Embedded nature: Design innovation for health & wellbeing

This talk explores the vital role designers can play in encouraging Europeans and other global citizens to engage in sport and everyday physical activity to improve their long-term health & wellbeing. Investigating the consumer’s growing desire to deeply connect with nature through active outdoor experiences, such as wilderness yoga & fitness retreats, outdoor gyms, running clubs, bootcamps and endurance events, Anne will discuss how designers can conceptually ‘embed nature’ into their designs to enhance the wearer’s wellbeing during and following exercise.

‘Biophilic design’ is a strategy already popular in interior design and architecture and has proven wellness benefits. Anne will illustrate how this concept could provide design inspiration for the innovation of sportswear products for summer 2019 and beyond, by presenting visual trend collections, which further utilise a diverse range of commercial, emerging and conceptual, bio-based and/ or biodegradable materials.