Human-computer interactions to rematerialise fashion heritage artefacts

In fashion, the concept of ‘materiality’ is evolving under the influence of Industry 4.0 technologies, gaining significant academic interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) fields. Understanding how to deal with materiality in light of digital technology impacts facilitates the revitalisation of culture-intensive artefacts by unravelling knowledge about their manufacturing processes, thus moving towards the design of sustainable production and consumption paths aimed at re-materialising the artefact in innovative ways consistent with their heritage. The article presents the results of a partnership project between the Gianfranco Ferré Research Center (GFRC) at Politecnico di Milano and the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Through a Reverse Engineering approach, the goal was to study and deconstruct an archival garment from the Gianfranco Ferré archive to rematerialise it and to converge HCI principles into educational applications in cultural and design-oriented fields.