Microdesign

Microdesign is a concept I’ve been considering and playing with for some time, and one I plan to focus on, develop, and share with the world.

Naively, we can think of it as clothes “hacking;” modifying purchased clothes to a desired effect, a subsection of the do-it-yourself movement in fashion. To an extent, this is the method behind microdesign, but the concept and extent of microdesign goes much further:

Microdesign is meant to help others (individuals) take more control over their dress.

Elements of microdesign are much easier to execute that standard tailoring/sewing techniques. Most people have neither the time nor the inclination to learn how to make new clothing, or even to significantly modify the structure of clothing. Because microdesign encompasses so many methods and techniques, there will be many things that anyone can do, no matter their amount of time, money, or skill.

Further, microdesign also includes clothing designed to engage the wearer in its construction. An example I mentioned before is the charm bracelet. Unfortunately, not many other examples exist in the contemporary clothing market; developing new such systems is a current focus of mine.

Microdesign supports sustainability in fashion.

Central to the idea of microdesign is the ability to reuse clothing. By modifying our current garments, we create new garments while minimizing our burden on needing to create new garments.

Microdesign techniques are often reversible, which increases the number of outfits we can get out of a piece of fabric. Some methods utilize combination and compartmentalization to drastically increase the number of possible designs (using the charm bracelet example, if you own just ten charms, there are 3,628,000 different ways to arrange them on your wrist).

Modification techniques also allow for continued use of previously unwearable garments (ripped, stained, ill-fitting), which further supports fashion sustainability.

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Stay tuned for examples of microdesign, as well as techniques, tutorials, and products useful for microdesign. Microdesign is much easier to engage in than it may seem, and I’m going to help people out there get involved and explore their own design.

-III