Designing My First Smart Hoodie: Where Fashion Meets Engineering
Part 4 of The PhD Journal.
When most people imagine wearable technology, they picture watches, wristbands or fitness trackers.
My research starts with something much simpler.
A hoodie.
That probably surprises people.
After all, if you're developing smart clothing, why not create something futuristic? Something that immediately looks like it belongs in tomorrow's world?
The answer is that my research has never been about making technology look impressive.
It's about making technology feel natural.
Why a hoodie?
Choosing the first garment for my research wasn't really a design decision—it was a human one.
The hoodie is one of the most familiar garments many of us own.
It's comfortable.
It's practical.
It's something people instinctively reach for when they're cold, tired or simply want to feel comfortable.
If I'm exploring how clothing could one day support emotional wellbeing, it makes sense to begin with a garment that already carries those emotional associations.
I didn't want to create something that looked medical or experimental.
I wanted to begin with something people already know and trust.
Looking at clothing differently
Before starting this PhD, I looked at garments through the eyes of a fashion designer.
I thought about silhouette.
Construction.
Fit.
Fabric.
Movement.
Now I find myself looking at exactly the same hoodie and asking completely different questions.
Where could sensors sit comfortably?
How would conductive pathways move with the body?
Which seams naturally protect electronic components?
How would repeated stretching affect textile-integrated technologies?
The garment hasn't changed.
The way I see it has.
Where fashion meets engineering
One of the biggest surprises so far has been realising that fashion and engineering aren't opposites.
They're solving many of the same problems from different directions.
Fashion asks:
"How can this garment be comfortable?"
Engineering asks:
"How can this system be reliable?"
Fashion thinks about movement.
Engineering thinks about signal integrity.
Fashion considers construction.
Engineering considers connections.
The more I learn, the more those two ways of thinking begin to overlap.
Good wearable technology doesn't happen because technology is added to clothing afterwards.
It happens when fashion and engineering are considered together from the very beginning.
Designing for everyday life
Throughout this project I've kept coming back to one question.
Would someone actually want to wear this?
That's surprisingly difficult to answer.
The technology might work perfectly, but if the garment feels uncomfortable, looks unusual or changes the way someone normally dresses, then it's unlikely to become part of everyday life.
For me, successful wearable technology shouldn't ask people to change their habits.
It should quietly fit into the habits they already have.
That's why comfort, aesthetics and user experience are just as important as sensors and electronics.
The first prototype
This hoodie won't be the finished product.
Far from it.
Like any research project, the first prototype exists to answer questions rather than provide final solutions.
It will help me understand how textile-integrated technologies behave within a garment, where challenges arise, and how future designs might improve.
In many ways, it's the beginning of an ongoing conversation between fashion, engineering and the people who will eventually wear these garments.
And that's exactly what a prototype should be.
Not proof that you've finished.
Proof that you've started.
This Month I Learned...
Choosing the right garment is just as important as choosing the right technology.
Fashion and engineering solve more of the same problems than I ever expected.
The first prototype isn't about perfection—it's about learning what to improve next.