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Thinking of Chefs as Athletes to Create High-Performance Chefwear
Ever seen Chef's Table on Netflix? If you have, then you have an idea of how crazy a professional kitchen is. Chef's all around the world spend 8+ hours in kitchens, running, stretching, lifting objects in extreme heated conditions. Professional cooking is active, but what about chefwear?
It is NOT.
What if we reimagined professional cooking as a sport, and design chefwear, like sportswear, so chefs can perform with high efficiency and comfort throughout their day?
Design Team
Dhruvee Tyagi
Final Design
Redesigned chefwear
New sleeve mechanism
Taking inspiration from a drawstring bag, the new segmented sleeve is easily collapsible on the pull of a tab.
Body Mapping
Three different areas with different material needs.
Black
In black
Back, with hints from sportswear
Chefwear engineered to the needs of the kitchen
Modern rendition of the class button and collar detail
Segmented sleeve detail
Feature breakdown
Easy zip closure
Reimagining professional cooking
How I went about doing this:
Problem #1
Chef coats do little to dissipate heat and moisture away from the body and provide comfort. Looking at sportswear, I used body mapping to place carefully selected materials at areas where I need them (see image), leading me to construct a garment that was designed for its function provided stretchability, breathability and moisture wicking where needed.
Problem #2
The sleeves need to be constantly adjusted in the kitchen, but doing so with dirty hands and a white coat- not ideal. To handle this problem, we would need to create a mechanism by which the sleeve can be collapsed without touching, quickly. By drawing inspiration from a drawstring bag and its collapsible mechanism, I segmented the sleeve section and ran a ribbon-like connector through allowing for an easy pull to collapse the sleeve. (see image)
The aesthetics of the coat are inspired by sportswear, to add character and spunk to these objects. Hinting at traditional elements such as the color, the breast cover and the buttons, this chef coat is a modern, more efficient rendition to provide comfort and ease.
Engineered truly for the athletes in the kitchen.
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Comments
Looks nice, but I am baffled by the arm pull system, I don't understand how that actually works. In the origin page it shows a pull strap that moves the material, but in this article of images it shows the person pulling the actually sleeve material. Seems like some sort of a cap or hair apparatus should be included with the coat, that would be a great design feature/bonus. Interesting to think of cooks as athletes. If designers were considered athletes, what kind of clothing would we design for our selves...I would like to see a project on that.
Hi Eric!
I admire the intersection of culinary and athletics that inspired this idea, but a few problems. First, there are already chefs coats on the market. The main supplier of chefs jackets Chef Works has an entire line of Cool Vent wear for chefs https://www.chefworks.com/cool-vent-chef-coats Competitive research is always important in the design process. Second, I'm curious if this jacket has been tested in any real way. From the photos, it looks like it's a market-ready product. I have a feeling those straps that pull up which create big loops would cause a big problem. Fast moving chefs would get caught on everything. It would also be a big safety risk in a kitchen. Ethnographic research and observations of chefs actually working in kitchens must happen to create the right jacket.
Hi Christopher!
I really like it! It's a leftfield idea, but I know plenty of chefs who would love something to keep them cool, and I think the execution of the project is great.
https://www.chefworks.com/ces04/valencia-chef-coat
"Kitchen Athletes" don't wear their hair down.
That looks to me, like a fire hazard. Can't imagine walking around open fires and hot ovens in what's basically a running jacket. It would catch on fire right away. Cotton is fire retardant.
Hi Juan, the jacket is actually made of cotton-polyester blends. Not with any nylon/spandex like in sportswear. That's what traditional chef jackets are made of, but the problem is that they're made of just one anti-crease material.
Oh! Thanks for clarifying! Chef clothes are so stiff!