An Interview with Ganit Golstein

Sustainability

Sustainability in this context looks at the entire life of a garment, from the initial manufacturing processes all the way to disposal. From talking to Ganit, I learned that, while numerous innovative processes are involved, the best solution is actually quite simple to understand: the practice of mono-material construction.

A major obstacle to recycling traditional textiles is material blends, as different materials have different requirements to properly recycle and repurpose. Material blends effectively pose similar obstacles to mixing trash in with glass; a lack of sorting can completely ruin a recycled product and ultimately make the act of recycling financially untenable.

Using mono-material construction, Ganit has designed and produced fully recyclable garments, such as a dress made entirely from plastic bottles. This dress was created largely through 3D printing, a process with involved some pros and cons. On the one hand, 3D printing was well suited to the material challenges of creating a mono-material dress. On the other hand, 3D printers are not designed to print or create products constructed like textiles. Ganit was forced to develop custom software and printing methods to teach 3D printers to mimic traditional sewing methods. This balance between physical and digital methods has been equally important in her other focuses.

Fully Recycled 3D Outfit by Ganit Goldstein

Customization

When Ganit told me that one of her focuses was customization, my mind immediately went to skin-tight jumpsuits engineered to fit an individual’s body like a second skin. While this image isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s only a fraction of what customization truly entails. On a broad level, customization in this context means developing clothing and fabrics that better reflect and support the body’s natural functions, such as movement or temperature regulation. Personalized, made-to-measure clothing certainly serves this goal, but ignores a host of other possibilities. Ganit is particularly focused on the material itself, specifically the use of active materials to adapt to the wearer and environment in real time.

Passive materials are what most of us see when we look in our closets: these materials have certain innate properties that do not change as we wear them. Wool helps retain warmth, linen breathes well, and so on. Active materials go a step further: they use sensors to understand the given scenario and adapt their properties accordingly, dynamically customizing themselves to the wearer’s needs. Ganit and I discussed a number of different applications for active materials she is working on, but the one she is most excited about is redesigning space suits for astronauts.

Space suits stand to gain a lot from customization. Historically they’ve been extremely uncomfortable; they are composed of 21 layers of materials and feature a gas pressurizing system, making them quite heavy and extremely inflexible. Simply bending one’s arm in a space suit compresses these layers and redirects the gas pressure, which makes precise movement nearly impossible.

A breakdown of NASA's 21-layer space suit

Research like Ganit’s has the power to change this and make new space suit designs infinitely more dynamic and comfortable. 4D scanning (the 4th dimension is motion) can help tailor the space suit to an individual’s body and movements, and active materials can support more efficient gas pressurizing systems and help monitor a suite of health information for astronauts while they’re in space – technologies that could very well replace modern wearables in the coming future. These integrated technologies bring us to Ganit’s third focus.

Embedding Technology in Textiles

As I touched on before, active materials are not innately active; they must be engineered to achieve their dynamic functionality. This is a task that requires designers just as much as it does electrical engineers. Even with the development of increasingly flexible electrical systems, identifying the best way to integrate technology into textiles is a challenging endeavor. Ganit explained that past methods have primarily looked at layering electronic systems over existing textile garments. She’s working to take this technology to the next level as she dives into the materials’ manufacturing: instead of layering, how can this technology be embedded and woven into the textiles?

'Between the Layers' 3D printed shoes

Answering this question has forced Ganit to move constantly between the digital and physical worlds, bridging the two as she works. Much like 3D printing textiles, there is no perfect system for weaving conductive threads into garments. Instead, multiple construction methods must be combined to achieve totally novel results.

For example, Ganit might use photogrammetry to scan a physical form and render it digitally in 3D (as she did to start the above shoes), but then use separate software to develop embroidery in 2D. This symphony of design methods finally lets her manufacture something completely new through a combination of 3D printing and manual alterations. Even once the final design is complete, another question emerges: once the technology is embedded, how do they merge with digital assets? How do we interface with them and tune them to our needs?

Final Thoughts

I entirely understand many criticisms of fashion and the fashion industry; constantly changing trends and social stigmas about dress can promote consumerism and discrimination, and luxury segments of fashion can quickly become elitist.

Ganit’s work, however, shows why fashion shouldn’t be overlooked as a force for good. Innovations in textiles and clothing have the power to impact literally everyone reading this article. Advances in this space could revolutionize preventative healthcare, enable humans to resist the environmental effects of climate change, and help help create a truly sustainable clothing industry.

By combining her passion and talents for design with relentless scientific curiosity and determination, Ganit truly weaves an inspiring vision of the future.

Learning More

Needless to say, this article only scratches the surface of Ganit’s incredible accomplishments and creations. If you’d like to dive even deeper, there are a few things you can do:

1. Check out Ganit’s website at https://ganitgoldstein.com/ and the Self-Assembly Lab at https://selfassemblylab.mit.edu/

2. Attend future MiM events as we collaborate with Ganit and other incredible creators around MIT

3. Attend MIT After Dark this Thursday, March 14th at the MIT Museum to hear a lecture from Ganit about her work https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/programs/mit-museum-after-dark