Woven Close to the Body
Category: Apparel
Competitions: Fashion Competition 2026
This project explores how the material qualities of cotton can shape intimate clothing. Through woven cotton underwear prototypes, I studied texture, thickness, elasticity, seams, and surface details as design elements, rather than treating underwear only as a functional garment. The garment is intentionally simple. Instead of building a complex structure, the design keeps a large textile surface visible, allowing the woven cotton, edge, colour, and hand-applied details to become the main focus. I see this piece as an intimate textile object: a small garment worn close to the body, but also a surface that can carry traces of material, craft, and time. The current prototypes are made from cotton textile, except for small elasticated sections. The elastic thread is synthetic and used only as a minimal functional component for fit and recovery. For the final version, I plan to refine the design with natural fibres, cotton or linen ties, natural indigo dyeing, and surface treatments such as resist dyeing. Any resist paste would be used only during the dyeing process and washed out afterwards. The design also proposes silk embroidery on the outer surface of the garment. Small sakura petal motifs are planned as embroidered details, not as heavy decoration. They add a quiet sense of care, repair, and attachment to the piece, while keeping the fabric itself as the main subject. By combining woven cotton, indigo dyeing, frayed edges, silk embroidery, and adjustable ties, the project presents innerwear as a small textile object that can be kept, repaired, and worn for a long time. Instead of hiding the material, this garment brings the texture and character of natural fibres close to the body. Final details may be refined during production, while keeping the material direction focused on woven cotton, indigo dyeing, silk embroidery, frayed edges, and adjustable ties.
