Stealth Wear

Adam Harvey

2013



Stealth Wear is a vision for fashion that addresses the rise of surveillance, the power of those who surveil, and the growing need to exert more control over privacy. It explores the aesthetics of privacy and the potential for fashion to challenge authoritarian surveillance technologies. The project is a collection of metal-plated garments that evade the thermal cameras used on military drones. The collection is inspired by traditional Islamic dress and the idea that garments can provide a separation between man and God. In Stealth Wear, this idea is reimagined in the context of drone warfare as garments that provide a separation between man and Drone. The 'anti-drone' burqa, hijab, and hoodie are fabricated with a highly-flexible silver-plated fabric that reflects the wearer's thermal radiation. This fabric can prevent observation for overhead thermal imaging systems, such as those used by military drones and heat-seeking munitions.