Wearable Tech Research: Biomimicry

What is Biomimicry:

To copy the functionality of nature to solve our man-made problems.

Examples:

Stefanie Nieuwenhuys

LAYERING SCRAPS LIKE SCALES After spying diamond-shaped wood chips on a workshop floor at London’s  Kingston University —the leftovers of some architecture student, no doubt— Stefanie Nieuwenhuys was reminded of a secondhand snakeskin bag she once purchased. Scooping them up, the fashion student set to work, layering the wooden scraps onto fabric like reptilian scales. To minimize waste, Stefanie Nieuwenhuys layered discarded pieces of wood onto fabric like reptilian scales. Nieuwenhuys’s “aha” moment resulted in her master’s project: a collection of corsets, floor-length evening dresses, trousers, and neckpieces that marries modern laser-cutting techniques with a couturier’s delicate yet exacting touch. Eschewing virgin resources, Nieuwenhuys worked with bio-waste firm  InCrops Enterprise Hub  in Norwich to obtain discarded pieces of plywood, which she honed into efficient forms that left behind little waste. Glued onto unbleached organic cotton, the brown-and-ecru “scales” become a “simulacra of nature, without discarding nature’s inherent harmonies".

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(pictures taken from: https://blogs.3ds.com/fashionlab/stefanie-nieuwenhuyse-recycle-le-bois-comme-des-ecailles-serie-biomimetisme/)

After spying diamond-shaped wood chips on a workshop floor at London’s Kingston University—the leftovers of some architecture student, no doubt—Stefanie Nieuwenhuys was reminded of a secondhand snakeskin bag she once purchased. Scooping them up, the fashion student set to work, layering the wooden scraps onto fabric like reptilian scales.

The artist makes use of scrap material to make her outfits. This project of hers emphasises the idea of reusing materials. Laser cutting the pieces to look like scales, and imitating the layering to look like that of a snake.

 

Diana Eng

COMPACT STRUCTURES THAT UNFURL LIKE LEAVES Diana Eng based her  “Miura Ori” scarf  on an origami “leaf-fold” pattern invented by Koryo Miura, a Japanese space scientist who was in turn inspired by the unfurling mechanism of the hornbeam and beech leaves. Diana Eng’s scarf folds into a compact package yet “deploys” to create a voluminous wrap for your neck. Hornbeam and beech leaves are distinguished by their corrugated folds, which remain collapsed until they emerge from their buds.

Diana Eng based her “Miura Ori” scarf on an origami “leaf-fold” pattern invented by Koryo Miura, a Japanese space scientist who was in turn inspired by the unfurling mechanism of the hornbeam and beech leaves.

The origami patterns were made by observing nature, and the omission of right angles, like forehead wrinkles or the veins of a dragonfly’s wing. Because of that, the pattern is collapsible.

Monserrat Ciges

Created to imitate animals that are able to voluntarily self-transform.

 

References:

Simone Leonelli on the Blurred Boundaries Between Art & Fashion

The influence of 3D printing on fashion design

3D Printed Fashion: Novelty or reality?

How to become an Aussie eco-fashion designer

Fashion Biomimicry Through The Lenses Of Biotechnology, Nanotech And Artificial Intelligence

3D Haute Couture by Iris Van Herpen

http://www.osmosis-industries.com/digital/2015/4/21/nature-inspired-fashion-design-through-the-theory-of-biomimicry

Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse Reuses Scrap Wood as Scales – Biomimicry Series

Tessellation and Miura Folds

http://www.fairytalefashion.org/

https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/Montserrat/project.html?fbclid=IwAR2HGn6Jnj_R55DxHrH0XUJ-Kps8XhIIsjuXEe7a-0vZX_qN_RzgdFmpEQQ