Shavasana Shirts

This work was made in order to explore the mindset of the fashion consumer, responding to research that shows that often people are making purchases to fulfill emotional rather than physical needs. These might include the need to feel ‘newness’, or perhaps to feel confident enough to fit in with a group of friends.

Yoga is a practice that supports a more mindful state of being – it exercises the body and ‘stills’ the mind. Could relating yoga practice to fashion textile research practice lead to new design insights?

At the end of a yoga practice, the teacher encourages the participants to lie down flat on the mat, and with the eyes closed, relax the body and mind for a few minutes to ‘seal the practice’. This is a prompt to be still, to be quiet, to notice how the body is feeling and to let the energy created from the movements to settle within the body. Often, whilst learning the practice, it is common to feel the need to jump up and finish the class, to get back to work, or to get home. Does this essential pose at the end of the practice represent something about the consumers restless mindset? Should we seek to foster a shavasana shopping mindset?

Becky Earley, in collaboration with Bridget Harvey, explored print design and mark-making with the body through a gallery-based yoga session, directed by Dr Clara Vuletich via Skype in Sydney Australia. It was part of the Cultures of Resilience project, led by Ezio Manzini and Jeremy Till at UAL (2015 - 2016).