FAR - Fashion und Robotics

The PEEK project "FAR - Fashion and Robotics" brings together three areas that have never worked together in a creative context before towards researching new, sustainable fashion design processes: the departments Fashion & Technology and Creative Robotics of the University of Art and Design Linz as well as the Institute for Biomedical Mechatronics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. The world of fashion is in a phase of transformation. Existing design and production processes are being questioned today and new, sustainable approaches are being sought. The way in which fashion is designed, produced and perceived is changing, thus creating a great potential for systemic change towards sustainability and responsibility. Digital technologies and computer-based design tools enable the design of complex forms for the body, which is difficult to grasp in terms of its complex shape, opening up new production methods. We see an emergence of a new type of fashion which finally enables social and cultural changes. In the past, technological innovations in fashion were mainly based on new materials and new production methods. Today, many more new technologies are available in an ever shorter time frame, which influence and condition each other. In the FAR project, existing technologies such as 3D printers and scanners, fabric simulation and motion capturing technologies are used to develop completely new processes for fashion. In a second step these will be transferred to bio-based materials, using the same machines and methods in very different ways: Machines now support the growth of biomaterials instead of cutting them into shape. FAR will not only produce technical processes and artistic works, but also important visions for new materials, shapes and craftsmanship that will leave a minimum of waste and emissions. The results will be made available through residencies so that designers can build on this research. The results are thus not simply technological advances or artefacts, but catalysts for new design strategies. The project is being implemented by Christiane Luible-Bär (co-director of the "Fashion & Technology" course at the University of Art and Design Linz) and Johannes Braumann (head of the "Creative Robotics" department at the University of Art and Design Linz) together with Werner Baumgartner (head of the Institute for Biomedical Mechatronics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz).

Fair fashion, slow fashion, local production, a circular economy instead of tonnes of textiles in the bin - it's not just environmentalists who are calling for changes in the resource-intensive textile industry, new EU directives are also intended to contribute to the sustainable development of the global textile value chain. But getting there is not easy. To date, automation has only been possible for sewing simple clothing items, such as T-shirts, which is why many clothes are still produced using labour-intensive sewing machines in low-wage countries. Industrial stakeholders often argue for full automation. In contrast, our research aspired to change perspectives on industrial processes. Where do we need automation? How could digitalization allow us to rethink our relations with fashion design processes, production means, and goods? How could we think beyond extractivism? In this context, the Fashion & Robotics project is trying to show completely new ways of designing fashion. Instead of optimizing textiles and 2D patterns, as well as the conventional manufacturing process, 3D processes and new 3D materials have been created. Firstly, the FaR team started with robots that can produce a garment locally by printing, cutting and sewing on three-dimensional surfaces. Subsequently, with 'Grow Whole Garments', 'FAR - Fashion and Robotics' researched a process in which entire garments made of bacterial cellulose grow seamlessly in textile membranes. Komagataeibacter xylinus is an aerobic acetic acid bacterium that uses oxygen to metabolize sugar into cellulose. As fabric-producing bacteria, they could offer a sustainable alternative to cellulose fibres such as cotton. As clothing has to fulfil functions that are not evenly distributed across the body, cellulose growth is observed and locally influenced by industrial robots in order to allow different fabric properties to grow in a fluid transition. In addition to the production of new garments, there is also a need in the fashion industry to extend the life of existing clothing for a 2nd and 3rd usage: 'FAR - Fashion and Robotics' tested ways to keep clothing in circulation for longer through collaborative reprocessing. To this end, the research team implemented a designer-led framework for collaborative garment repair that combines visual programming with parametric design, collaborative robotics and electrospinning. The prototype explored a process in which nanofibres from recycled polymers, obtained from garments that can no longer be recycled, can be applied to repairable garments made from the same polymer using high voltage. Further artistic experiments focussing on the interaction of robots, textiles, and space finally explored the question of who the actors are in these new design processes. Is the robot a helper or a co-creator? What do we expect from robots, and how do we humans want to work together with machines in the future?