5th STS Italia Conference A Matter of Design: Making Society through Science and Technology Milan, 12–14 June 2014 Developing Sustainable Communication Interfaces Through Fashion Design Caroline LOSS *a,b , Rita SALVADO a , Catarina LOPES a , Pedro PINHO c,d , Ricardo GONÇALVES c , Fernando VELEZ e , Henrique SARAIVA e , Jorge TAVARES e , Norberto BARROCA e and Luís BORGES e a Textile and Paper Materials Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, 6201‐001, Covilhã, Portugal; E‐mails: carol@ubi.pt, rita.salvado@ubi.pt, kate_cial@sapo.pt b CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, 70040‐020, Brasília – DF, Brazil; E‐mail: caroline.loss@ubi.pt c Instituto de Telecomunicações, Campus Univesitário de Santiago, 3810‐193, Aveiro, Portugal; E‐mails: ppinho@av.it.pt, rgoncalves@av.it.pt d Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emílio Navarro, 1959‐ 009, Lisboa Portugal; E‐mail: ppinho@deetc.isel.pt e Instituto de Telecomunicações ‐ DEM, University of Beira Interior, 6200‐001, Covilhã, Portugal; E‐mails: fjv@ubi.pt, m1612@ubi.pt, m5212@ubi.pt, d708@ubi.pt, lborges@ubi.pt The recent technological developments made electronic devices become imperative and indispensable, being present in our daily routines, all over the world. But, the continuous exposition of people to the electromagnetic radiation might cause illness. Electrosmog is the invisible electromagnetic radiation that results from the usage of electric equipment and wireless technologies. Some studies present electro sensibility as a contemporary illness affecting more and more people. This paper analyses some of the challenges this reality puts to the fashion design and how textile materials may be used to protect the human body against the harmful radiation and to develop smart cloths incorporating textile antennas able to capture these radiations and feed low‐frequency devices. Thus, one considers the notion of “Transparent Sustainability” and the search for the smart energy explorations of/or in the human body. This way, the association of fashion design and technology can transform the garment in a sustainable communication interface. Keywords: Electrosmog; textile antennas; wearable development; energy harvesting; smart clothing.