Concept
My senior collection’s concept is inspired by biophilia, a term used to describe the human connection to the natural world, through the use of fashion. This is done by depicting the four elements found in nature representing negative human emotions through line, space, color, emphasis, and the use of UV reactive dyes symbolizing biophilia through both design and process.
My ideal target customer is someone with a biophilic persona. An individual who is drawn in by elements of nature found in unnatural things such as clothing, and is typically very empathetic. This collection consists of four ensembles representing the four elements leaves, flowers, trees, and snow. By doing so each piece individually represents one of these four natural elements found in nature, and each element represents a negative emotion such as anger, stress, anxiety, and sadness.
Inspiration from each season is incorporated through color, silhouette, material, and fit. This is done using techniques such as gathering, boning, dyeing, and mixed textiles. Here is also where I will explore techniques using UV-reactive dyes to print a corresponding motif for each design consisting of a fern leaf for leaves, a sunflower for flowers, a willow tree for trees, and a snowflake for snow.
I've noticed in the industry how far representation through fashion strays from natural elements of the world as time passes, while I don't see this as a problem, for my specific audience I want to do the opposite with my collection bringing garments to life using nature as my main inspiration.
Biophilia is very commonly seen in things like architecture, and I would like to bring that into fashion in a way that is specific to this topic. By doing so I will be connecting nature to fashion to the fullest to pertain to my ideal customer which can be any individual who identifies as biophilic as a result of there being no relation between gender and biophilia.
Look 3 Bag
Abstract
Key Words: Biophilia, Nature, Personal Connection, UV reactive dye, Sustainability, Elements, Empathy
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this collection is to represent biophilia through the use of fashion. Deriving from the Greek words "bio" and "philia", which translate to life and love, meaning the human connection to the natural world (Barbiero G. & Berto R.). Unlike sustainable design, which focuses on the natural physical process, biophilia draws attention to emotional aspects by representing a connection to nature (Kayıhan, K.S.). However, because both sustainable design and biophilia revolve around nature, they can easily be used together to appeal to the biophilic persona (Kim Cook). In architecture, biophilia became intensely studied starting in the year 2000, to draw attention through emotion (Kayıhan, K.S.). While it has also been seen in some fashion trends, this entire collection will be solely based on biophilic inspiration. Similar to the study done on creating textiles with bacteria, I will also include biophilia in my production process by using natural sunlight to achieve print designs for each ensemble (Chan et al.). An individual's biophilia gravitates towards aspects of garments that reflect things seen in nature. Whether that is color, textile, silhouette, pattern, technique, or overall design, each of these things can reflect aspects of nature which may attract the target customer of someone who looks for these things when adding to their wardrobe. While this collection may typically be perceived as feminine, it is considered gender-neutral due to the lack of relation between gender and biophilia.
Aesthetic Properties and Visual Impact
‘“Biophilia’ is a term made popular in the 1980s by biologist Edward O. Wilson to describe humans’ connection to the rest of the natural world” (Kim Cook). With this collection primarily based on aspects of nature, I wanted to design four ensembles representing 4 elements found in nature. I also wanted to expand this idea by using each ensemble to depict a negative human emotion of which a biophilic individual may use nature to cope with. Natural elements have been inspiring fashion and textiles for years, whether it be through color schemes, patterns, materials, or overall design (V&A). Color is used to heavily insinuate these patterns. This is done by using each piece to represent a specific element found in nature through the use of popular color palettes commonly associated with the respective piece. These four elements of nature consist of leaves, flowers, trees, and snow. The silhouettes of each ensemble will have visual aspects resembling their element of nature. This will affect the length, fit, volume, and fabric choice. In doing so, my leaf ensemble will be a deep green made of a lightweight fabric, with the silhouette of an asymmetrical short dress resembling the shape with thin straps inspired by the vein skeleton of a leaf. This piece will portray the emotion of anger through asymmetric lines seen in the hem relating to an unbalanced perception, repetitive lines, and the use of space in the gathers and neckline to portray built-up emotion, and the sleeves represent that emotion being trapped. My flower ensemble consists of a two-piece with a yellow fitted knit cropped tee with petal sleeves paired with floral flowy split-leg pants symbolizing the delicacy of flower petals. This ensemble displays the emotion of anxiety through the use of lines in the bodice creating a focal point of the chest where it is mostly felt, and the emphasis on the slit in the pants referring to indecisiveness. The tree ensemble is a two-piece set containing a brown fitted corset top with beige trim exhibiting the strength of a tree, and wrap-around beige straps creating faux sleeves representing branches. To pair with the top, I've designed beige high-rise shorts with a faced waistband and a brown accent pocket. It shows stress as the emotion through lines seen as straight throughout the silhouette to resemble the tension felt, and lines seen naturally ascending the arms and creating the upside-down triangle on the bodice portray the rising feeling of stress. Lastly, my snow piece is a knit two-piece consisting of a long sleeve shirt with fitted quarter-length sleeves leading into a flared lace to the wrist paired with a skirt with a slit and white lace accents on the hem and sleeves. The skirt slit and lace detailing are reminiscent of cold air on the body in the snow. Sadness is the last emotion represented through the color blue most commonly associated with the emotion, the texture of the lace depicting exposed emotions, and the proportions of the outfit being long to resemble being weighed down.
Process, Technique, and Execution
To begin my collection once sketches had been finalized, I got all of my chosen model's measurements to ensure fit when designing. Using these acquired measurements each design will be developed using CLO3D. First I will develop the basic pattern blocks for each ensemble to create my final patterns. Once each pattern piece is made using Clo, I will test the fit on my digital models after adding the seam allowance and annotations to each pattern. Once the digital renderings look correct I then print my production patterns. With these patterns, I will begin creating muslin versions of my final collection to test fit and desired effect. From there on I will make any final corrections needed, and create a second muslin to confirm the final fit before transferring to the end goal fashion fabric.
Cohesion
Each ensemble of my collection will represent one of these four elements which can be found in nature such as leaves, flowers, trees, and snow. The core cohesion between the four ensembles aside from the theme itself would be the use of sun printing using UV reactive dyes. Each piece will incorporate a dye coordinating with its main color, and each of these dyes will be used to transfer a corresponding motif onto each piece of fabric which will be added to the garments. For my flower piece, I want a knit yellow fabric for the top with a woven floral print for the bottoms. For the silhouette, I would like it to be a cropped t-shirt with petal sleeves paired with high-slit floral pants representing the key features of a flower through texture and fit. (V&A) For the leaf-inspired look, I would like it to be a shorter-length green fitted dress with an asymmetrical silhouette to reflect the idea of the leaves in the trees. In my tree ensemble, I wanted to heavily base this piece on colors and structure. I will be using the colors brown and beige, and using the silhouette to resemble the aspects of a tree. I will be creating a structured corset top with straight high-rise knee-length shorts to resemble the trunk of the tree with strips of fabric wrapping the arms as sleeves to represent the branches. For my snow-inspired ensemble, I chose the colors light blue and white, with blue being the main fabric with white as an accent with lace. Because snow is cold, this piece will be a long-length skirt with a fitted long-sleeve knit top.
Originality and Innovation
This collection was designed to appeal to the biophilic persona. In doing so I incorporated patterns and a color pallet, as well as silhouettes and design structures inspired by elements in nature. I also added the use of cyanotypes, transferring images using the sun and dyes to create prints using nature such as a leaf, flower, tree, and snowflake. By doing so, I not only based my collection on the natural world but also included methods using nature to create my final products. As a whole, my collection represents biophilia through design and process. This is done by each ensemble being heavily inspired by one of these four motifs and emotions. This collection is designed to be semi-formal meaning these garments could be worn on a variety of occasions.
Sources
Barbiero, G., & Berto, R. (2021). Biophilia as Evolutionary adaptation: An onto- and phylogenetic Framework for Biophilic design. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700709
Chan, C. K., Shin, J., & Jiang, S. X. K. (2017). Development of Tailor-Shaped Bacterial Cellulose Textile Cultivation Techniques for Zero-Waste Design. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 36(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302x17737177
Kayıhan, K.S. (2018). Examination of Biophilia Phenomenon in the Context of Sustainable Architecture. In: Fırat, S., Kinuthia, J., Abu-Tair, A. (eds) Proceedings of 3rd International Sustainable Buildings Symposium (ISBS 2017). ISBS 2017. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63709-9_7
“Fashion Inspired by the Natural World · V&A.” Victoria and Albert Museum, www.vam.ac.uk/articles/fashion-inspired-by-the-natural-world.
Kim Cook, “‘Biophilia’ Style: Nature as Self-Expression, Solace | AP News,” AP News, April 13, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/trending-news-lifestyle-tattoos-environment-fashion-64c5d2b85d343898e1f8907a8ebfb3e6.
Carl. “Biophilic Fashion: Nature-Inspired Design Redefining Clothing.” Biophilic Flair, June 25, 2024. https://biophilicflair.com/biophilic-fashion-integrating-nature-inspired-elements-clothing-design-new/.