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NAUVARI ATHLEISURE

Timeline
4 weeks (Oct ‘21)

Independent Project

Tools
Mohair, Nylon, Viscose Yarns
Silver Reed Single-Bed Knitting Machine
Adobe Illustrator, Pointcarré

Skills
Knitting, Pattern Drafting, Hand-Seaming, Draping, Color Swatching, Garment
Construction

THE PROBLEM

The fashion industry excludes certain body types and sizes from the purview of their design practices.

How can we design a garment so versatile that centers the 'unconventional', while allowing people of all body types and identities to feel comfortable when wearing the same item of clothing?

THE IMPACT

Designing for impact by introducing a new paradigm of inclusion and access in the fashion industry to allow the coming generation of young, colored women to have access to garments specifically designed for their bodies.

SUSTAINABILITY–– The garment was made using only rectangular shaped knit swatches to construct a fully-fashioned garment. This reduces factory cut-room floor waste (estimated at 60 billion m2 annually) and reduces labour needs in factories, in an attempt to be more sustainble for the planet and factory workers.

THE APPROACH

The process of developing this garment included rigorous research into human-centered design to acknowledge unmet needs in the fashion industry.

Phase 1– Research

Included primary and secondary market research to study what products exist in this sector, industry analysis to understand what demands are unmet, and finally design research into historical and cultural archives to draw inspiration from our ancestors’ solutions.

Phase 2– Prototyping

Included using specific software and machinery to sample colors, patterns, and styles through an iterative process of using references to create stripes, color developments, and garment patterns.

Phase 3– Designing the Product

The garment was designed with the form of the curvaceous female body in mind. The stripe was a key formal element which was contorted through its situation on the body.

PHASE 1– RESEARCH

MARKET & USER RESEARCH

A brief survey was conducted within gendered, racial populations to understand fashion consumption in the demographic, and inquire about the gaps that needed to be addressed in the market.

Certain brands and styles were categorized as more inclusive than others. For example, American brands were found to be more accommodating for plus sizes, but not for ‘curvy’ sizes– a clear distinction was made between the two.

UNDERSTANDING THE INDUSTRY

While the Plus Size industry is growing, ‘Curvy’ Sizes are still left out of the narrative.

Curvaceous bodies are rarely accommodated in fashion silhouettes outside of baggy clothes.

Garments designed for petite figures cannot be merely adjusted in size to fit a curvaceous body, they need to be designed to shape and accentuate the ‘unconventional’ body.

Even today, plus-size apparel design does not adequately allow breathability, comfort, and support coupled with aesthetic appeal to such bodies.

DESIGN RESEARCH

Many cultures and traditions value the voluptuous figure on women, as they signify fecundity and fertility. The Maharashtrian Nauvari saree is a traditional attire for women from all sectors of society and is draped in a manner such that it allows movement and ease to all types of bodies, specifically the curvaceous body. The design of it was used as the primary source for inspiration.

PHASE 2– PROTOTYPING

SAMPLING, COLOR SWATCHING AND PATTERN DRAFTING

PRELIMINARY STRIPING SWATCHES

Drawing inspiration from the colored history of the city of Providence, these stripes are records of the city’s complex history with race and gender. They explore color density, volume, & repeat patterns using graphic & atmospheric stripes with techniques such as the plating feeder. These are studied for their application in the garment in order to contextualize the gendered histories in the development of this garment.

PHASE 3– PRODUCT

TRANSLATING THE REFERENCE

The garment is a translation of the stiff but versatile form of a Maharashtrian saree into a contemporary garment that embodies the trend of athleisure and mimics the stylistic qualities of the 'Dhoti' Style in which the saree is wrapped around the axis of the body.

STUDYING THE GARMENT IN MOTION

This garment is designed for the brown female body: the body which is often left out of the narrative perpetuated by modern fashion.

It takes into consideration the curves of the voluptuous brown body and prioritizes breathability, comfort, and an accentuation of the features of the brown body which are most often concealed by brown women.

THE STRIPE ON THE BODY

The stripe is used as a key formal quality, contorted through its situation on the female body, to highlight and celebrate the fertility and fecundity of the curvaceous form of the brown figure.

GARMENT ON VIEW

Garment on view at the Cohen Gallery in the Granoff Center, Providence for the Brown | RISD Dual Degree Annual Show.

The gallery opening was attended by Marty Granoff (President of Granoff Enterprises), Christina Paxton (President of Brown University), Rashid Zia (Dean of Brown University), and Richard Locke (Dean of Apple University).

REFLECTION

Market research is vital in conducting human-centered design–

Through market research and user research the design was driven to cater to human needs and requirements.

Working with a model is important to understand human needs throughout the process–

My interactions with my model constantly quided my process of design. Her inputs of how the garment made her feel through the process were vital in allowing me to iterate and design for comfort and breathability.