Lilli Martin

Author: Lilli Martin | Major: Apparel Merchandising and Product Development | Semester: Fall 2022

Lilli Martin is an honors student in the Dale Bumpers college studying Apparel Merchandising and Product Development, and receiving a minor in Journalism. Over the course of the Fall 2022 semester, she has been working with her mentor, Dr. Laurie Apple.

Back in Spring 2021, I proposed my creative project, Creating Adaptive Clothing for Dialysis Patients. Upon choosing my topic, I knew I wanted to come up with something that could serve as a solution to a real-world problem. My cousin is currently receiving dialysis treatment, and during this my mom was having a hard time finding her clothes to wear to treatment. I wanted to find a solution to this problem, so I decided to make it my thesis topic.

I was assigned to Dr. Apple after my first mentor had left the University, and she has been a great help in the whole process. With her help, I have expanded my research committee to not only just apparel faculty, but I am also receiving aid from the nursing community as well. Dr. Apple suggested I make sure to focus on the medical needs in conjunction with apparel needs that occur during treatment.

My main purpose for my research is to show how adaptive clothing for dialysis patients can be created to be both affordable and stylish. In addition, the adaptive clothing should be functional in thermal and stain resistant properties and easy vascular access, so it can be used during treatment.

Part of my research includes a pre-survey. This is to gather data from people who are currently receiving dialysis. The data includes information about, demographics, their clothing needs during treatment, and their opinions on the current market for adaptive clothing.

The second half of my research includes a garment wear-test and a post-survey. The post-survey collects data from people who have volunteered to try on the different prototype garments. The information collected will include their dislikes and likes of the two garments.

We are currently awaiting for our IRB form to be approved. While we wait for approval, we are coming up with mock designs for the garments. During treatment, there needs to be vascular access, and coming up with an adaptive design for this need is our main focus right now. We are also doing some research into different fabrics that can aid in stain-resistance.

Through this process I have been able to speak to different groups of students, and have presented my thesis to the Dean of Partnership Council. This has been a real honor for me, and I love being able to show others that despite being just a student, our projects can make a real-world difference, and have real-world applications.

Our plans for the next semester is to narrow down our mock-ups, into actual prototypes. Once that is completed, and our IRB is approved, we will begin our surveys, and eventually do our garment wear-tests.

After college, I would ideally love to go into the design field. I feel as though this project has helped me as a designer. Having this experience in finding a problem, and coming up with a real-life solution is an experience I don’t think I would have gotten anywhere else. This project has given me confidence in my design abilities. Creating my own garments, with my own solution to vascular access is an undertaking I don’t think I would have been able to do on my own. Both my mentor and the honors college has given me guidance and has made me driven to do this project.