Current research in wearable smart textiles largely resides in ‘hard’ scientific fields, which prioritise technological function, yet often overlook critical design aspects that influence the wearer’s experience. Wearable smart textiles are often viewed merely as flexible platforms for technology, without sufficient consideration of how material interactions impact textile appearance, texture, handle and drape, all of which affect comfort and wearability. This narrow focus limits their potential by neglecting the experiential knowledge necessary for their holistic development. By addressing the gaps that act as barriers to textile designs recognition as a critical discipline in wearable smart textiles, this study explores the ways a textile designer, drawing on their intuitive and hands-on expertise, can advance smart textiles through engagement with the sciences to integrate both technical performance and sensory and tactile experience. Through reflective experimentation and sampling, textile designers work to harmonise function with sensory and tactile qualities, as articulated by Elaine Igoe. My study draws on Igoe’s thinking to further understand how a ‘soft’, textile design approach can be developed in emerging technology-driven contexts, such as wearable smart textiles. Integrating technology into fabrics, designers like Bruna Goveia da Rocha, Pauline van Dongen, and Emmi Pouta emphasise the material, tactile and experiential qualities of textiles and exemplify this 'soft' textile design approach. However, these design insights usually remain confined to design research, with limited integration into the broader science-led, wearable smart textile field. A bricolage methodology was chosen for its adaptability, enabling hands-on techniques to be combined with qualitative research. Using a Research through Design (RtD) approach, two exploratory case studies were conducted, focusing on the integration of technological components into knitted and embroidered innersuit samples. These projects involved cutting-edge, science-led contexts, allowing for the practical application of textile design expertise to achieve a balance between experiential qualities and functionality. In the first case study, I acted as a maker, facilitator, and workshop host, contributing textile design to wearable innersuits for nuclear decommissioning operators. In the second, I developed thermoregulation garments for astronauts, conducting semi-structured interviews to gain further insights into the interdisciplinary requirements of smart textile development. This practice-based research makes contributions across practice, mindset, and methodology. On a practical level, it develops textile design skills to create wearable smart textiles that incorporate polymer optical fibres and fluidic systems, with the aim of balancing function with design. It highlights a shift in approach from traditional to smart textile design, demonstrating how a soft textile approach and sampling can be re-positioned and embedded within wearable smart textiles to create fabrics where experiential qualities, such as appearance, texture, handle and drape, are thoughtfully considered and preserved. The study also fosters a flexible, multidisciplinary approach, in which the designer acts as a ‘material explorer,’ adapting to various roles and contexts. Methodologically, it introduces a ‘soft’ textile design perspective into the smart textile field, bridging the gap between traditional textile design expertise and technological innovation. This reflective, exploratory approach demonstrates both the opportunities and challenges of developing wearable smart textiles when engaging with practitioners from other disciplines.

Funder: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)