From Fashion Week to PhD: Why I Started Embedding Technology into Clothing

If you'd asked me ten years ago where my career would take me, I don't think "learning electrical engineering" would have featured anywhere on the list.

My background has always been in fashion. I've spent years designing, making and studying garments, fascinated by the way clothing can influence how we feel. One of the highlights of that journey was presenting my work at New York Fashion Week as part of a project exploring the future of clothing for Mars colonisation. My collection even included a coat made from living grass - not something I ever imagined would become part of my career!

At that point, I thought my future would continue to revolve around fashion design. Looking back now, I can see that the questions I was asking were already beginning to change.

The question that changed everything

The idea for my PhD didn't begin with electronics or smart textiles. It began with a question.

During my Master's degree, I was trying to balance studying alongside supporting my eldest child through significant challenges. Like many people, I was searching for patterns, trying to understand what made some days more difficult than others.

Then one day, something clicked.

I recognised one of the triggers that was contributing to periods of heightened stress and realised that if I'd understood that pattern sooner, it could have saved months of uncertainty and frustration.

That moment stayed with me.

I kept wondering:

"How could I have recognised that sooner?"

If we'd been able to understand when stress was beginning to build rather than only recognising it once everything became overwhelming, could earlier support have made a difference?

As someone who works in fashion, my thoughts naturally turned towards clothing.

Many people already wear smartwatches or fitness trackers, but they aren't suitable for everyone. Some people find them uncomfortable, forget to wear them, or simply don't like having another device attached to their body.

Clothing, however, is different.

For most of us, getting dressed is something we do every single day without thinking about it.

That simple observation became the starting point for everything that followed.

From fashion to function

Fashion has always been about more than appearance for me.

Clothing can influence confidence, comfort, identity and self-expression. It can help us feel protected, empowered or at ease.

I'd spent years thinking about silhouette, fabric behaviour, construction and fit.

What I began asking myself was whether clothing could do something more.

Could it quietly help us understand our own bodies?

Could it recognise subtle physiological changes linked to stress before we became consciously aware of them?

Could clothing become something that gently supports wellbeing without feeling medical or intrusive?

Those questions eventually led me to apply for a PhD at De Montfort University, where I'm now exploring how textile-integrated technologies could one day support emotional wellbeing.

Then came the engineering...

This is the part of the story people usually don't expect.

Designing garments is one thing.

Building garments that contain electronics is something completely different.

I quickly realised that if I wanted to understand wearable technology properly, I couldn't stay within the comfort zone of fashion.

I needed to learn electronics.

And programming.

And sensor technology.

And physiology.

I'll be honest - there have been moments where I've wondered what I'd let myself in for!

One week I was thinking about seam allowances and pattern cutting.

The next I was learning about circuits, sensors and electrical resistance.

It's been one of the steepest learning curves of my career, but also one of the most rewarding. Every new concept I understand opens another possibility for what future clothing could become.

Why a PhD?

One question I get asked surprisingly often is:

"Why are you doing a PhD? Why not just make the product?"

The short answer is that many of the ideas I'm exploring don't exist yet.

Before clothing can genuinely support emotional wellbeing, there's an enormous amount of research that needs to happen.

How do conductive materials behave after repeated washing?

Which textile structures perform best?

How can sensors be integrated without affecting comfort?

How do people feel about wearing technology that's built into clothing rather than strapped to their wrist?

How do we ensure any future technology is ethical, sustainable and genuinely useful?

Some of the technologies I'm interested in exploring in the future, such as textile-integrated energy harvesting, will require entirely new approaches rather than simply combining existing products.

A PhD provides the time, facilities and expertise to ask those questions properly, test ideas rigorously and develop knowledge that could help shape future wearable technologies.

Looking ahead

Although my background is in fashion, I no longer see clothing as something that simply covers the body.

I see it as an opportunity.

An opportunity to bring together design, engineering and healthcare in ways that could improve people's everyday lives.

I still love beautiful garments.

I always will.

But now I'm equally fascinated by what those garments might one day be capable of doing.

This research is still at the beginning, and I have far more questions than answers.

That's exactly why I started this journey.

This Month I Learned...

• Some of the most meaningful research begins with a single question.

• Becoming a beginner again is uncomfortable, but it's also where the biggest growth happens.

• Fashion and engineering aren't as different as I once thought.