UC’s fashion program gets an innovative makeover

Innovation is a major priority at UC. As one of the pillars of the university’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here, the push for cutting-edge concepts can be seen in classrooms, UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub, co-op opportunities and beyond. While the strategy is often associated with STEM subjects, UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning is working to incorporate innovation into fashion design with the opening of the Fashion Technology Center (FTC) and a reinvigorated curriculum centered on technology, sustainability and emergent trends.

Located across three spaces on DAAP’s sixth floor, the new center features labs dedicated to “wearable futures” and computer-aided design, textile innovation and apparel production. While use of FTC is now being implemented into the fashion design program, the technologies can benefit many students in various disciplines in DAAP and across UC. Essentially, fashion is something that connects everyone, according to Ashley Kubley, assistant professor of fashion design and head of the FTC.

“When you think about it, clothing is the most ubiquitous thing that we have,” Kubley says. “There's barely any time of the day when we aren't in direct contact with clothing. We are also always connected to technology. It seems only right that two of the things we value most should integrate seamlessly.” 

Put those two together and you’ve got the emergent field of wearable tech. Kubley’s definition of wearable technology is something portable and carried on the body that aids a person’s performance. Today that’s represented by smartwatches and activity trackers, but soon, she says, we’ll be seeing more electronics embedded in garments as opposed to just stand-alone gadgets.

“Fashion students hold the knowledge of how material works with the body, how to develop patterns and design textiles, which are nontraditional elements for things like computing,” Kubley says. “When you think of smart technology, you might think of your cellphone or Apple Watch or a device that’s not necessarily a soft textile-based product. But now that we’re seeing so much more opportunity for the integration of technology into those materials in interesting new ways, you really have to have a fashion designer on your team who understands the materiality and function of clothing.”

Technologies such as digital patternmaking and virtual fitting will inevitably change the consumer’s experience as well. 

“In my opinion,” Kubley says, “the future will be all about inclusive design and the customer having a very active role in the design and development of customized products.” 

She predicts that body-scanning technology and on-the-spot production will change the brick-and-mortar shopping experience: Customers could go into a store and get a full-body scan measuring more than 1,000 parameters of their body. A digital pattern based on those measurements can be fit on a one-of-a-kind avatar and the customer can see exactly what the garment will look like on them in real time. Once approved, the design is printed digitally, laser-cut and sewn together and delivered to the customer.

Imagine never again having to walk into a fitting room with a stack of clothes, unsure anything will actually fit. Or getting custom, one-of-a-kind clothing every time you shop that fits even better than tailored clothing. Soon, the FTC hopes to have its own 3D body scanner.

In another FTC space, the Textile Innovation Lab offers a variety of equipment that students can use to develop their own materials for the garments they're designing, including 3D printers, a digital fabric printer and automated knitting, embroidery and weaving machines.