The Art of Adaptability

“The Art of Adaptability” Isobel Dawson is a Fashion Design BA graduate from the university of Salford. The project “The art of adaptability” is a womenswear collection based around creating adaptable clothing for people suffering with social phobias. This project shows how the use of garment design can build a bridge between social and personal life of sufferers with the use of self-limiting exposure elements and comforting textures. After extensive research collected during the creative writing, I formed a colour palette based on busy urban architecture such as metallics from stairs, buildings and signs combined with neutral calming tones relating to the body, and personal space. The interesting textural relation of city buildings has been taken forward to create fabrics using smocking, layering and 3D pattern cutting to add a form of comfort for the wearer. This has been combined with homely comforts such as quilting and duvet like feathers throughout the garments layered with soft leather relating to skin. “Through personal experience, especially after having children and feeling isolated from social life, I can relate how I have struggled with social phobias and the torture of not knowing how to control them.” The inclusion of mouth and face covering pieces such as shields on hoods and built-up necklines has been an important part of the design process giving the wearer an added sense of personal space, protection and security from the busy areas around them. I have created a range of sunglasses designs under the topic surrounding social phobias. This has been done by researching into blinkers used on a horse and adapting them into a womenswear range of sunglasses that are both fashionable and practical within this collection. With the use of blinkers, the wearer is able to limit their view to a less overwhelming state when worn amongst crowds and able to angle the blinker to their desired view when needed.