming, clubbing and music, cinema and e-books, travel, tourism, sports.

Emotional health | All of the above have significance for emotional wellbeing, as they help us to express ourselves, create identities and form social groups. Mobile and web applications facilitate self-actualisation as they involve content creation and authorship, and ‘citizen journalism’, which is a key trend in digital technology platforms. Additionally, dynamically changeable clothing could help promote self-esteem, emotional functioning and a healthy body image, e.g., through the use of optical illusions to enhance body shape.

The aim of this workshop is to inform the research agenda for smart materials by providing insights into the potential social, economic and commercial drivers for incorporating smart materials into fashion.

Networking Event 2 | The Fashion for Smart Materials

Part1: Outreach to the public: Clever Dressing

The public debate will be hosted as part of the Dana Centre’s programme of innovative debates about contemporary science, technology and culture. Presentations will be given by experts in the fields from fashion, smart materials and digital communications. Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC Technology correspondent, will facilitate the evening. Speakers include Arrow Science Consulting, National Physical Laboratory, Nokia, Kodak, Couture Clubbing. The public debate will also feature a short catwalk show featuring fashion garments by Couture Clubbing.

Venue: d.Café, Dana Centre, Science Museum London, 165 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London, SW7 5HDUK

Date and time: Thursday 18 September 2008, 7.00pm-8.30pm

Products and Materials Bazaar: The Bazaar will comprise themed boards/tables consisting of materials, demonstrators, concepts, posters, videos, as well as fashion storyboards (comprising visualisations of smart materials applied to fashion). The themes will include: light-emitting (LEDs, EL, LE polymers, chromics), piezo, piezo polymer, SMA, sensors.

The aim is to inspire the audience so that they can inspire us; by giving them ideas of a future where smart materials is built into their clothing, we’d like to obtain insight from them about their visions, preferences, and desires. This insight and feedback will inform the brainstorm, which will be held on the following day.

Venue: d.lounge, Dana Centre, Science Museum London, 165 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London, SW7 5HDUK

Date and time: Open 1pm to 8.30pm Thursday 18th, & 10am to 5pm Friday 19th September 2008

Part2: Workshop for Specialists

The aim of this workshop is to inform the research agenda for smart materials by producing a set or research priorities and a roadmap for the area of smart materials and digital technologies in fashion. Presentations will be given by experts in the fields from fashion, smart materials, mobile comms and digital games. These will be followed by a brainstorm discussion amongst experts. Prof. Tom Inns, Chair of Design, University of Dundee will facilitate.

Materials

Market forecasts for smart materials: Ankit Shukla, Frost and Sullivan
Smart materials overview: Dr Raymond Oliver, Arrow Science Consulting
Piezo materials: Dr Markys Cain, National Physical Laboratory
Light-emitting materials: Jonathan Halls, Cambridge Display Technology
Shape-change materials: Dr Tony Anson, Brunel University

Fashion applications

Fashion and aesthetics: Kseniya Zagorodnyuk and Amy Winters, Couture Clubbing
Fashion and digital comms: Tapani Ryhanen, Nokia

Venue: d.studio, Dana Centre, Science Museum London, 165 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London, SW7 5HDUK

Date and time: Friday 19 September 2008, 9.30am to 4.30pm

The event will form part of The London Design Festival, and London Fashion Week

The event aims

_To raise the profile of fashion, and awareness of the value that fashion and design can bring to the development and commercialisation of new products and materials amongst the science and technology communities (HEIs and industry)

_To engage the general public in discussion around their vision for smart materials applied to fashion, and to use that insight in the development of research ideas

_To produce a roadmap for the sector, and a white paper

_To produce a proposal of research priorities for smart materials, and deliver it to TSB, EPSRC, AHRC and RCUK

If you would like to participate in the public debate on Thursday 18 September, please book tickets via the Dana Centre website. Admission is free and tickets are available NOW

If you would like to attend the workshop for specialists on Friday 19 September, please register your interest by emailing Odette Valentine: odette.valentine [at] npl.co.uk

If you would like to showcase your technology, materials, products or concepts in the Bazaar, or submit a poster, please email Sharon Baurley: s.baurley [at] csm.arts.ac.uk

For directions to the Dana Centre

Nearest underground station is Gloucester Road, on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines

Workshop organisers

Markys Cain, NPL/SMASC, and Odette Valentine, NPL
Sharon Baurley, CSM-UAL/SMASC, and Sandy Black, LCF-UAL
Jeremy Davenport, UAL/CITIN
Stuart Preston, IOM3/MADE, Materials KTN

Download The Fashion for Smart Materials flyer
Download The Fashion for Smart Materials call for posters and exhibits