The Ontology of Smart Clothing: A Phenomenological Investigation of Embodiment and Design

This doctoral thesis explores how smart clothing mediates the relationship between the wearer and their environment, drawing on the ontological implications of design and the lived, embodied experience of technological garments. While existing smart clothing often focuses on functionality, such as safety or biometric monitoring, this research posits that its full potential lies in its ability to support self-transformation, identity negotiation, and embodied expression. Framed within the paradigm of research-through-design (RtD), the study blends cultural phenomenology, postphenomenology, object relations theory, and social psychology to examine how garments act as mediating artefacts within human-world relationships. The theoretical foundation begins with an ontological-hermeneutic model, building on Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world and Uexküll’s concept of Umwelt to conceptualise how artefacts, including clothing, shape and are shaped by our perception, actions, and identity. This leads to the development of the SEPA model - Self-Awareness, Expression, Perception, and Appearance - a framework for analysing the mediating dimensions of smart clothing in the wearer’s relationship to self and world. The framework is validated and extended through multiple design-led case studies. An annotated portfolio of previous smart clothing prototypes is analysed, including Bubelle and Flare, to explore external expressions of emotion and environmentally responsive interactions. These are followed by an exploratory user study focusing on the inner, lived experiences of clothing and self-identity, laying the groundwork for the development of Kelip, a bespoke, full-body smart garment designed to support personal transformation. Kelip functions as an evocative research product that embodies the transformational expressive space between body one (lived experience) and body two (socially constructed identity). Its interactive features, such as light patterns and proximity sensors, allow the wearer to shift between different self-aspects: the knowledgeable-self, the empowered-self, and the social-self. A media-based diary and elicitation interview with the wearer provide first-person insights into how Kelip mediates self-awareness, confidence, and social presence in various public settings. The thesis makes three key contributions. Theoretically, it extends cultural phenomenology and postphenomenology by introducing a layered understanding of technological mediation through clothing. Methodologically, it formalises the use of evocative research products and strong concept articulation within research-through-design. Practically, it provides a conceptual and experiential foundation for designing wearables that support identity formation, emotional awareness, and social belonging. The study also opens pathways for applying the SEPA framework beyond individual wearers, considering its potential relevance for organisations, collective identity, and other product domains. Ultimately, this thesis positions design as a form of ontological sense-making; an act that extends beyond the creation of artefacts to shaping how we understand ourselves and relate to the world. Smart clothing, when designed with this intentionality, becomes more than a garment: it becomes a medium for transformation.