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PRECEDENT
RESEARCH
WHAT ARE YOU DOING
WHY?
Researching the newest designs and technologies in fashion
To build a library of examples that you can learn from and use to inspire your own fashion designs
ACTIVITY MATERIALS
You will explore the Precedent Library tab to look at innovative fashion forms, new textiles, digital fabrication and electronics integration to understand the future of fashion.
1st
~65min
2nd
30 min
30 mins
ACTIVITY STEPS
From the 'Precedent Library' tap - Select one project that you find inspirational and answer the guiding questions on a slide.
3rd
5 min
Post your work to Seesaw, in the form of a magazine article.
Precedent's Library
1st
You we will explore the 'Resources' tab to look at innovative fashion forms, new textiles, digital fabrication and electronics integration to understand the future of fashion.
Answer the questions
2nd
Select one project that you find interesting and answer the following questions:
- What inspired them?
(The story behind it, the shapes, the way it transforms the body, etc.)
2.What specific details, materials or techniques make it innovative, exciting or inspiring?
- Examples: pleating, laser cutting, generative patterns, reflective materials, electronics, unusual silhouettes, layered structures, biomimicry.
3.What would you like to take from this design and incorporate into a possible design of your own?
Upload Deliverables
3rd
Submit your work to Seesaw, in the style of a magazine article.
This piece is by Iris van Herpen.
Inspiration:
- Science & The Invisible: Fascination with unseen forces like sound waves, magnetic fields, and air currents (e.g., her work on the Moiré effect).
- Nature's Intricacy: Inspired by microscopic life (cells, fungi), aquatic forms (jellyfish), and large-scale natural movements (starling murmurations).
It features her signature technique of creating complex, repetitive, wave-like or spiral structures through selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing or intricate laser-cutting and layering. It beautifully captures the intersection of fashion, science and sculpture.
I find it fascinating how the spirals overlap and how each spiral looks like very similar to a sea shell. I would like to incorporate a similar effect on whatever I choose to build. The spirals look never-ending and I would like my design to have a sense of everlasting.
Prompt
We will explore how fashion can express identity — who we are, where we come from, what we value, and how we choose to present ourselves. To spark ideas, we will begin by researching innovative fashion precedents that use new technologies, unexpected forms, and experimental design strategies. This exploration is called precedent research.
A precedent is an existing project or idea that introduces new materials, techniques, technologies, or forms. Studying precedents helps you discover fresh possibilities for expressing identity through fashion.