SELF PORTRAIT DENIM JACKET
Self Portrait is a denim jacket that was designed to be a living piece of clothing. This jacket uses UV charged color changing pigments and LEDs/fiber to dynamically change the design while being worn. Self Portrait aims to help pave the path for wearable technology to venture from data driven devices to further advance the fashion industry.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
As the technology and fashion industries converge we see a gap of fashion-focused wearable tech. Through Self-Portrait I hoped to bridge this gap by creating a fashionable jean jacket that integrates technology in its aesthetic design.
USER RESEARCH
I surveyed a total of 68 people and their ages ranged from 18-23. Some questions I asked included:
Are you more introverted or extroverted?
What is your personal style?
What kind of technologies would you like incorporated into your clothing?
Do you care about what you wear?
Biggest takeaways
Style is mostly simple/function with some self expression
Data driven, color changing, and haptic feedback are most preferred features
Data driven wearables are what people are most use to
Most people are introverted and don’t want attention brought to them
DESIGN RESEARCH
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Neon Muse
Neon Muse
Uses EL wire, which is bulky
Requires large battery pack
Custom Jackets
One feature
Not rechargeable
PROTOTYPES
FEATURES
The flower and bear patches change from white to color when exposed to UV light. The floral mesh panels contain embedded LEDs programmed to twinkle at different rates, whereas the stems of the flowers are lined with fiber optics.
This jacket was designed to be rechargeable and easily cleaned by removing the back flannel lining housing the electronics.
The LEDs were sewn in with conductive thread and the fiber optics were threaded in to the mesh pattern, so that it was incorporated in to the design without taking away from the natural beauty of the floral pattern.