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A DESIGN METHOD ON WEARABLE ART
SANEM ODABAŞI1
*,
1
Anadolu Universtiy, Graduate School of Science, Fashion Design MA Degree
Özet:
In this study a new method was developed for wearable art, against historical and cultural
alieanation which humanity is going through. In this approach, designer identifies a theme as a
starting point with collecting all research and writes a story for the concept. The example of this
methodology is a “Journey of a Woman”. The story had been written containing cultural and
historical images and was enhanced with literature research. Colors, technics, forms, shapes and
textures were formed according to the story. In order to transfer all ideas and research in the most
potential way, many different textile applications were used. The main idea of this research is to
underline the importance of the stories and artistical meaning of cultures in costume design. This
study is expected to bring a new methodology and a new aspect to designers.
Keywords: Artwear, Design Method, Creative Application
1. Introduction
The objective of the study is the assessment of feasibility and sustainability of the concept
of “Wearable Art” in fashion. The method of the study entails the designer to write a story
based on a starting point and keywords, and then designing and implementing a dress
based on this story construct1
. Thus, the artist/designer collects data through research on
written and visual resources to enrich the story she or he created. Finally, the artist designs
and produces the dress by using all the images he or she obtained. This study explains an
experimental design2
implemented using a design method developed as a wearable
artwork.
As is known, “Wearable Art” is embraced as a new development in fiber-textile arts. It
exists as a creative artistic application field outside the fashion and textile industries. In
wearable art, the emotions, thoughts, cultural and form knowledge of the artist or the
designer could be transformed into three-dimensional products using textile and many
other materials.
Wearable art depicts a unique art product, which is produced manually using traditional
textile methods. Wearable art is created in textile or art studios by one or more artist using
quite laboring fabric manufacturing techniques, ethnic clothing renditions, and unique
manufacturing methods. The works are named similar to the works of art, and they have
1 This study is based on a method and its result applied in «Relation of Fashion and Art» course by Asst.
Prof. Yüksel Şahin within Fashin Design Masters Program in Anadolu University, Institute of Science.
2 See: Gray, C. & Malins J. Visualizing Research: A Guide to the Reseach Process in Art and Design,
Ashgate Publishing, Hants, (2004)

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themes and creative application methods. These characteristics distinguish wearable art
from the field of fashion [1].
Creation of a wearable art piece involves a quite tense and active process. One of the most
significant factors in this process is the “artistic” nature of the created design/work of art.
Thus, the clothing that would be created;
 Should not adopt the serial mode of production of the fashion industry, it should be
unique and one and only,
 Should be expressed as a reflection of the emotional world of the artist,
 Should reflect the knowledge of the artist on textiles, material, style, form and the
techniques.
Thus the body, in addition to being a tool that stimulates and expresses the visual, by being
included and collaborating in the creative process, reinterprets the work of art. As a result,
the final product serves the purpose of a bridge between the user and the creator. This case
is among the most beautiful and significant examples of the use of a piece of art.
In time, wearable art is used in artistic expressions such as performance art and conceptual
art, and it was exhibited in museums and galleries. Hüseyin Çağlayan’s works could be
given as examples for its use in conceptual art. The artwork titled “American Velvet” by
another designer, Julia Hill, toured Europe with Craft Today: USA exhibition in 1988 via
the American Craft Museum (Picture 1). Hüseyin Çağlayan exhibited his work in many
museums around the world and held a retrospective exhibition at Istanbul Modern in 2010.
In Issey Miyake’s conceptual works, it is possible to observe the influences of Japanese
culture. The work of performance artists Nick Cave (Picture 2) and Ruth Pelz (Picture 3)
could be observed in the field of performance art.
Picture 1. Julia Hill, American Velvet 1988

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Picture 2. Nick Cave, Sound Suits, 2004
Picture 3. Ruth Pelz, Martian Fertility Goddess, 1978
2. The wearable artwork titled “Journey of a Woman”
The relationship between the wearable art and human, arts and culture is an existing
finding in the study. The fact that clothing was one of the rare tools that women and
minorities were able to express themselves aesthetically and culturally throughout history
[2] enabled us to shape this study based on the “women” body, parallel to the historical
past of the wearable art. Thus, in the wearable artwork titled “Journey of a Woman,” the
relationship of a woman with both her inner world and the exterior world were scrutinized
to reflect the diversity of cultures, geographical locations, nature and human moods.
Several different research and design development methods are used in wearable art
studies. For this study, a starting point and keywords were stipulated. Starting point of the
story was determined as “the life of a woman, who lives in an imaginary world and pursues
distant ambitions.” Keywords were; winter, dagger, planet, map, eagle, snake, flower,
garden, road and nail. The artist had created the story using the starting point and keywords

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provided. The resources and research that the artist conducted in the process of writing the
story had broadened the artist’s imagination.
In the study that contains primarily the personal story of a woman and the effects of her
environment and culture on her, oral narrative was used for design purposes. Jonathan
Gottschall stated that oral narratives are a binding factor for human experiences and stories
are tools that help us understand both ourselves and others [3]. This approach by Gottschall
shows that the study was developing in the right direction. This study is an attempt to form
a relationship between life experiences and modes of behaviour of a human being using a
story.
According to Prain, the field of textiles is full of stories of individuals that were ignored
and stayed in the background; several people, communities and cultures such as women,
children, slaves, nomads, housewives, tribes in pain, etc. are intermingled with the field of
textiles. Textile could narrate oral stories in knitting, fabrics, and embroideries – no matter
which method is used. Thus, textiles continue their existence as side products of the stories
[4].
Textiles carry the traces of all life independent of their purpose and connect the human to
its past, present and the future. It could be argued that textile itself is a carrier of culture as
a material. The traces of the history of civilization could be read through the textile
materials. These features make textiles to have precedence both as a material and as a
technique.
This study, while building its own story, was realized with the support of the bond the
textiles have with the oral culture.
The designer visualized the findings (Picture 4) and visuals that were collected for the
wearable art study titled “Journey of a Woman” and applied these on the fabric using
textile techniques such as imprint, dyeing, needlework, applique, and collage, etc. (Picture
5) The purpose here was, instead of directly using the visuals found , to reflect the path of
the designer, as well as his or her interpretation, in an order and rhythm.
Picture 4. Examples of the visuals

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Picture 5. Examples for the process
The textile surface obtained was then three-dimensioned. It was shaped using techniques
such as needlework, applique, imprinting, hand dyeing, batik dyeing, hand stitching in
accordance with the story. The form of the clothing was designed as a long dress to create
a powerful but sensitive woman’s image (Picture 6).
Picture 6. “Journey of a Woman” artwear
3. Result
The objective of this wearable art study was to create an experimental design using a novel
method. It was determined that the aforementioned method affected the creativity in the
wearable art applications and rendered them productive. Furthermore, it was also
considered that a contribution was made to “the language of clothing” by shaping a dress
by starting with a personal story.
The path chosen in the “Journey of a Woman” wearable arty study is proposed as a method
development approach in the field of wearable art field.

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References
[1] Leventon, M. Artwear, Fashion and Anti-fashion, Thames&Hudson, London, (2005)
[2] Günay, A. Giyside Sanatsal Yaklaşım, 1.Uluslararası Fashion and Textile Design
Symposium Proceedings Special 1, pp. 51-54, Antalya, November 2012, Akdeniz
University ,Faculty of Fine Arts Publishing, Antalya, (2012).
[3] Gottschall, J. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, New York (2012)
[4] Prain, L. Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles, Arsenal Pulp Press,
Vancouver, (2014)
Pictures
Picture 1-2-3 : Leventon, M. Artwear, Fashion and Anti-fashion, Thames&Hudson,
London, (2005)
Picture 4-5-6 : Belongs to Sanem ODABAŞI.