How can clothing become a positive influence? By including the user’s needs

^{By Tanya Maria Møller Knudsen}

Note: This article is available in English only. A Danish translation is not provided, but you can read the original version below.

Often clothing isn’t made for ‘people like her’, his mother said, which underlines the lack of inclusion in the industry.

“We have produced for the masses instead of individuals, and our approach to form has been simplified to very standardized sizes, instead of looking at how the human body looks in all its diversity,” Marcus Aminaka Wilmont says.

Therefore, he wished to research how he could implement Universal Design in his teachings at the Royal Danish Academy to be more inclusive.

As a part of the Bevica Scholarship, his research led him to Japan and the US, where he discovered alternative approaches to design and how inclusivity can become a strength, he says:  

“It is an incredibly inspiring lens to look at design, which creates value differently.”

Accessible to more people

Marcus Aminaka Wilmont traveled to fashion schools in separate ends of the world, as both places had different things to offer.

In Japan, there are historical examples of good solutions, he says:

“They have the kimono, which is designed around inclusion and sustainability, because it can adapt easily to the body, regardless of who you are.“

In the US, while being at the forefront of mass production of clothes, there has also been an increasing awareness of inclusion in the fashion industry.

With knowledge from the research trips, Marcus Aminaka Wilmont developed learning activities to conduct workshops with his students in the Fashion, Clothing and Textile Masters program.

Here, the students were assigned to design something for an important person in their life. This personal aspect struck a chord with the students:

“It turned out to be a nice way to teach them that there are many things we skip in our design process,” Marcus Aminaka Wilmont recalls.

Furthermore, he introduced simple techniques to the students to make the design more inclusive, such as pleating. This method allows one to take a piece of non-stretchable material and give it the ability to stretch and follow the shape of the body.  

“Pleating is a good example of how you can combine something aesthetically beautiful with some positive results concerning body diversity. And the students understand that as well,” he says.

Therefore, Universal Design is an important tool in the design process, as it requires understanding the needs of the person you are designing for, Marcus Aminaka Wilmont explains:

“When the user influences the design, it actually optimizes the product that comes out of it.”

Knowledge and solutions

Learning about these approaches, Marcus Aminaka Wilmont has reflected on how he can become more aware in his own design and teaching process.

Still, he believes there is a need for more research in this field:

“But there is also a need for practitioners who can generate exciting and beautiful solutions, which can inspire people.”

While the inclusive fashion industry has a long way to go, he thinks that the industry can change for the better when education is focused on sustainability in all possible parameters.

“My big hope is that fashion will go back to being much more diverse and more bound to the traditional systems in relation to production than it is now,” Marcus Aminaka Wilmont says.

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