Related Lab
Andrea Wolf-Simone is an Italian-Brazilian fashion designer and finished in 2020 her second Masters of Arts at the Zürich University of Arts- ZHdK in Zürich. The research DIGITAL TACTILITY is the merger of interaction design, fashion design and traditional handicrafts. Her curiosity led her to explore new fashion possibilities using smart materials to embody new perceptive interactions for the wearer.
“CRAFTING 3.0” is her concept and it refers to an interactive, modernised handicraft. Crafting techniques are a representation of cultural attachment. In her concept, crafting gains an additional function of expanding our senses when these traditional techniques are combined with modern, universal technology. This is perceptive Crafting 3.0. As a result of the theoretical research and experts interviews she developed the Digital Tactility Open Source Platform where crafting and technology merge together. Her mission is implementing a hybrid approach to share traditional handicraft combined with new technologies with new generations. In this platform everyone can learn valuable knowledge of old traditional crafts and at the same time, infuse them with new technologies.
In over 18 years professional experience as a fashion designer in the luxury segment between France and Brazil and teaching fashion design theory and draping/moulage technique since 2017 she stress to her students as well as in her own design process the importance of maintaining a historical overview of crafting techniques and to take a innovative approach of combining them with new and current technologies. In her opinion however, the future of handicrafts should not be limited only to Haute Couture and luxury, it should be made available to everyone and (again) reinserted in our modern society.