No-Contact Jackets – Wearable Self-Defence

Gizmodo reports on the No-Contact jacket, a wearable defensive jacket aiming to prevent violence towards women. A seemingly normal waterproof nylon parka that is armed with 80,000 volts of electricity, the jacket is activated by hitting a switch enabling the wearer to deliver a rather large shock to any attacker.

"Fashion throughout history has tended to place women in positions of vulnerability. Female clothing designs historically and in modern times can be physically confining and limiting in mobility …

Clothing that prevents protection creates a space around the body which is vulnerable and powerless. We have reclaimed the use of fashion to dramatically reidentify the female body and to protect her physical space and boundaries. Equally as important we are exploring the use of the body as an instrument of disruption of powerlessness and of limiting social dress codes and conventions…

Protecting and empowering the female body from unauthorized contact will allow for her to inhabit her environment in a more confident way and thus redefine and renegotiate her physical space and identity. The No-Contact Jacket will begin to shift ideas of perceived female vulnerabilities."

Retailing at $950 it’s a pricey little number, but if it empowers the wearer and brings confidence to any situation then it’s surely worth it- and it’s cheaper than hiring your own bodyguard!

No-Contact Clothing