My Way

Fashion can be a powerful form of personal expression. For this reason, I have created designs inspired by autism, which seek to honor the sensory peculiarities and way of interact with the world. These designs are inspired by a young autistic woman who welcomed me and patiently taught me what she needed and expected from me. The dominant color chosen, pink, is a tribute to her.

                                                                         Creative Process

To come up with ideas for designing a fashion piece, I begin by creating a word board that evokes the theme I have in mind. Next, I brainstorm other words that are associated with the original words on the board. For instance, if "Routine" is one of the words on my board, I might think of words like "graphic" or "organize," which in turn remind me of concepts like lines and squares.

Then I create a photo mood board to shape the word board, which gives me a visual of possible shapes, textures and colors.

The sensory hypersensitivity is manifested in these designs through fluffy textures, and their fighting character through leather. Straight lines and angles describe the tendency of autistic people to seek order and structure in their environment. But it is also an expression of their strength and resilience.

In designing this collection, I sought to capture the determination and strength of a young woman who has reached maturity and feels empowered in her life. She is no longer a child, and seeks to express herself authentically through the clothes she wears.

The designs seek to honor the beauty of how people with autism see the world, regardless of their individual characteristics. The contrasting black and white colors have been chosen not only to symbolize literality and rigidity but also to evoke a sense of order and simplicity. These colors contrast with the fluffy textures, cheerful pastel tones that remind us of the characteristic hypersensitivity of autism.

I have incorporated intelligent textile materials with the purpose of advocating for the usefulness of these advancements for people with autism. Glasses that provide information to reduce confusion. Gloves or socks that provide heat or cold to help relax, and a change of color to indicate possible stress states. These are just some examples of how technology and fashion can help improve the quality of life for people with autism.

The groom it's been created in Maya Xgen. The skirt in made out of hair, using Maya Xgen and applying a ramp in the opacity channel to get that final spongy look.

All textures are created in Substance Painter. All patterns are created using Marvelous Designer.

The geos of the boots and safety headphones are downloaded from Sketchfab. Thanks to the creators, I just added the groom and the textures to these objects.

"Safety headphones" (https://skfb.ly/oCsOs) by Rectro and boots author Rick Dao,  https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/prada-combat-boots-ce25101c6fde42f9bfe38207f8cb33b6. License under Creative Commons.