Sensory Nourishment Consciously crafting sensations within fashion practices to support diverse sensory needs

My design-driven doctoral research (DDDr) collaborates with neurodivergent individuals to examine the connection between how they feel, both physically and emotionally, and the sensations that are crafted between their moving body and the clothing they wear. The aggressive and rapid processes that dominate commercial fashion design practices fail to see the value in slowing down to give attention to these felt experiences. In addition, the traditional visual methods and language used in fashion research lacks attention to the felt experiences of the practices of wearing. DDDr allows time and space to slow down to question and reflect on such felt experiences. I do so by borrowing from sensory ethnographic methods, which in itself is not original, however the insights gathered through such exercises are rarely assimilated back into the design process by designers. It is this link, that design-driven research facilitates, that I believe creates real meaning.

Real life is dynamic with continuous transitions between movements and emotional states. In many corners of academia, I have found a desire to reduce this complexity to one specific problem. DDr allows me to embrace a holistic approach that often poses more questions than it answers. These lines of inquiry will extend beyond my DDDr. It has already transformed my own fashion design practice. My ambition is to take the knowledge that I have gained, by slowing down, back into the fashion industry to forge a loop between DDr and industrial practices. This can contribute real value to the lives of my participants.