Bioinspired textiles: an investigation into biomimetic principles and their application to sustainable textile design and making processes

A recent report published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on 'a new textiles economy' (2017) highlights current challenges for the fashion and textile sectors pertaining to global production and consumption practices that are a threat to the environment and no longer sustainable. Since the year 2000, global clothing production has more than doubled: approximately 2720 litres of water are used to make the ubiquitous t-shirt; the average garment is worn just four times in its lifetime; while 95% of clothing could potentially be recycled in some form. Practical approaches to the design and production of sustainable textiles within a circular economy are increasingly called for.

In response to this imperative, the proposed research seeks to introduce practice-led engagement in biomimetic principles and their potential in textile and apparel contexts. The PI will build upon her doctoral research and design practice, which pioneered a novel, interdisciplinary approach to textile design and construction by transferring mechanisms and functionalities from biology into the textile design process. The overall intention is to establish an interdisciplinary approach to textile design and production within a circular design economy by drawing together biomimetic principles, textile and materials science to advance sustainable state-of-the-art (SoA) methods.

Preliminary research identifies the lack of corresponding information between professional design and biology disciplines (Kapsali, PhD 2009). The PI will therefore address cultural and conceptual barriers between these realms by drawing upon a known framework pioneered by Naleway et al. (2015) referred to as 'Biological Structural Design Elements' (BSDEs). BSDEs provide streamlined information on the nature of mechanisms and behaviours presented in various biological materials (including, for example, their toughness and strength) to inform the design and development of composite materials for materials science communities. By adapting the Naleway et al. model, the PI will create a more relevant biomimetic framework specifically for textile design communities.

The advantage of the original BSDE system is that it uses visual rather than pure mathematical language, an approach that is accessible to creative communities, to convey SoA structural information on the mechanical and behavioural aspects of biological materials. The PI's aim is to introduce two new BSDEs, based on findings from a series of workshops, for the benefit of textiles designers. The PI will create physical textile demonstrators incorporating the two additional BSDEs, and the demonstrators will then serve as a fundamental tool for the communication, evaluation and assessment of biomimetic principles in textile contexts.

The tool itself will be presented to representatives from the applied and industrial textile sectors in the form of three workshops entitled 'Biomimetic Textiles Design and Practice' (BTDP 1-3). Workshop participants will go on to investigate strategies for the application of the BSDEs within textile design processes via interactions with the demonstrators and participatory discussions, practice and theory prototyping.

Workshop impact on participants' understanding of biological mechanisms and their own design practice will be assessed via pre- and post-workshop interviews and the setting of a post-workshop design brief. Benchmark criteria for analysis of design outputs will be created from the literature review of biomimetic design, circular design principles and sustainable textile design. The workshop template's evaluation, as a viable tool for disseminating biomimetic approaches to textile design, will be carried out via feedback from individual participant interviews post-workshop, and a presentation to an Advisory Group of industry, academic and policy experts, with a view to evolving a model that can be deployed to a wide range of audiences.

Industry and independent design practitioners participating in one of the Biomimetic Textile Design and Practice workshops (BTDP 1-3), will develop new approaches to creative thinking informed by biomimetic principles and their interdisciplinary underpinnings rooted in biology and material science. These practitioners will also receive individual feedback on the development of prototyping methods for use in their own practice. Participants will be able to apply the Biomimetic Textile Design Framework, incorporating a revised sector-specific BSDE framework, and know-how, as articulated in the PI's development of BSDE textile demonstrators, through the devised workshop template titled 'Biomimetic Textiles Design and Practice'. The participants will also have the option of re-using resources developed as a result of this project in their own professional practice and/or in-house product development.

Textile and apparel micro enterprises (graduate and freelance textile designers), SMEs and MSEs more broadly will benefit from the archive of Biomimetic Textile Design Framework that will be made available to design businesses via the project website and further bespoke off-site BTDP workshops to be offered on a consultancy basis post-project. In addition, post-Fellowship activity is to be explored by UK business support organisations, including UAL's Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), the Crafts Council, Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining (IOM3), the Design and Technology Association (DaTA) and Biomimicry UK.

The project report and key findings will be disseminated digitally via presentations and a highlight notice to European fashion MSEs and SMEs through the Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), the WORTH network (http://www.worth-project.eu/), the international material science community via IOM3 and industry already invested in sustainability and biomimetic values via specialist organisations such as Biomimicry UK.

The PI will also target influential organisations via a one-day conference and exhibition, and the direct distribution of the illustrated project report through UAL's Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CfSF) and Centre for Circular Design (CCD), plus Project Partner and Advisory Group member networks.

Public awareness and engagement with fashion and sustainability narratives incorporating biomimetic principles will be increased through the dissemination of the PI's documented case studies, presentations and findings through social and online media platforms, partners' and UAL Research Centres' websites as well as policy experts and the press.