Arctic Warfare Thermal-Wear

During the second sewing-intensive project of the program, we were tasked with finding an issue that affected people from all walks of life - something that would fall in the broad category of displacement. A lot of classmates chose clothing worn by people who’ve been displaced from their homes due to financial or environmental reasons; some chose the other end of the economic spectrum and tackled the prohibitive nature of designer clothes. I went a different route - choosing to research the attire of the world’s militaries.

I figured nothing says displaced more than being enlisted to fight somewhere in the arctic with potentially sub-par equipment. I dug deep into what countries like the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, North Korea, Norway and other global powers are issued for arctic warfare and training. As it turns out, the technology of this equipment hasn’t changed much in the last few hundred years. It basically boils down to multiple layers of conventional winter-time materials.

Reaching this conclusion, I explored ways to improve the warmth, safety, and comfort of the soldiers by researching avenues into what is being used today, what has failed in the past, and what the future could hold. The answer to the latter was aerogel - a space-age material capable of insulating on a level never seen in any practical application. A material whose data sheet reads like something straight out of science fiction.

My design reflects a hypothesized hybrid of aerogel and other futuristic elements to create a more comfortable, maneuverable, and reliable alternative to the modern day solution of just adding more layers. Its important to know that the nature of aerogel is extremely difficult to create, fund sustainably, and integrate into other mediums. This is why the majority of this project served as an exercise in targeted research, pattern creation, and sewing in lieu of any reasonable way to produce aerogel myself.