Our Studio focused on people living with CP.

People with CP have poor blood circulation because they spend so much time in their wheelchairs. One popular solution to this problem is compression clothing. We investigated three different forms of compression. 

Our intentions were to make compression clothing for children living with CP. We found that compression clothing can be expensive and the only compression pants available are adjustable by inflation and deflation. However, this can be expensive so we brainstormed ideas of how to make more affordable compression pants. 

We looked at Kinesio tape, a special tape that athletes use for controllable compression for a short period of time. The tape increases blood flow and movement wherever it is applied. Our original plan was to apply this concept to socks. 

We realized compression socks wouldn't work due to discomfort and practicality so we moved onto pants. Our ideas dealt with zippers, but we realized zippers might be difficult to use for someone with CP. Javier told us about snowboarding boots and how you can use a knob to tighten the boots. We thought we might apply that concept, but realized it might be difficult for some with CP to turn a dial. So we decided to use lanyard cord locks instead. 

We then looked towards comfort and performance. We began brainstorming on what type of materials would be comfortable, compressive but also affordable. We thought about spandex, cloth, polyester and other materials. We then began designing and drawing sketches of the pants.