Beginning My PhD Journey: Exploring Smart Textiles for Emotional Wellbeing

I’m really excited (and a little nervous, in the best way) to share that I’ve officially started my PhD at De Montfort University. This research feels like a natural next step for me—bringing together everything I’ve learned in fashion, design, and working closely with industry, and combining it with something I care about deeply: emotional wellbeing.

My project explores a simple but powerful question:
What if the clothes we wear every day could help us feel calmer, more grounded, and more connected to ourselves?

To answer that, I’ll be working on creating smart garments that can gently sense changes in the body—particularly heart-rate variability (HRV) and skin temperature, which are both linked to stress and anxiety. The idea is to embed soft, unobtrusive sensors directly into the fabric, so the clothing feels completely normal… just with a little extra support built in.

What matters to me most is that these garments don’t feel clinical or tech-heavy. I want them to feel comforting, like something you’d instinctively reach for on a difficult day. The goal is to explore how clothing can offer subtle biofeedback to help people notice tension, understand their emotional patterns, and feel more in control during moments of anxiety.

Over the next few months, I’ll be diving into everything from textile electronics to emotional psychology, meeting people across the wearable tech industry, and starting to sketch and test early ideas. I’ll share the journey here - honest reflections, small wins, challenges, and everything in between.

Thank you for being here and coming along with me. This is the beginning of something new, and I’m genuinely excited to see where it leads.

— Ashley