Ellen Fowles

Project Description Discovery Scarf Clothing should be seen as a crucial part of the care environment. However, garments designed for clinical settings often prioritise cost and expediency over comfort and personal dignity. In response, this project proposes alternatives to restrictive, infantilising and potentially harmful institutional apparel, such as anti-strip jumpsuits. This ongoing research, developed with residents, families and healthcare workers at Ashbourne Court Care Home in Hampshire, UK, explores how people living with dementia experience and navigate everyday dressing practices. The project considers how autonomy, informed consent and embodied agency can be preserved through participatory design methods. Through wardrobe studies and collaborative making, the research reveals and records assumed or overlooked tacit knowledge and creates empathetic design opportunities for people experiencing cognitive decline. Key questions guiding this work include: What does intergenerational collaboration offer design for later living? How can co-design processes be made more accessible, equitable and joyful? To what extent can a garment act as an object of care for its wearer? On display is the Discovery Scarf, a prototype designed to engage restless hands and offer multi-sensory comfort. You can also see a series of scribbled field notes from 2019 - 2025. Feel free to explore the textures with your hands! Bio Ellen Fowles is an inclusive design academic whose work sits at the intersection of healthcare and clothing. As Fashion and Fabrication Pathway Lead at Kingston School of Art and UK Program Director at Open Style Lab, she uses participatory co-design methods to create accessible wearable solutions with and for older adults and people with disabilities. Her practice explores socially responsive design, delivered through wearer-focused fashion education and transdisciplinary collaboration. Fowles has taught at leading institutions such as the Royal College of Art, London College of Fashion and the Savannah College of Art and Design. For details, see: www.tommyhltse.com