Bolor 

Um, so it’s a long journey. Definitely. Um, uh, I graduated from University of Technology Sydney with an honors in fashion and textiles. And, uh, my graduation collection was centered around zero waste textiles, and so, I was using CAD – Computer Aided Design, to come up with interesting interlocking zero waste textile designs that can be used to construct all kinds of different outfits and accessories.

And that led me to another degree at Central Saint Martin’s called Material Futures, which focused really on, you know, material research, speculative design, and also a critique. And there, I experimented a lot with wearable technology and really begin coding, and a lot of the coding was just self-learned through online resources. And also my brother helped me a lot actually at the time. So in London, I was experimenting with various different kinds of physiological sensors, sensors that track your heart rate, track your emotional arousal level and so on. And that really got me interested in, you know, in, in general technology and how emerging technologies have been really impacting our personal lives.

So then I went to Parsons to do much more research oriented work, and, uh, that’s where also, I started working with blockchain technology and virtual reality and got training in those areas. So it’s been a long journey and since graduation, and I’ve been doing my own research, looking into understanding better how these emerging technologies are affecting people on the ground, people working in different fields.

And surprisingly, I’m finding that my fashion and textile background… It’s actually what’s allowing me to work in a very interdisciplinary fashion and see connections where, you know, maybe others do not yet see connections between the game industry and the fashion industry. Connections between, you know, blockchain technology and digital crafts and so on.

Muaz

That is such an important point, actually. It always surprises people when I mentioned fashion as one of the few industries that is multi-disciplinary at its heart, because if you think about it their is psychology involved, theres chemistry, biology, physics, computation, it all binds together to create the outcomes, regardless of whether it’s physical or virtual, very few other industries allow you that breath of experimentation. And that’s why the number of specializations you find within fashion, you know surprises people as well. You know, because of the breath, the opportunity as well, to specialize in so many different areas is a possibility. So your interests can take you to some pretty wild places.

Bolor 

Yeah, yeah. That’s right. Definitely. You know, in the textile industry is what gave birth to computers as we know them today. So yeah, there’s a lot of interdisciplinarity there. 

Muaz 

So you mentioned when it comes to the kind of work you do. So you do research based work and you do commercial work and work for your personal portfolio as well at the moment.

So when it comes to a particular project or working on a project, what are the differences when it comes to the approach? For example, when it comes to a research project versus a commercial project? 

Bolor 

Part of it depends on what the research opportunity or the creative work opportunity. The commercial work opportunity also is like what they expect from me as, as a designer, as a researcher, but academic research, you know, is really for the generation of new knowledge. Right. But the research I do is, um, practice-based research. Um, so it’s, you know, it’s design research where you’re, you’re making, and then you’re having, you know, sort of a conversation with what you’re making and you’re contributing to knowledge generation, and at the same time, maybe you’re publishing your work, you’re talking about your work at a panel, or presenting about your work at a conference and so on. So there’s a definite sort of research question that I’m interested in answering when I’m engaged in research and the research itself is also very multi-disciplinary. There’s a lot of collaboration that has to happen to be able to answer the research question.

More commercial work is when I do consulting with, you know, startups, corporations, and also academic clients on wearable technology. So, they come to me with the problem and ask for my advice on how to, for example, integrate wearable sensors into a garment, or maybe how to use wearable sensors as a part of a visitor experience, and then I would sort of help them with the tech side, implementation side, as well as how to conceptualize or how to design around this piece of technology that they’re interested in. The other creative work that I do on the side, it’s more for my portfolio as you put it, as more of a creative outlet, a lot of the work I do, they’re interrelated to be honest. 

And so in some ways I’m still kind of exploring the zero waste idea back from back when I was graduating from my bachelor’s program and really trying to see how zero waste can become more mainstream in the industry, what are some of the technological changes required, but also what are some of the social changes that need to happen?

And how can we sort of transition into a better future using a bit of this speculation and design. And so my work tends to operate in this speculative design, critical design area, and oftentimes again, this is practice-based work there. So there’s a bit of tech implementation happening where I might be experimenting with an industrial, you know, knitting machine, for example, and trying to see how this knitting machine can be used in non-textile contexts.

So in some ways it’s still also research driven. There is a research question, but the work is really done for my own, as a creative outlet. 

Muaz 

Right. The ideation process for me personally as well. It is like you’re having a conversation with a piece of work and you’re trying to investigate it. You know, just the investigation process, you know, you’re asking questions of it.

Why are you doing this? What else can I do here? You know, it’s just that process of thinking and having a conversation I think is such a great point. 

Bolor

Yeah. Absolutely. 

Muaz

So with regards to the stages involved, when it comes to these projects, are they any like formal? I mean, I’m sure that they won’t be like binary or like, you know, cutoff points of like one, one stage cuts over into another stage, but are there general stages involved when it comes to a research project?

Bolor

Oh, yeah, definitely. Typically, you know, I would start with, with myself in a, where I want to take this work, what kind of impact do I want to make through this work? And, uh, so there’s a lot of, you know, questioning of, what are some of the potential directions I can take this in and which ones should I spend time on at this point in time?

And oftentimes also I’m looking, you know, in the very beginning stages of a project, I’m looking at, you know, funding opportunities, looking whether there are grants I can apply for, and that kind of gets me to write up an initial proposal about the work. How this creative work might contribute to the field?

And, it kind of forces me to formalize some of the ideas that, um, I’ve, uh, I’ve had. And then there is, you know, initial research that needs to happen, you know, with any creative work, becoming familiar with my community of practice, who are the people working in this field or in this area that I can reach out to, to have a conversation and share my thoughts.

And so I’m looking and I’m spending a lot of time looking at precedents and then, you know, I don’t spend too much time ideating, for me, making kind of becomes this ideation process where I’m kind of immediately diving into, you know, this idea that I had and trying to materialize it and these early stages, I’m not so worried about fidelity or the resolution of my work.

I’m really just interested in sort of having something tangible that I can then. You know, as you said, take a look at and sort of have a conversation with. And oftentimes this means the idea that I had is not fully flushed out. So it’s maybe, you know, like a very expected idea and may not be something amazing.

But that’s fine because at this point it’s really not about having a perfect idea that is unique, but it’s more about getting started with the making, getting started with the actual process and then trusting that process to take me to interesting places. So as I’m kind of formulating my next steps and thinking about what to focus on next, I’m also making and trying to materialize some of these ideas.

And it’s a constant, you know, back and forth between making and questioning. And then somewhere in there is a moment when you realize, oh, I have a very interesting idea or a very interesting application or very interesting message that I would like to share with the world. And at that point also the fidelity of your work is most likely, a little bit higher than, you know, like a paper prototype or like a rough sketch.

You, you know, you have something a bit more tangible and then you, you know, that allows you to develop a more, higher fidelity prototype, and really also focus on implementation, you know, look at your materials or look at what kind of tools you have available to you and how can you fully implement this idea?

Muaz

Right. So the block of marble starts to look closer to the statue, to the final statue. Perfect. So I guess, because of your background, you’ve got an experience of the digital and of the physical. So have you ever put together a physical collection? So how would putting a digital collection together compare  to putting a physical collection together, is the thought process similar or, or is it completely different?

Bolor

Well, the process itself is very similar, but the main difference is, you know, you don’t spend making physical clothes. Right? There’s a lot of sampling involved when you’re making an actual physical collection, trying to make sure the fit is correct, and that any of the finer details come out exactly as you imagined them. With digital collections or any digital artwork when it comes to fashion, I use software called Clo3D. You probably know, and you’re doing your pattern-making, draping and design work all of the same time using the software. And so, immediately, you know, if you make a small change to your pattern, you can visualize that in 3D. Um, and so you have basically your 2D pattern and the 3D work, you know, sort of on an avatar right next to it.

So they, then you’re looking at them side by side. So it allows for a much faster, I guess, ideation and design work because you can make changes to the pattern and immediately see the end result. Whereas if you’re creating something physical, you, you know, you have to change the patterns physically, right.

Then you have to make the changes to the garment, and then someone has to put those garments on and walk around and give you feedback. So it’s a longer process. I do appreciate the physical making side of things, just because I really am, you know, and a maker myself. I enjoy making things with my hands, but the digital process also has its benefits, many benefits.

So, you know, the two are slightly different towards the end, but the initial stages of designing a collection and getting to the point where you can actually start making is most likely the same. 

Muaz

I wonder as crossover increases in the future, a point comes where it actually starts fitting into the overall conversation of low to zero waste.

Cause I remember this is like going back years and uh, on my XBox it had a camera, and used to get these workout videos that used to scan your body. So if you’re a bit out of place, it will tell you to like, move slightly or like look at your heart rate and all of these kind of things. So it had a pretty good idea of your dimensions and what you look like.

And if you’re designing these things, in 3D, and there’s an easy way to get your consumer, your customer to get a 3D replica of themselves that you can drape them with, it’s exciting to see where this leads in the next four to five years. If you can get a consumer tool that allows you to easily get a 3D scan of yourself.

And if you’re working with a hybrid designer, you know, potentially like yourself, who creates collections, but they are almost like made to order, but you first need to fit your 3D model and get that working exactly as you want. And it’s only once that’s done can you order the physical. So I guess a lot of these, that final step that you mentioned, I guess, is going to keep on getting closer and closer and closer together as the future progresses. So it’s quite an exciting space to be in. 

Bolor

Yeah. Yeah. And as you put it, yeah. All of the puzzle pieces are already kind of out there and it’s just a matter of putting them together. And essentially, you know, I think what you’re describing is mass customization, right. Everybody owning an XBox or, uh, maybe the, you know, in the future, you can just scan your body with your phone camera, right? And then be able to do the, all of the fitting and everything, and then you get a parcel in the mail, and it’s the garment that you ordered that fits you perfectly. That kind of future, I don’t think is too far away from us. 

Muaz

Yeah. Exciting times in fashion. I think. So the other thing that I noticed on your website, I really love the way you described experimental, anti-disciplinary designer investigating the role of e-textiles and also using disruptive emerging technology as a catalyst for social change.

I’d love to understand that sentence and if we can unpack that and what that means. 

Bolor

Yeah. So, a lot of my work, both, you know, research work and creative work, is experimental, working with ideas that may seem too radical, too different from what we’re used to. 

Muaz

I’d love an example of that. 

Bolor

Well, um, you know, a great example is this, uh, digital, physical hybrid that we’re talking about, right?

And the fashion industry hire so many people, but many of them don’t get paid well. So one example would be, you know, for crafts people to be able to use their existing skills and instead of, you know, weaving a basket, for example, could they be weaving a digital basket and then sell that as a digital asset?

Because the difference with digital assets and physical creative work is that the physical version, there’s only one copy of that. So you can only sell that one copy that you made with your hands, whereas with a digital asset, you can copy that, you know, multiple times and you can sell it multiple times. So what I’m working on is to try to find a way that would enable crafts people to use your existing skills and work in other industries. So non-textile or non-fashion industries. And as you can imagine, a lot of the work is interdisciplinary, but I like the word anti-disciplinary just because it, sort of rejects the notion that there are disciplines to begin with.

Right? And here we are kind of, you know, discussing about these emerging technologies and, you know, talking about the digital physical sort of manifestations of creative work and hybrid work as well. And so with these emerging technologies, I think we should always be thinking about what their wider implications are, particularly what their social impact is.

And within that social impact umbrella, there’s various things. There’s cultural implications, environmental implications, and so on. So with any technology, we should be always questioning the impact that it has on people, on relationships, on experiences, and that’s what I’m interested in investigating.

And I think another key word there is transition design or transition to a better future. There’s an actual transition design framework that was created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. And it looks at how the work that we do today can lead to radical changes in the future.

Um, so it’s sort of design work that has the long term mindset for paradigm shifts. And a lot of it is systems thinking, critical thinking, or sort of doing some back casting right in the fashion industry, we talk a lot about forecasting trends, but, um, when we do speculative design work, we do a lot of back casting to imagine, you know, to try to imagine a better future, and then from that, try to figure out the different steps that we have to take today to get to that point. So that’s what my work is trying to figure out. What are those steps? 

Muaz

Amazing. I guess it’s hard to conceptualize that, the jumps of progress that can be made with an improvement in technology.

It’s only once you see that in front of you and then you think, wow, how amazing is this? Because even if you think about something as simple as,  having a collective laundromat. Now it seems people have these in their houses you know where you can wash and dry your clothes, but also the communal ones of having like a machine where everyone could come and wash and dry their clothes.

Like who knows in like 10 years, if you have, like, you mentioned the digital copy of a basket, if there’s a communal laundromat where you can go and print it out, you know, you could go and print out your basket, you know, as long as you’re the holder of that particular NFT or that particular coat. So because you’re the owner of that, you could pay for a printout every time you go there, the same way you would go to wash your clothes or dry clothes at a laundromat, you’d go to a place that has a large 3D printer that can be programmed to actually do this for you.

Bolor

Yeah. And in many ways we kind of also already have something like that, right. With these makerspaces, that have all of these tools and technologies that we can experiment with. 

Muaz 

Absolutely. And it’s only once you get to the point where you can start scaling those kinds of things like you could do with a washing machine, like you could do with the dryer, all of a sudden accessibility just shoots through the roof.

And then you start seeing it at every corner, that thing that didn’t seem imaginable five to 10 years ago because our smartphones are just a couple of decades old right, or not even that. So technology shifts so quickly. So a lot of the things that could happen in the next five years are probably unimaginable to us right now, but that technology is there, it’s how do you leverage it.

You can find Bolor online at:

• Website: boloramgalan.com

You can listen to the whole interview podcast over on our podcast page or by clicking here at Investigating Emerging Technologies in Fashion.