Since the outbreak of the coronavirus has widely affected people’s lives, protection has been a major concern. Protective kits or devices have become an essential item in daily life. After observing how people protect themselves during the pandemic, it shows that wearing a mask is the most common method. It not only provides physical covering but also abstractly creates intangible protection for the wearer. Such intangibility involves the assurance of increasing protectiveness, provided by wearing a mask, and the idea of an extra protective barrier for the wearer. Considering the intangibility described previously, the term “barrier” becomes the keyword that can visualize intangible protection in the fashion context. To reinterpret the idea, the design process highlights the way to create clothing as a barrier. Based on a study of clothing construction and protective garments such as armor, the barrier is translated into an extended structure on the clothing. An extra layer extended from each panel of the base garment portrays the barrier of intangible protection around the body. Silhouette designs derive from the experiment with the extension of each garment construction by integrating an extended structure into each panel of the base garment. Materials include plain stripe cotton and twill cotton, fused with fusible interfacing to reinforce the extended structure. As a result, the design features a garment with two layers, including the base garment and the extended structure that creates the protective barrier, reflecting the intangible protection.
In conclusion, the project is a visualization of the intangible protection that emerged during the pandemic. To reinterpret the idea, the design process highlights the way to create clothing as a barrier within the fashion context. The experimental approach allows new possibilities in the design process. Unlike working on visual interpretation, the process focuses on the reinterpretation of the conceptual idea into 3-dimensional experimentation, featuring an integration of the extended structure into the construction of the garment. The design features a garment with two layers, including the base garment and the extended structure that creates the protective barrier that portrays the intangible protection. As a result, it creates a new design with unusual shapes, forms, and construction.
– To explore new possibilities in fashion design through experimental approaches to creating a new design in shapes, forms, and constructions.
– To investigate the role of clothing from a different perspective.
– To advance professional expertise in design and to expand design skills.
Based on a study of clothing construction and protective garment, such as armor, the design process starts from the experiment with clothing structure. In response to the idea of “clothing as a barrier”, the experiment focuses on the extension of each garment construction panel. After various experiments, ranging from folding, enlarging to pattern dissecting, the extended structure can be achieved by the additional raised structure, inserted in between the base construction and the extended panels. As a result, the design features a garment with two layers, including the base garment and the extended structure that creates the protective barrier that portrays the intangible protection.
In this project, the extended structure requires pattern making techniques, including pattern enlarging, pattern dissection and alteration. The complicated structure also requires various sewing techniques, such as the use of fusible interfacing to reinforce the extended structure, the use of enclosed seam, traditional tailoring techniques, basting stitches, padding and hand-sewing.
Materials include plain stripe cotton and twill cotton, fused with fusible interfacing to reinforce the extended structure. Different types of fusible interfacings are used on different parts of the structure. The stiffest type is used on the raised structure inserted in between the two layers, while the medium and lightweight interfacings are used on the extended structure.
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