Material Practices in Transition: From Analogue to Digital in Teaching Textile and Fashion Design

Abstract

The transition to digital design tools challenges the craftsmanship of textile and fashion designers as part of the product value chain, opening for reflection on how textile craftsmanship should be taught in education due to the current trend of digitalisation. By looking at new forms of craftsmanship, this research expands on the idea of teaching students transdisciplinary methods which connect analogue and digital tools within textile and fashion design education. Based on analysis of a number of case studies, we propose a framework of different strategies for teaching textile craftsmanship in the digital design age, with the aim of integrating textile-specific digital environments — which have been designed primarily to maximise the efficiency of industrial processes, rather than to enhance design development with regard to artistic expression — and non-textile digital tools on the basis that these are exploratory in nature and open to more creative design practices.