Designing the First Hoodie Prototype - Where Textile Meets Circuit Thinking

Why a hoodie?

Because it is familiar. Comforting. Protective. Reached for instinctively.

The hoodie is a powerful site for experimentation - close to the torso, responsive to movement, already associated with comfort and emotional refuge.

As I began early prototyping, I realised something crucial:

Pattern cutting logic and electrical logic are not separate worlds.

Garments already contain pathways - seams, stress zones, movement arcs. Thinking about where conductive systems might live required understanding:

• Stretch behaviour

• Compression zones

• Areas of minimal distortion

• Natural garment architecture

The early stages involve exploring how textile-integrated systems can exist without altering comfort or aesthetic identity.

It is less about adding technology, and more about integrating it with sensitivity.