General rain is not appreciated by most people because it creates inconvenience and an uncomfortable wetness. Sometimes not even an umbrella is sufficient enough to stop rain which creates this an uncomfortable cold feeling. In a way, wearing a rain jacket is much more convenient than holding up an umbrella; moreover, another benefit of wearing a rain jacket is that you have more mobility with your arms. Unfortunately rain jackets are not as common as umbrellas during a rainy day and some of the reasons behind this is that rain jackets can be unfashionable and messy on the hair. It is often worn only when it is clear that precipitation is occurring. If these areas can be fixed on a rain jacket, then it is very likely that rain jackets can come back into the fashion trend.
Sheila and I would like to design a rain jacket that is both practical and fashionable at the same time. We will aim to create appealing patterns, designs, along with inputs of bright colours so that people can feel good about wearing a rain jacket during rainy days. We believe that this will create a fashion trend where people will look to a rainy day and feel good about what rain jacket they can wear.
Originally, we planed to use hydrochromic inks (creates colour effects when it is exposed to rain) for patterns on the fabric, however, we could not get a hold of it. Unfortunately, the ink is recently invented by the umbrella company called, SquidLondon, and it is against their company policy to sell the ink. So it will be just an idea to use the ink. We would like to structure the hood, so that it won’t leave messy hair after it has been worn. We are working with a barometer pressure sensor that will light up the rain coat through an attached LED when it is raining. The LED light will act as a weather indicator device that will alert people if it is raining or not.
These are our inspirations:
Forecast Umbrella:
-The light changes according to the precipitation
-The umbrella with hydrochromic inks
