Maureen Selina Laverty
she/herTrousers to Climb Trees
Maureen is a fashion designer and action researcher from Ireland, based in Norway. She is specialised in inclusive sensorial design. For the last three years she has been co-creating knowledge with neurodivergent individuals about their lived sensory experiences with clothing and how it shapes their experiences of the world. Her embodied way of working is informed by a bachelors in fashion design from NCAD Dublin, training as a tailor on Savile Row and Alexander McQueen, 5 years developing medical wearable technology, and a masters in product design engineering at NTNU with a particular focus on participatory and inclusive design.
Project
This pilot project explores solutions to the sensory clothing needs of neurodivergent individuals through the case study Trousers to Climb Trees; a title inspired by how Maureen’s PhD research participants expressed how they wish to feel in their clothing. Neurodivergent individuals can experience the sensations in their environment at amplified and often unbearable levels. Clothing is our closest environment that generates tactile, sonic and kinaesthetic sensations with the moving body. If these sensations are processed by the body as threats then the wearer is trapped in a state of chronic stress, impacting their quality of life. The CIRCE funding will be used to further develop a trouser product that improves the comfort of the wearer; physically, mentally and socially. By engaging inclusive participatory design practices and digital clothing production technology, the project aims to advance social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry and wider CCE.
