Adaptive Fashion
Adaptive fashion is clothing designed to meld form and function. Beginning in the 2021/2022 academic year, our lab at Vanderbilt’s Wond’ry Center for Innovation has served people with physical disabilities to alter their clothing and make bespoke garments to help facilitate their independence. We have collaborated with engineers working with sensor imbedded wearables to measure ADHD and monitor risky behaviors of children with autism.
In fall 2021, adaptive fashion was part of the Wond’ry fall Social Venture Think Tank program. Teams of students used human centered design to discover solutions to a range of problems, including conceptualizing a device to help a person with limited mobility pull on their jeans, and a line of business clothes for people of all abilities. In spring adaptive fashion classes, we began research and development of anti-stress clothing using sensor-imbedded wearables and strategically placed compression and weight.
The positive social principles behind adaptive fashion capture the imagination of a wide range of Vanderbilt students from the humanities, science, and engineering, who want to make the world a more inclusive and equitable place.
Our goal is to continue to find solutions for individual and broader adaptive fashion design challenges.
