Cultural context of fashion design

Fashion design by its very nature seeks to reflect the social, cultural, economic and moral conditions prevalent at a particular time. The street styles of the teddy boys in the 1950s, mods, rockers and hippies of the sixties, and the punks of the seventies are all embodied in the rebellious nature of post-war youth and are linked to the pop culture of the time, expressed through music, films and magazines.

Interestingly, it is much easier to trace the influences on street culture retrospectively rather than to identify them at the time. However, it is one of the roles of the fashion designer to identify the current feelings and vibes of society and translate them into the clothes of the day.

A useful, further reference to this aspect is the book 'Street Style' by Ted Polhemus, published by Thames and Hudson (ISBN 0-500-27794-X).

Technological advances in materials and components

The technological developments of the last hundred years have had a major impact on clothing design in two ways. Both the new forms of travel of trains, cars and planes, and improvements in domestic and public buildings in terms of climate control have led to the need for lighter and less bulky clothing. However, perhaps the most significant developments have been in the textiles themselves. The invention of nylon in 1938 and its large-scale use in the 1950s, colourful plastic-coated fabrics of the sixties and body-hugging Lycra of the eighties have all had a notable influence. These synthetic fibres produced from oil have developed tremendously over the last forty or fifty years and now show little resemblance to their earliest forms. Textile engineers of today are entering a new era, developing textiles with very specific properties through fibre engineering. Primarily, these new 'smart' textiles are made for industrial, medical, agricultural and space use. However, fashion designers are increasingly seeing their potential in high street clothing.

For further information on these exciting developments, an excellent resource is 'Textile Innovation, traditional modern and smart textiles' by Ros Hibbert, published by Line (ISBN 0-9540110-0-7).

The ever-increasing micro-miniaturisation of electronic products is leading to another possibility for textile designers to exploit - garments with built-in communication and entertainment systems. These appeal to both the new mobile generation and those workers who need to keep in touch, yet keep their hands free. These mind-boggling developments and 'blue sky' research are fully described in 'New Nomads - an exploration of wearable electronics' by Philips, published by OIO (ISBN 98-6450-422-9).

The third important aspect of the programme is the way that it demonstrates the way in which good design transcends traditional barriers between the arts and the sciences; and also between the established design professions - in this case, electronics and fashion. This must surely be a thought-provoking lesson for Design and Technology teaching everywhere.