This paper explores the relationship between potentially dynamic materials and textile structures for designing textiles with inherent changing qualities. Textiles are usually designed to retain their appearance for as long as possible. Yet all textiles wear out and change over time, both physically and aesthetically. This means the life spans of textile object and the material it is made from will not necessarily be equal. The dynamic changeable qualities in textiles could instead be enhanced by using the potentially dynamic, changing qualities inherent to materials and combining them with textile structures. Through contextualisation and design examples, this paper discusses the possibilities of embedding these qualities into textiles, and presents a series of woven and knitted designs that combine these materials into different textile structures. Two materials with differing dynamic qualities were chosen for the experiments. These are polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) yarn—a material that melts in water and uncoated copper wire—which creates a patina when it reacts with air. These materials are combined into woven and knitted structures and then exposed to two types of stimuli to explore how different stimuli affect the way in which the materials change: passive exposure to weather, and an active workshop with fashion design students. The results are initial explorations into the basic principles of combining potentially dynamic materials into textile structures to create textiles that take advantage of how different materials change over their life span, and how this might look. Through embedding different time spans into textiles instead of designing static expressions, the life span of materials and textile objects could be better matched, enabling the designer to tailor a more appropriate life span for textiles.

Artistic research in design is relatively new compared to experimental research in the natural sciences but it has matured a great deal over the last decade. Its extensive development has brought new challenges to professional practice, and also raised questions regarding how knowledge should be imparted in academia. By examining the field of textile design, which has traditionally been taught in close synergy with professional practice, we can discern the emergence of doctoral theses that have brought not only new perspectives to textile practice but also a new role to the design educator as a researcher within the academia. One of the challenges that design education program are facing, however, relates to creating a better connection between research and education in order to continually enrich curricula with new developments in the field, so that basic knowledge and novelty can interact. By looking closely at the development of the research environment at The Swedish School of Textiles and the interaction with undergraduate and postgraduate education, this chapter describes how research has informed the development of textile design education.

Developing alternative materials and methods of production and recycling is crucial to achieving more sustainable, circular textile practices. In addition to these, a shift in how textiles are perceived may well be needed. Textile practice has long sought to create textiles that, regardless of their material or post-production treatments do not subsequently change in expression, eliminating the fading of colors and wearing out of materials. Questioning this in order to evaluate quality, durability, and aesthetics may open up for greater circularity through extending product lifetimes, and allowing change to be embraced rather than delaying the signs of aging. This paper presents work that challenges the notion of permanence as a sign of quality in textiles by shifting the focus towards creating textiles that are capable of developing different visual expressions over time.

By examining the natural changes in color of materials in plain and Jacquard-patterned woven textiles made of several materials, this paper explores the possibilities relating to designing textile patterns that can evolve in multiple different directions from one starting point. Textiles woven with a combination of different materials were used in various contexts, including outdoors, in order to explore how the materials reacted. The resulting color combinations varied depending on what conditions the material was exposed to, suggesting a more versatile view on the aesthetics of textiles.

The results indicate that various colors, patterns, and structures can be achieved from one starting point, indicating that an alternative definition for quality, based on the aesthetics of change, may be viable. The natural aging of materials could be used in design processes to embed evolving patterns, colors, or structures in textiles, reconnecting textile products with the inherent, changeable qualities of materials. 

The traditional method of cut and assemble in garment making is accused of disregarding the importance of the materiality of textiles, and the three dimensionality of our body. Our joint venture aims to address this gap by investigating the expressive possibilities of woven textiles with inherent form-giving qualities in conjunction with garment moulds, similar to Miyake’s self-forming weaves (Howarth 2014) and Brown’s ideas on the relationship between form and surface (Brown 2013). Changes in texture, size and shape of the textile and the placement of openings for limbs inform the shape of the mould and the placement of the textile on the mould. 

Likewise, the form of the mould informs the shape of the garment through the textile’s ability for change. This allows for close communication between textile and form as both are developed in conjunction, from initial sketch through to final garment. The moulds are obtained using a method of ‘reversed crafting’, mimicking processes found in glass and ceramics where the space between body is addressed whilst treating form giving and crafting of surfaces as a simultaneous act of doing and thinking. Formability is embedded in Jacquard woven multi-layered fabrics through combining heat reactive shrinking yarns with stable base materials. Stops and seams are added in the fabric while weaving, creating a raw shape for the garment. 

The results are presented as 4-6 form experiments in scale 1:4, arrived at in collaboration with material, body and digital and analogue tools. Process images illustrate the relationship between the weave and the mould in the form giving processes of dress. Together, we suggest a renewed focus on the tangible materiality of textiles when forming garments in interplay with the three dimensional form. Further, the work proposes alternative methods for design making and thinking at the intersection of textile and fashion design.

The development of dynamic materials has changed the ways in which textiles are designed, but few research projects have investigated multiple sequential changes in textiles. This paper explores the design of textiles with the ability to undergo transformations involving multiple stages. Dynamic shrinking, hardening and dissolving yarns were combined in industrially woven structures to create a collection of five textiles, the texture, size, thickness, and number of layers of which were possible to change through heat and moisture. The fabrics were used in two workshops, and a series of prototypes was developed to explore potential application areas. The outcomes of the experiments show that textiles can transform in several stages through alterations to their properties, and that it is possible to embed this in their structures. Further research is needed on potential applications and how to better integrate textiles into product design processes.