Due to the current health crisis all planned physical activities at UAL have been cancelled and we are now connecting online. The Post-Grad Community series of webinars showcases the research by PhD students across UAL. As part of this series, Kadian Gosler examines bra experience. Watch the research presentation and Q&A.
Examining Bra Experience
The lingerie academic field often quotes researchers Dewsnap and Hart assertion that the 'bra buyer is motivated by a complex array of interlinked factors functional, physiological, psychological, psychosocial and economic' (2001 p.116). Since then, several researchers, many from the marketing and business discipline, managed to examine the bra linking it back to one of the factors. However, the focus is on the intent to or purchase of the bra barely scratching the in-depth experience of it. By understanding how women experience the bra, designers may better be equipped to design superior products.
In this webinar, I will present on a bra conceptual model developed from secondary research and expanded -through primary research- to illustrate the suggested relationships among the factors. Furthermore, I will expound on how women come to experience the bra through the aforementioned factors, as well as, examine their experience of the bra through a framework. The bra experience framework was developed by scaffolding experience-based theories from disparate disciplines: Embodied Practise (Entwistle, 2000), Enclothed Cognition (Adam and Galinsky, 2012), and Affective theory (Ruggerone, 2017). Using data triangulated from multiple methods, with a focus on mature women, I begin to untangle and weave a clearer insight into their experience of the bra.
About Kadian
Kadian Gosler is a theory and practice-based PhD Candidate supervised by Professor Sandy Black under the Fashion & Textile and Design department. Kadian's interdisciplinary research explores experience through a multi-perspective approach in the design and development of Bra Wearables — a subsection of smart bras. Her work is the first to integrate Black women's bra experience into lingerie studies.
An extensive educational background in intimate apparel and professional career as a Lingerie Designer & Merchandiser in NYC moulded her practical approach and interests in the future of the field. Alongside her PhD research, Kadian is a design consultant and inventor developing bra patents — extending her expertise in the smart bra/bra wearables field.
Watch the video for the full description of the resesrach.
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